Hello everyone and welcome to the history of Byzantium, episode 258, almost ungovernable.

Last time we witnessed the sad sight of brother turning against brother. Isaac Anglos was

overthrown and blinded on the orders of his older sibling, Alexias. Whether Alexias plotted

against his baby brother or reluctantly went along with a conspiracy formed by others, we

don't know. But now that the deed was done, Alexias had no choice but to get on with the

business of government. His first act was to disband the army and head back to Constantinople.

His wife had suppressed an attempt to elect a new Vassilus in his absence and he now had

to show his face to the crowds. Despite some disquiet about his fratricidal behaviour,

the new emperor was accepted by the people. In part because Alexias handed out very generous

gifts and privileges to a host of people once he was in sconce in the palace.

The treasury was not really in a position to hand out gifts, given that half the empire's

provinces were in revolt or in ruins. But what choice did he really have? Alexias had

been installed by a coalition of aristocratic families, each of whom expected to benefit

from the new regime. Still, after this latest round of handouts and the inevitable collapse

of various deals which Isaac had made, Alexias found himself with even less breathing room

than his brother had enjoyed.

The situation in the Balkans was deteriorating quickly. Blinding Isaac essentially ended

the alliance between Byzantium and Hungary. This was because Isaac was married to Margaret

of Hungary who was now shunted aside. King Bella had been willing to divide the Balkans

between Hungarian and Roman spheres of influence, but now he was free to make whatever deals

he liked with the Serbs and Bulgarians. A meanwhile, both of these powers began to strengthen

their bids for independence. The Bulgarians installed garrisons in the forts south of the

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