Myriokephalon, although a significant defeat for the Empire, has not materially affected the capabilities of the imperial army.

This is underlined by the notable victory the imperial forces win over the Seljuqs at Hyelion and Leimocheir on the Meander River the following year.

Following Emperor Manuel Komnenos's defeat at the Battle of Myriokephalon, the Empire fails to implement all the conditions, particularly the destruction of border fortresses, demanded by the Seljuq sultan Kilij Arslan II as a prerequisite for a cessation of hostilities.

A substantial Seljuq cavalry army, including Turkmen nomad auxiliaries, is dispatched into imperial territory, in the Meander Valley in western Anatolia, on a retaliatory raid.

An imperial army under the general John Komnenos Vatatzes, the emperor's nephew, sets out from Constantinople with instructions to intercept the Seljuq raiders.

Vatatzes is given two other generals as his subordinates, Constantine Doukas and Michael Aspietes, and is able to pick up reinforcements as his army moved through imperial territory.

The Turks, who have orders to ravage the Meander Valley as far as the seacoast, sack the imperial settlements of Tralles, …