Of all tribes and tongues (2)

The Roman ruins at Seleukia, modern-day Turkey

In early 1136, after months of preparation, Emperor John II Komnenos marched east from Constantinople. His objective was Pamphylia, where the Roman coastal fortress of Seleukia was under siege. 

Pamphylia, along the southern coast of Anatolia (Asia Minor) had once been part of the Roman Empire. Along with the rest of the eastern provinces, it had been thrown into chaos after the disastrous battle of Manzikert in 1071. Now it was largely hostile territory, which meant John had to fight his way through to the isolated imperial outpost at Seleukia. 

The fortress was besieged by Leon I, the ambitious ruler of Armenian Cilicia, who sought to expand his power from the mountains to the coast. He launched his attack on Roman territory early in the year, gambling that John would be too distracted by problems in the west to mount an effective response. 

Unfortunately for Leon, he had miscalculated. John's victories in previous years had secured much of western Anatolia, including the great stronghold of Kastamon and Gangra. Meanwhile the various Turkish rulers, who might have distracted the emperor, were at each other's throats instead. 

Thus, John was free to move all his forces against Leon. By the winter of 1136 he had reached the southern coast at Attaleia, where he awaited the arrival of the imperial fleet with his baggage and military equipment. Mindful of his western allies, John also found the time to send an embassy to the Holy Roman Emperor, Lothar III. The emperor's envoys arrived at the German court in 1137, bringing gifts. 

John's embassy was concerned with the Normans of Sicily, and their ambition to conquer Roman territory in Africa; specifically, modern-day Tunisia with some of eastern Algeria and western Libya. Under Roger, the so-called 'tyrant' of Sicily, the Normans were also waging war against John's new allies, the rulers of Venice and Pisa

Lothar responded favourably to the Roman embassy, as did the Venetians and Pisans. From late 1136 they launched multiple campaigns against the Normans; we shall look at these next, as well as John's eastern offensive.