first Romanus won easy triumphs as the scattered bands of marauders retreated before his troops, without risking a battle. Alp Arslan changed his plans and lured Romanus into the Armenian mountains, where he was suddenly attacked by the whole Seljukian power. [Sidenote: Battle of Manzikert, 1071.] The decisive battle was fought in 1071 at Manzikert, an Armenian town, to the north of Lake Van, which the Sultan had captured in 1070, and which Romanus now sought to reconquer. The Emperor had already many difficulties from the mixed army of mercenaries, that had no heart for the cause and a strong dislike to discipline. With great impolicy he divided his army, and marched with but a fraction of it against Manzikert. The city was soon retaken, but by this time the whole force of the Seljuks had drawn near. It was the first pitched battle between Turks and Greeks, and, having misgivings of the result, Alp Arslan showed some willingness to treat. But Romanus impatiently prepared for battle. The fight was long and fierce, until at last the bad tactics of the Emperor and the treachery of some of his generals gave the Turks a hardly won victory. The Greek army was destroyed, and Romanus was wounded and made prisoner. The defeat is the turning-point of Byzantine history. The hardy mountaineers of Cappadocia were unable to hold out much longer. With the loss of the land which had given birth to Nicephorus and Zimisces, to the Comneni, the Ducasii, and to Romanus himself, the best part of the Empire surrendered to barbarism. Within a few years all the interior of Asia Minor had become Turkish. In the very year of Manzikert, the capture of Bari by the Normans cut off the last town that had been faithful to the East Romans in Italy.