transferred the Cilician capital from Tarsus to Sis after having eliminated the small Byzantine garrison stationed there. In 1112, he took the castle of Cyzistra in order to avenge the death of the last Bagratid Armenian king, Gagik II. The assassins of the latter, three Byzantine brothers who governed the castle, were thus brutally killed. Eventually, there emerged a type of centralized government in the area with the rise of the Rubenid princes. During the twelfth century, they were the closest thing to a ruling dynasty, and wrestled with the Byzantines for power over the region. Prince Levon I, T'oros' brother and successor, started his reign in 1129. He integrated the Cilician coastal cities to the Armenian principality, thus consolidating Armenian commercial leadership in the region. During this period, there was continued hostility between Cilician Armenia and the Seljuk Turks, as well as occasional bickering between Armenians and the Principality of Antioch over forts located near southern Amanus. In this context, in 1137, the Byzantines under Emperor John II, who still considered Cilicia to be a Byzantine province, conquered most of the towns and cities located on the Cilician plains. They captured and imprisoned Levon in Constantinople with several other family members, including his sons Ruben and T'oros. Levon died in prison three years later. Ruben was blinded and killed while in prison, but Levon's second son and successor, T'oros II, escaped in 1141 and returned to Cilicia to lead the struggle with the Byzantines. Initially, he was successful in repelling Byzantine invasions; but, in 1158, he paid homage to Emperor Manuel I through a short-lived treaty. Around 1151, during T'oros' rule, the head of the Armenian Church transferred his see to Hromkla. Ruben II, Mleh, and Ruben III, succeeded T'oros in 1169, 1170, and 1175, respectively. Principality becomes a kingdom The Principality of Cilicia was a de facto kingdom before the ascension of Levon II. Levon II is considered the first king of Cilicia due to the Byzantine refusal of previous de facto kings as genuine de jure kings, rather than dukes. Prince Levon II, one of Levon I's grandsons and brother of Ruben III, acceded the throne in 1187. He fought the Seljuks of Iconium, Aleppo, and Damascus, and added new lands to Cilicia, doubling its Mediterranean coast. At the time, Saladin of Egypt defeated the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which led to the Third Crusade. Prince Levon II