ABSTRACT
The medieval Byzantine Empire ceased to expand in the mid-eleventh century, and although it showed distinctly expansionist tendencies in its revival under the dynamic leadership of the Komnenian dynasty, it never returned to its eleventh-century frontiers in Asia or in Italy. It is evident that the ambitions of Isaac II echoed by Choniates and Balsamon correspond to the territorial division agreed by Isaac and Saladin, according to the text preserved in the chronicle of Magnus the Priest. According to Choniates, the prophecies with which Dositheos led Isaac by the nose, 'or rather by the ears', were taken from certain 'books of Solomon'. In 1187, Isaac renewed the privileges granted to Venice by John and Manuel, while Venice undertook once more to provide naval assistance, albeit under strictly defined conditions which limited the Venetian obligations. In sum, Isaac II did indeed have plans for imperial restoration in Syria and Palestine, promoted by Dositheos, and founded on alliances with Saladin and Venice.
