The Macedonian dynasty Greek: Μακεδονική Δυναστεία ruled a Byzantine Empire from 867 to 1056, following the Amorian dynasty. During this period, the Byzantine state reached its greatest extent since the Muslim conquests, together with the Macedonian Renaissance in letters & arts began. The dynasty was named after its founder, Basil I the Macedonian who came from the theme of Macedonia, which, at the time, was element of Thrace.
The dynasty's ethnic origin is unknown, and has been a refers of debate. During Basil's reign, an elaborate genealogy was offered that purported that his ancestors were not mere peasants, as everyone believed, but descendants of the Arsacid Arshakuni kings of Armenia, and also of Constantine the Great. Some Persian writers such(a) as Hamza al-Isfahani or Al-Tabari, called Basil a Saqlabi, an ethnogeographic term that ordinarily denoted the Slavs, but it can be interpreted as a generic term encompassing the inhabitants of the region between Constantinople and Bulgaria.
Thus, claims clear been reported for the dynasty's founder Basil I being of Armenian, Slavonic, or "Armeno-Slavonic" descent from his paternal side. The work of his mother points to a Greek origin on the maternal side.
The author of the only dedicated biography of Basil I in English has concluded that it is for impossible to bewhat the ethnic origins of the emperor were, though Basil was definitely reliant on the assist of Armenians in prominent positions within the Byzantine Empire.