 Alexios Komnenos Strategopoulos ( Greek : Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός <unk> ) was a Byzantine general during the reign of Michael VIII Palaiologos , rising to the rank of megas domestikos and Caesar . Of noble descent , he appears in the sources already at an advanced age in the early 1250s , leading armies for the Empire of Nicaea against Epirus . After falling out of favour and being imprisoned by Theodore II Laskaris , Strategopoulos sided with the aristocrats around Michael Palaiologos , and supported him in his rise to the throne after Theodore II 's death in 1258 . He participated in the Pelagonia campaign in 1259 , going on to capture Epirus , but his successes were undone in the next year and he was captured by the Epirotes . Released after a few months , he led the unexpected reconquest of Constantinople from the Latin Empire in July 1261 , restoring the Byzantine Empire . He was captured again by the Epirotes in the next year and spent several years in captivity in Italy , before being released . He retired from public affairs and died in the early 1270s . 
