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Episode 333 - The Bachelorhood of Basil II with Mark Masterson
December 15, 2025·45 min·3 clips
Basil I's wrestling match with a Bulgarian is depicted with overtly sexual imagery in a 10th-century manuscript.
As heard by us
A source-rich discussion of Basil II that treats sexuality as a problem of interpretation, not a settled story.
Basil II's bachelorhood opens into a discussion of how Byzantine writers turned private life into public meaning. Mark Masterson is the guest, and the strongest stretches are the ones that move between close reading and the messier business of competing histories.
Why you'd press play
If you want Basil II's bachelorhood unpacked through sexuality, power, and source criticism, start here.
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