Editing Michael III (section)

===Rise of Basil the Macedonian and assassination of Michael===
[[File:Michael III and Basil I sb1693.jpg|thumb|right|285px|Rare coin of Michael III and Basil I with the Latin titles "[[imperator]]" and "[[rex (title)|rex]]" (respectively).]]
Michael III's marriage with [[Eudokia Dekapolitissa]] was childless, but the Emperor did not want to risk a scandal by attempting to marry his mistress [[Eudokia Ingerina]], daughter of the [[Varangian]] (Norse) imperial guard Inger.  The solution he chose was to have Ingerina marry his favorite courtier and chamberlain [[Basil I|Basil the Macedonian]]. While Michael carried on his relationship with Ingerina, Basil was kept satisfied with the emperor's sister [[Thekla (daughter of Theophilos)|Thekla]], whom her brother retrieved from a monastery. According to [[Joseph Genesios]], Michael met Basil when he heard of his wrestling ability, while other sources state that they met when Basil successfully broke in one of the Emperor's horses. Either way, Basil was made ''[[Protostrator|prōtostratōr]]'' (head groom) when the incumbent was executed as a co-conspirator in a plot of [[Theodora (wife of Theophilos)|Theodora]] against Bardas. Michael and Basil appeared to have a common interest in [[equestrianism]], since Michael's favourite pastimes included hunting and chariot-racing, to which end he built luxury stables.{{sfn|Tougher|2008|p=294–295}}

Scholars are divided as to whether Michael and Basil were engaged in a [[homosexual]] relationship. One piece of evidence for this is Basil's appointment as ''[[Parakoimomenos|parakoimōmenos]]'', which was usually for the chief eunuch and involved close proximity to the Emperor. It is clear that they had a close relationship, with Basil gaining increasing influence over Michael. In April 866, he convinced the Emperor that Bardas was conspiring against him and was duly allowed to murder Bardas while he was preparing to embark on an expedition to [[Crete]]. Now without serious rivals, Basil was crowned co-emperor on 26 May 866 and was adopted by the much younger Michael.{{sfn|Tougher|2008|pp=294–296}}
[[File:MadridSkylitzesAssassinationBardasFol80ra.jpg|left|thumb|250x250px|The assassination of Bardas the Caesar at the feet of Michael III]]
[[File:Coronation_of_Basil_the_Macedonian_as_co-emperor.png|left|thumb|250x250px|Coronation of Basil the Macedonian as co-emperor (right)]]
This curious development may have been intended to legitimise the eventual succession to the throne of Eudokia Ingerina's son [[Leo VI the Wise|Leo]], who was widely believed to be Michael's son. Michael celebrated the birth of Leo with public [[chariot races]], a sport he enthusiastically patronized and participated in.{{sfn|Treadgold|1997|p=453}}
If ensuring Leo's legitimacy had been Michael's plan, it backfired.  Ostensibly troubled by the favour Michael was beginning to show to another courtier, named [[Basiliskianos]], whom he threatened to raise as another co-emperor, Basil had Michael assassinated as he lay insensible in his bedchamber following a drinking bout on 24 September 867.{{sfn|Bekker|1838|pp=208–210}}{{efn|group="n."|Some modern authorities give 23 September,<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michael-III-Byzantine-emperor Michael III]. ''[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]''</ref> but this is a mistake. The origin of the confusion can be traced to [[J. B. Bury]]'s ''[[History of the Eastern Roman Empire]]'' (1912). Bury, citing the ''[[Theophanes Continuatus]]'', first gives Michael's death as 24 September,{{sfn|Bury|1912|p=177}} but then inexplicably changes it to 23 September later in the book.{{sfn|Bury|1912|p=469}}}} Basil with a number of his male relatives, plus other accomplices, entered Michael's apartment; the locks had been tampered with and no guard had been placed.  Michael's end was grisly; a man named John of Chaldia killed him, cutting off both the emperor's hands with a sword before finishing him off with a thrust to the heart. Basil, as the sole remaining emperor (Basiliskianos had presumably been disposed of at the same time as Michael), automatically succeeded as the ruling ''basileus''.{{sfn|Finlay|1856|pp=180–181}}
[[File:Assassination_of_Michael_III.png|thumb|The assassination of Michael III (right) and the proclamation of [[Basil I]] (center) as the new basileus.]]
Michael's remains were buried in the Philippikos Monastery at Chrysopolis on the Asian shore of the Bosphoros. When Leo VI became ruling emperor in 886, one of his first acts was to have Michael's body exhumed and reburied, with great ceremony, in the imperial mausoleum in the [[Church of the Holy Apostles]] in Constantinople.{{sfn|Tougher|1997|p=62}} This contributed to the suspicion held by the Byzantine public that Leo was (or at least believed himself to be) Michael's son.{{sfn|Gregory|2010|p=225}}
[[File:The_relics_of_Michael_III_are_transferred_to_the_Holy_Apostles.jpg|right|thumb|Leo VI presiding over the transfer of the remains of Michael III to the imperial mausoleum at the [[Church of the Holy Apostles]]]]