Basil the Bulgar-Slayer - How Relentless Discipline Builds Enduring Empires

In a world obsessed with charisma and speed, Basil II built something different.

Today, we explore the life and lessons of one of the most overlooked yet ruthless emperors in history — Basil the Bulgar-Slayer.

Through 40 years of relentless discipline, strategic patience, and brutal clarity of mission, Basil crushed his empire’s greatest enemy and left Byzantium stronger than it had been in 400 years.

What does his story teach us about investing, leadership, and building real wealth today?

Join me as we dig into the timeless principles of discipline, patience, and execution that still separate those who build fleeting empires... from those who build ones that endure.

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Transcript

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Welcome to Episode 4 of the Timeless Investor Show. I'm your host, Ari Van Gemeren. Today we're going back to the Eastern Roman Empire, what we now call Byzantium, to meet one of the most overlooked, ruthless, and fascinating leaders in all of history, the Emperor Basil II. History remembers him by a brutal name, Basil the Bulgar Slayer. And yes, he truly earned that name. In the year 1014 AD, Basil II faced the culmination of a war that had lasted nearly four decades. His longtime enemy, the Bulgarian Empire, had defied, resisted, and humiliated Byzantine emperors for years. But Basil wasn't like the others. At the Battle of Clydeon, he shattered the Bulgarian forces. Reports vary, but the ancient chroniclers agree. Basil captured somewhere between 14,000 to 15,000 Bulgarian soldiers. And what he did next has become one of the most infamous moments in medieval military history. He ordered that 99 out of every 100 soldiers be blinded, completely. The 100th man? Left of one eye to lead the rest home. When the defeated Bulgarian Tsar Samuel saw what had been done to his army He collapsed from the shock, and he died two days later. Yeah, it's a horrifying image, and we're not here to glorify violence, but we are here to understand something deeper. What does it really take to build lasting power? Because most of you know the names of Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great, hardly anyone talks about Basil II. But I really think they should. I read about him for the first time maybe a decade ago in a fantastic trilogy called... Byzantium by John Julius Norwich, which spans the rise, the apogee, and the fall of the Byzantine Empire from Constantine the Great to the start to the very final battle where the Turks actually conquered Constantinople, which we now call Istanbul. But I remember in that entire story, amongst all the incredible emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire, including Constantine the Great, including Justinian, who reconquered all of the Western Roman Empire, Basil II really stood out to me. And I really am excited to profile him for this piece. Basil reigned from 976 to 1025 AD, 49 years, one of the longest reigns in Roman imperial history. And unlike many emperors that came before him, he didn't waste his time on parties, parades, or platitudes. He wasn't an orator. He wasn't a crowd pleaser. In fact, he wasn't particularly popular at the time. He was a grinder in a modern era. in a modern sense. He was a system builder. He was a relentless executor of long-term plans. And honestly, if you're trying to build an investment firm, a real estate portfolio, a lasting brand, a company, there is a lot to learn from Basil. But first, I want to dig in a little bit to the war he was fighting because I really think it lends a lot of weight to this story. The first Bulgarian empire wasn't some weak barbarian tribe. It was an actual empire with a serious military, real governance, and a proud legacy. It had risen to become one of Byzantium's deadliest and most organized adversaries. In the early 900s, the Bulgars had humiliated the Byzantines. One of Basil's predecessors, the emperor Romanus I, was forced to sign an incredibly humiliating treaty with them. So by the time Basil II came to power, the Bulgarians had spent decades fortifying mountain strongholds, entrenching their defenses in the Balkans, and building alliances across Eastern Europe. They were organized, trained, fierce, relentless. In fact, legend has it that one of the Bulgarian Tsars had defeated and killed a Roman emperor and actually turned his skull into his drinking cup, which we've seen today in modern fantasy series. But Most modern fantasy and other stories have their roots in history, and that's a true story. So Basil wanted to defeat them. They were the greatest enemy at the time for the Byzantine Empire, but he didn't rush to crush them. He knew better. Instead, he spent years, years building Byzantine strength from within. He reformed the tax code. He strengthened the army. He tightened control over the provinces. He built roads, not just for trade, but for troop movement. Every move was strategic and calculated. His campaign against Bulgaria wasn't flashy. It was grinding. It was a war of attrition, sieges, and slow territorial gains. But Basil never let up. He personally led dozens of campaigns into the Balkans. He studied the terrain. He invested in logistics. He strengthened the fortresses. And when he finally had the Bulgars cornered at Clydeon in 1014 AD, he struck with overwhelming force. That single victory broke the back of the Bulgarian resistance. Four years later, the entire Bulgarian empire fell and it was absorbed into Byzantium. So let's talk about what this means for us as investors and builders. Because here's the truth. Most of this world today chases short-term wins. We want speed, charisma, flash, and 20% IRRs to look great in pitch decks. But I think Basil II shows us a different model. He shows us discipline over charisma, execution over hype, the long game over the sugar high. He didn't become the Bolgar Slayer because he posted great speeches on scrolls. He became that because he understood that enduring power isn't built in quarters. It's built in decades. In his case, four decades. So here's what we can learn. Number one, build systems, not just stories. Basil invested in roads, tax records, and military infrastructure. That's what made his campaigns possible. In real estate, your equivalent is asset management. property level systems, investor communications, and debt maturity planning. Having a crystal clear plan for how you're going to