the glory of his empire and to regaining superpower status. His foreign policy was both ambitious and expansive, reaching out to all corners of the Mediterranean world. He made several alliances with the Pope and Western Christian kingdoms, and successfully handled the passage of the potentially dangerous Second Crusade through his empire, establishing a Byzantine protectorate over the Crusader kingdoms of Outremer. Manuel campaigned aggressively against his neighbours both in the west and in the east; facing Muslims in Palestine, he allied himself with the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and sent a large fleet to participate in a combined invasion of Fatimid Egypt. In an effort to restore Byzantine control over the ports of southern Italy, he sent an expedition to invade Italy in 1155. Operating as part of a coalition of Byzantine, rebel, and Papal forces, Manuel's armies achieved initial success. However, disputes within the coalition led to the expedition's eventual failure. Despite this military setback Manuel was undeterred, and his armies successfully invaded the Kingdom of Hungary in 1167, defeating the Hungarians at the Battle of Sirmium. He was highly successful in the Balkans and Hungary; historian Paul Magdalino argues that no emperor had dominated the region so effectively since Late Antiquity. In the east, however, Manuel's achievements are more ambiguous. He suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Myriokephalon in 1176 against the Turks. Manuel was marching against Konya, the Turkish capital, when his forces were ambushed; the ensuing defeat has since entered the popular imagination as a legendary disaster. Exaggerated accounts of the battle often describe the destruction of the entire Byzantine army, and with it the end of Byzantine power and influence. However, the modern consensus among Byzantine historians is that, while the Battle of Myriokephalon was a serious humiliation for the emperor, it was certainly not a catastrophe. Nor was it in any way equivalent to the Battle of Manzikert over a century earlier. In fact, much of the emperor's army emerged from the battle without serious damage. Units involved in the battle are well documented as campaigning in Asia Minor the following year. The imperial frontier remained unmoved for the remainder of Manuel's reign, a clear indication that the Turks were unable to gain any advantage from their victory. In 1177, the Byzantines inflicted a major defeat on a large Turkish force at Hyelion and Leimocheir in the Meander valley. Manuel's programme