Leo the Deacon
It is unclear what role Basil played under Phokas. The report of Liutprand of Cremona during his visit in 968 shows him among the senior dignitaries of the Byzantine court, but the second man of the regime was clearly Nikephoros' younger brother, the "kouropalates" and "logothetes tou dromou" Leo Phokas the Younger. Although he did not take part in the assassination of Phokas by Tzimiskes in December 969 by feigning illness (and then becoming ill in reality), he knew of it and threw his full support behind Tzimiskes' assumption of the throne afterward, sending his agents to the city to warn the populace against fomenting unrest or engaging in plunder. According to the contemporary historian Leo the Deacon, Basil was a close friend of Tzimiskes, but it may also be that Basil's support for this coup was an effort to safeguard the position and rights of his nephews Basil II and Constantine VIII, as a continuation of the Phokas regime would likely have seen Leo Phokas succeed his brother.