The Byzantine Empire stands in a precarious position in 1066. While Basilius Konstantinos has been able to placate the court bureaucracy in Constantinople, many in the military are angry over his military cuts and decision not to rebuild the fortifications on the eastern border. So far in his reign, he has lost the majority of the empire's remaining Italian holdings to the Norman Hautville family. Now the Seljuk Turks are marching on the eastern front with a massive force.