I have written much about why I think Basil II was the greatest Byzantine emperor. I am going to give a simple series of reasons why he was a better emperor than Justinian.
1. His empire was more consolidated than Justinian’s. In comparison with Justinian’s empire that contained many different groups of peoples and religions, Basil II’s empire was more integrated culturally and religiously.
2. Basil II personally led his soldiers. Unlike Justinian, Basil II personally led his troops. Justinian was generally inclined to stay in the capital and issue orders to his generals such as Narses and Belisarius.
3. Basil II lived the life of a soldier. The emperor spent many years on campaign with his troops; he ate from the same rations as them and endured the same hardships as them .
4. Emperor Basil II did not overextend the empire. Justinian’s empire was huge but he overextended the armies all over the Mediterranean. Basil II was methodical and made sure to conquer what was within reach of his empire’s boundaries.
5. He was kind to the peasantry. In my opinion, anyone who is trying to make the lives of the poor better is good in my book. In particular, he implemented a policy that required the nobility to cover the tax debts owed by peasants.
6. He integrated the Bulgarians after his conquests of their empire. This is a very important point, because in comparison to Justinian’s destructive conquest of Italy, Basil II was keen on having the Bulgarians integrated into the empire. He had the nobility integrated into the empire’s governing aristocracy. He also allowed for their church to be independent of the Byzantine church.
Byzantine-Empire.com 