Once a young man named Michael III assumed the throne of the Byzantine Empire. His mother, the Empress Theodora, had been banished to a nunnery, and her lover, Theoctistus, had been murdered. The head of the conspiracy to remove Theodora and enthrone Michael had been Michael’s uncle, Bardas.

Michael was now a young and inexperienced so he needed someone he could trust as his councillor, and his thoughts turned to Basilius, his best friend. Basilius had no experience but he had proven his love and gratitude.

To have a good enemy, choose a friend: He knows where to strike.
DIANF DE POITIERS, 1499-1566, MISTRESS OF HENRI II OF FRANCE

They had met a few years before, when Basilius had saved Michael’s life. The groom’s strength and courage had impressed Michael, who immediately turned Basilius from being a horse trainer to the position of head of the stables and they became inseparable. Basilius was sent to the finest school in Byzantium became a cultured and sophisticated courtier.

Every time I bestow a vacant office I make a hundred discontented persons and one ingrate.
Louis XIV, 1638-1715

Now Michael was emperor, and trusted a friend who owed him everything.

Ignoring the advice of those who recommended the much more qualified Bardas, Michael chose his friend.

Thus for my own part I have more than once been deceived by the person I loved most and of whose love, above everyone else’s, I have been most confident. So that I believe that it may be right to love and serve one person above all others, according to merit and worth, but never to trust so much in this tempting trap of friendship as to have cause to repent of it later on.
BALDASSARE CASTIGLIONE, 1478-1529

Basilius was soon advising the emperor on all matters of state. The only problem seemed to be money—Basiiius never had enough. He became avaricious for the perks of power. Michael doubled, then tripled his salary, ennobled him, and married him off to his own mistress, Eudoxiaingerina. Keeping such a trusted friend and adviser satisfied was worth any price.

Bardas was now head of the army, and Basilius convinced Michael that the man was ambitious. Under the illusion that he could control his nephew, Bardas had conspired to put him on the throne, and he could conspire again, this time to get rid of Michael and assume the crown himself. Basilius poured poison into Michael’s ear until the emperor agreed to have his uncle murdered. Basilius killed him. Soon after, Basilius asked that he replace Bardas as head of the army, where he could keep control of the realm and quell rebellion. This was granted.

Now Basilius’s power and wealth only grew, and a few years later Michael, in financial straits from his own extravagance, asked him to pay back some of the money he had borrowed over the years. To Michael’s shock and astonishment, Basilius refused, with a look of such impudence that the emperor suddenly realized his predicament: The former stable boy had more money, more allies in the army and senate, and in the end more power than the emperor himself. A few weeks later, after a night of heavy drinking, Michael awoke to find himself surrounded by soldiers. Basilius watched as they stabbed the emperor to death. Then, after proclaiming himself emperor, he rode his horse through the streets of Byzantium, brandishing the head of his former benefactor and best friend at the end of a long pike.