The great fortress of Antioch, pillar of the Byzantine defense in Syria in the 11th century, was more integrated into the Byzantine Empire than has sometimes been claimed. It can be shown by the letters of the very Constantinopolitan Psellos. He corresponded with several patriarchs of Antioch, who themselves were careful not to cut their ties with the Byzantine capital. Psellos wrote more than once to Aimilianos, which is actually the name of a previously known family. Patriarch Aimilianos probably governed the Church of Antioch longer than we thought. Psellos loved to keep in touch with senior military officers, some of them being of imperial blood or related to the imperial family, such as Michel Kontostephanos, a nephew of Isaac Comnenos, or the caesar John, brother of Constantine Doukas. They were for a time stationed in Antioch or in the region. He also wrote to Nicephoros Botaneiates, who was praised during an embassy of the emir of Aleppo at Constantinople. He corresponded with Nicéphoritzes, his former colleague, who was twice duke of Antioch. There is no doubt that the elite of the capital was interested and concerned by the situation in Antioch.