manage everything. Being a micromanager in the best possible sense of the word. Basil II was a true micromanager. He micromanaged everything and it showed in his results. Number two, he delayed gratification. Basil waited 40 years to defeat the Bulgars. How long are you willing to wait for your strategy to work? If your deal isn't working in year one, do you panic or do you optimize? Do you solve for long-term wealth or trying to make a quick buck today? I think there's a lot of quick buck thinking in the real estate business and everywhere else at the same time. And I was reminded of this recently as I'm looking at my own portfolio and a friend of mine and I were having lunch and he said to me, it was actually a great reframe. He said, look, you own good buildings. They're in good locations. The long-term is what matters. Think long-term. And honestly, there's a lot of There's a lot of difficulty with that model when you're managing money for other people and for LPs because LPs expect quick and short-term returns. So there's a massive conflict of interest in this business where we all understand long-termism, but a lot of our investors might not. Or maybe they do. Or you might not understand it. Or you might be pushing for the promote or the quick return on a flip. I think real wealth is built in the long-term. Basil II... obviously wealthy, he's a Byzantine emperor, but he achieved something much greater than becoming wealthy. He defeated the largest and most powerful enemy of the Eastern Roman Empire at the time in a slow, methodical, delayed gratification approach. If he had rushed into battle without building his infrastructure and fortifications and process, he would have been defeated. And his skull might have been used as a skull cup for the Bulgar Tsar. So Delay gratification. And three, ruthless clarity of mission. There was zero confusion in his strategy. He knew what he was building, a Byzantine empire that was wealthier, stronger, and more secure. And we all need that same clarity. Are we trying to impress or are we trying to build? Are we trying to get a short-term high from instant gratification, from public accolades, or are we quietly building something tremendous in the background that will stand the test of time and uphold to timeless principles? So, look, in the end, Basil didn't get statues. He wasn't romanticized. He didn't chase love from his people. Most of you have probably never even heard of him, despite what I would view as an absolutely... incredible achievement at the time i mean defeating a firmly entrenched enemy in the mountain passes with an emperor with an empire that at the time was you know sort of fumbling and he came in and completely strengthened everything and when basil ii died in 1025 the byzantine empire was at its greatest territorial height in 400 years that's a big deal by the way because they The previous achievement was by Justinian the Great, who had reconquered all of the Western Empire. So obviously reconquering all of Europe was out of the question. So what he achieved, expanding into the Balkans, the level he did, I mean, it has ramifications throughout history, right? I mean, most of Eastern Europe now follows the Orthodox faith. The conquest of the Bulgarian Empire is a one of the prime reasons that happened, right? I mean, it's like there are like history echoes endlessly through time. And he did this with no fanfare, no slogans, just building a legacy in the long run by implementing what I view as the three core lessons that we can learn from this story. Build systems, not just stories, delay your gratification and have ruthless clarity of mission. Ruthless clarity of mission is really important, by the way. I, you know, struggle with this myself at times, and I'm sure all of you do as well. There's a lot of FOMO right now. There's a lot of influencers that are peddling different strategies to get rich, different approaches you can take to try to build something great. It's really difficult. And those of us that are employed, gainfully employed as W2 employees at a big company, you might look at So-and-so just built your friend from high school, just built and sold a great tech company and made a bundle of money. And like, you might think like my path isn't working. His path is working. You know, I don't feel good about that. I want to go do something different. And I, you know, I'm not going to say like, don't do that because obviously if you can take a big swing and do something great, awesome. But if you're going to take a big swing, the other thing is when you, if you take a big swing, when you take a big swing, do you have clarity of mission? Don't get distracted, right? I mean, I see it all the time in my own business. there's a lot of different ways to invest in real estate. People are pushing self-storage. People are pushing distressed office investment. People are looking at hotel deals. People are looking at agricultural land. We invest in multifamily here. And multifamily is not that sexy, right? There's more interesting and cool stuff people are doing. And by the way, multifamily is not always the best asset class, right? I mean, there are going to be times in your investing journey and in mine where the thing we focus on isn't the best, right? There's going to be periods of underperformance. There's going to be times where you wish you were in a different asset class. That's the time you got to come back and say, what is my ruthless clarity of mission? I'm building something for the long term. I'm not trying to time two to five year cycles. I want to build a lasting company. I want to build a lasting portfolio. I want to build a lasting business. Whatever it is, clarity of mission, just like Basil II took in his long conquest of the Bulgarian Empire. And that's all why we're talking about him today, to think about what you're building. Are you chasing admiration or are you playing the long game? Are you trying to win headlines or are you trying to leave behind something that still stands a century from now? Basil's reign truly shows us that discipline outlasts charisma. Quiet execution beats noisy ambition. And in the end, real investors are remembered not for what they say, but for what they build. Thank you for listening to the Timeless Investor Show. Subscribe, share, and please if you like the show, please leave a rating or review for us. It really, really helps with promotion of the show to other listeners. Act well, think wisely, build something timeless. Thank you.