![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqirJNIbHBqV195dmPK5k0En1ZQcYhVXu95Y8d2oHirwQ0mFe1gtvp0Pf3xEBVqVYKpCs7vG7GF8wSu97Sj-X29qIdBWhDsA4jXtseenk7ebxxWARttZh-O_3gKE3FgGXmJ6daE0i5i4Y/s400/basil.jpg)
In a province of southwestern Bulgaria, Byzantine Bulgar-slayer Basil II [958-1025] won a crushing victory and, according to later legend, blinded 14,000 Bulgarian prisoners, leaving one man in every hundred with the sight in one eye to lead his comrades home.