Ranking Every Byzantine Emperor From Worst to Best

Well, having done a video on the Roman Emperors as well as another one on the Western Roman Emperors, I give you the East. Also, I'm very tired. So hope you enjoy it.

[thedemonhater]

Props to the Eastern Roman Emperors for being able to maintain the Roman Empire in a world infinitely more hostile.

[feastguy]

Oh Heraclius... it still hurts ; ;


WE WERE NEARLY THERE

[argoarcontediatene]

The greatest flaw of Basil II was his negligency over succession. He lived his whole life dedicating to the State, yet he did not think about what would have happened after his death. Not only he had no children, he did not even choose a valuable heir.

[theheiroflotharingia]

Bruh, i legit said before the list began, "If Phocas isnt dead last, im going to castrate you"...needless to say i am pleased

[Secondkomnenian]

I don’t really agree with Romano’s IV being so low, sure he lost manzikert but if he had been reinstated as the emperor he would have easily held onto Anatolia as the Seljuks didn’t want Anatolia initially

[kacsan]

You could also add that Basil the Based was the longest serving emperor in history of Roman Empire

[mihajlovucic]

0:54 Phocas (602-610)
1:37 Alexios IV Angelos (1203-1204)
1:50 Alexios III Angelos (1195-1203)
2:07 Irene of Athens (797-802)
2:27 Romanos IV Diogenes (1068-1071)
2:40 Isaac II Angelos (1085-1095)
2:53 Michael VII Doukas (1071-1078)
3:05 Alexios V Doukas (1204-1204)
3:24 John VI Kantakouzenos (1347-1354)
3:42 Constantine X Doukas (1059-1067)
3:57 Andronikos II Palaiologos (1282-1328)
4:06 Leo V the Armenian (813-830)
4:17 Andronikos I Komnenos (1183-1185)
4:28 Constantine VIII Porphyrogenitus (1025-1028)
4:45 Leo VI the Wise (886-912)
4:58 Constantine IX Monomachos (1042-1055)
5:06 Basiliscus (475-476)
5:15 Arcadius (383-408)
5:31 Justin II (565-578)
5:47 Heraclonas (641-641)
5:58 Constantine VI (780-797)
6:04 Alexander Porphyrogenitus (912-913)
6:17 Philippikos Bardanes (711-713)
6:29 Leontios (695-698)
6:43 Anastasios II (713-715)
6:59 Tiberius III (698-705)
7:11 Theodosios III (715-717)
7:21 Justinian II (685-695) & (705-711)
7:30 Leo III the Isaurian (717-741)
7:45 John V Palaiologos (1341-1391)
8:00 Artabasdos (741-743)
8:08 Michael III (842-867)
8:25 Michael V Kalaphates (1041-1042)
8:29 Michael VI Bringas (1056-1057)
8:37 Alexios II Komnenos (1180-1183)
8:46 Leo IV the Khazar (750-780)
8:55 Nikephoros III Botaneiates (1078-1081)
9:03 John IV Laskaris (1258-1261)
9:15 Staurakios (803-811)
9:23 Leo II (473-474)
9:29 Andronikos IV Palaiologos (1376-1379)
9:35 Heraclius Constantine III (641-641)
9:48 John VII Palaiologos (1390-1390)
9:54 Michael I Rangabe (811-813)
10:03 Constans II (641-668)
10:15 Michael II the Amorian (820-829)
10:29 Nikephoros I (802-811)
10:46 Marcian (450-457)
10:58 Theodora Porphyrogenita (1055-1056)
11:09 Romanos III Argyros (1028-1034)
11:17 John VIII Palaiologos (1425-1448)
11:25 Isaac I Komnenos (1057-1059)
11:33 Zoe Porphyrogenita (1042-1042)
11:44 Andronikos III Palaiologos (1328-1341)
11:54 Michael IV the Paphlagonian (1034-1041)
12:02 Constantine IV (668-685)
12:10 Tiberius II Constantine(578-582)
12:20 Theodosius II (408-450)
12:40 Leo I the Thracian (457-474)
12:56 Manuel I Komnenos (1143-1180)
13:12 Constantine V (741-775)
13:20 Theodore II Laskaris (1254-1258)
13:29 John I Tzimiskes (969-976)
13:39 Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos (1449-1453)
13:56 Theodore I Laskaris (1208-1221)
14:14 John III Doukas Vatatzes (1221-1254)
14:26 Michael VIII Palaiologos(1259-1282)
14:38 Manuel II Palaiologos (1391-1425)
15:00 Nikephoros II Phokas (963-969)
15:18 Romanos II Porphyrogenitos (959-963)
15:30 Basil I the Macedonian (867-886)
15:57 John II Komnenos (1118-1143)
16:13 Romanos I Lekapenos (920-944)
16:27 Zeno (474-475) & (476-491)
16:58 Justin I (518-527)
17:12 Alexios I Komnenos (1081-1118)
17:34 Constantine VII Porphyrogenitos (913-959)
17:57 Heraclius (610-641)
18:54 Maurice (582-602)
19:16 Anastasius I Dikorus (491-518)
19:33 Justinian I the Great (527-565)
20:16 Basil II the Bulgar Slayer (976-1025)

[benjackson]

Basil ii’s reign is one of the most remarkable in history

[TheMacedonianBackBreaker]

11:19 the reason why John VIII has such a good portrait is because he was a catholic convert and was very very much liked by the latin Italians. So much that they made a painting of him and you know how good the Latins were at painting (because of the Rennaisance)

[anarion]

Constantine XI was an emperor not destined for greatness, but he decided to be great anyway

[samiamrg]

It’s really telling that out of over 70 entries, there were only about 10 entries of “these emperors were really terrible” before we got to “these emperors were just mediocre.”
No wonder the ERE lasted, like, 1000 more years after the west.

[sasi]

Phocas seems extra worse considering the fact that he pretty much started the last Roman Sassanid war, by killing the previous Roman emperor and his family (that emperor was friends with the Sassanid shah). This was was costly, and unfortunately timed, to the point where it led to the loss of North African provinces and Middle eastern provinces to rashidun caliphate.

[majorianus]

I love how high Maurice is in your list. He's really underrated

[Ion_Petrov]

I don't know much about Byzantine emperors, but I still watch it

[cmbeadle]

Basiliscus should be much lower: the fact that he was the architect of the infamously terrible attack on the Vandals is really indicative of his rule in general.

[whiteoctober]

Romanos IV was much better than you gave him credit for. He actually gave a damn about the Turkish menace and wasn't at fault for Manzikert

[justinian-the-great]

Meh, I'll say that I'm somewhat ok with being the 2nd. Basil II was a based Emperor, although we both suffered from the same problems – shitty successors. Although I'm not really sure about some people here on the list. For example, why is Manuel I so low? The guy reformed the army, conquered Antioch, made both Crusader states and Hungary, then one of the most powerful countries in Europe, his vassal states! Sure he lost at Myriokephalon, but that battle was neither a decisive defeat nor did it greatly diminished the Eastern Roman Army. He did, as did so many great Roman emperor before him, had a bad string of heirs, perhaps worse than any great Emperor had after their death!

[Herbaling]

"I'm not as familiar with Byzantine history as I am with Roman history"
They're the same picture

[og_finn]

Yeah, that's fair. Justinian was indeed great but Basil reinvigorated the empire and utterly decimated one of their biggest enemies.

[davidesguario]

To be fair, Leo I actually took action regarding the west, sending one of the greatest naval expeditions in ancient history to drive Vandald out of Africa. Unfortunately he put in charge his demented brother in law