The emperor had initially refused to grant the Pope substantial aid against the Normans, in southern Italy, and Leo returns to Rome in March 1053 with only seven hundred Swabian infantry.

Others are also worried about the Norman power, in particular the Italian and Lombard rulers in the south.

The Prince of Benevento, Rudolf, the Duke of Gaeta, the Counts of Aquino and Teano, the Archbishop and the citizens of Amalfi—together with Lombards from Apulia, Molise, Campania, Abruzzo and Latium—answer the call of the Pope, and form a coalition that moves against the Normans.

However, while these forces include troops from almost every great Italian magnate, they do not include forces from the Prince of Salerno, who has more to gain than the others from a Norman defeat.

The Pope had also another friendly power in the Empire ruled by Constantine IX.

At first, the imperial authorities, established in Apulia, had tried to buy off the Normans and press them into service within their own largely mercenary army; since the Normans are famous for their avarice.

To this end, the imperial commander, the Lombard Catepan of Italy Argyrus, had offered money to disperse as mercenaries to the Eastern frontiers of the Empire, but the Normans had rejected the proposal, explicitly stating that their aim is the conquest of southern Italy.

Thus spurned, Argyrus had contacted the Pope, and when, after a fourth Easter synod in 1053, Leo and his army of Italians and Swabian mercenaries move from Rome to Apulia to engage the Normans in battle, an imperial army personally led by Argyrus moves from Apulia with the same plan, catching the Normans in a pinch.