Editing Battle of Manzikert (section)

==Background==
Although the [[Byzantine Empire]] had remained strong and powerful in the Middle Ages,{{sfn|Konstam|2004|p=40}} it began to decline under the reign of the militarily incompetent [[Constantine IX Monomachos]] and again under [[Constantine X Doukas]]{{snd}}a brief two-year period of reform under [[Isaac I Komnenos]] merely delayed the decay of the Byzantine army.{{sfn|Norwich|1997|pp=236}}

About 1053, Constantine IX disbanded what the 11th century [[Byzantine Greeks|Byzantine]] historian [[John Skylitzes]] called the "Iberian Army", which consisted of 50,000 men. Skylitzes' contemporaries, the former officials [[Michael Attaleiates]] and [[Kekaumenos]], agree that by demobilizing these soldiers, Constantine did catastrophic harm to the empire's eastern defenses. Constantine made a truce with the Seljuks that lasted until 1064, when a large [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuk]] army under [[Alp Arslan]] attacked the theme of Iberia and took [[Ani]]; after a siege of 25 days, they captured the city.<ref>{{Cite EB9 |wstitle=Anni |volume=II |page=72 |short=1}}</ref>

In 1068, [[Romanos IV Diogenes]] took power and, after some speedy military reforms, appointed Manuel Komnenos (nephew of Isaac I Komnenos) to lead an expedition against the Seljuks. Manuel captured [[Hierapolis Bambyce]] in [[Syria]], next thwarted a Turkish attack against [[Iconium]] with a counterattack,{{sfn|Grant|2005|p=77}} but was then defeated and captured by the Seljuks. Despite this success, Alp Arslan quickly sought a peace treaty with the Byzantines, signed in 1069; he saw the [[Fatimids]] in Egypt as his main enemy and had no desire to be diverted by unnecessary hostilities.{{sfn|Markham|2013}}

In February 1071, Romanos sent envoys to Arslan to renew the 1069 treaty; keen to secure his northern flank against attack, to which Arslan agreed.{{sfn|Markham|2013}} Abandoning the siege of Edessa, he immediately led his army to attack the Fatimid-held Aleppo. However, the peace treaty had been a deliberate distraction: Romanos now led a large army into Armenia to recover the lost fortresses before the Seljuks had time to respond.{{sfn|Markham|2013}}