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Emperor Manuel (1143-1180), of the Comnenos dynasty, then sent an army of 12,000 men, under the leadership of Andronikos Comnenos, against the Armenians and, with the help of some of the Armenian noble families who were at war with the Rouben-Bagratouni family, was able to drive back Toros II and his forces. Toros took position in the strong fortress of Mamistra and was surrounded of the Byzantine forces. As it was a surprise attack, and the Armenians had not had the opportunity to gather necessary provisions for a siege, their situation was critical. The Armenian forces left the fortress at night and engaged with the Byzantine army which was several times stronger then them. A harsh battle began, which ended in a glorious Armenian victory. 38 Several of the enemy officers were captured and were later exchanged for a large ransom.

When Emperor Manuel was informed of the defeat, he convinced sultan Massoud, the lord of Konya, to attack New Armenia, but Toros twice fought back the enemy forces. Then Massoud allied himself with Renand de Chatillon, the prince of Antiochia, who was quarrelling with Toros over the fortress of Gastin in the Amanus Mountains, and asked that Antiochia declare war on New Armenia. Nonetheless, change of sides also ended with an Armenian victory near the Gulf of Eskanderun. 41

After this the emperor gathered an army of 20,000 men, leading it personally. In 1158 this army attacked New Armenia and occupied the plain of Cilicia, but Toros retreated all the way to the fortress of Dadjeghikhar, located in the Taurus Mountains, and continued the battle from there while his brothers defended the Marash area.

Finally, in 1159, after the intervention of Baudouin III, king of Jerusalem, a peace-treaty was signed according to which Byzantine surrendered the plain of Cilicia to New Armenia while the empire kept the vital cities of Anazarba and Mamistra.

The following year of Toros' rule ended with victory in the war against Konya and Aleppo; during this latter war the Armenians helped the crusaders in the struggle against their powerful enemies.

Believing he could manipulate this war to his benefit and retake the plain of Cilicia, the emperor of Byzantine started to mobilize. First the brother of Toros, Stephan, was lured into a trap and was captured and then the empire sent a new army to Armenia. In the decisive battle at the city of Tars in 1163, the Byzantine army was defeated. 43 After this date the plain of Cilicia was liberated entirely from Byzantine occupation and was joined to New Armenia. The work that Constantine I had started had finally reached fruition: all the Armenian princes were under the power of the Roubinian dynasty, even though they regarded themselves as the subjects of Byzantine.

After the death of this courageous prince, Toros II, who together with Rouben I and Levon II are regarded as the founders of New Armenia, the throne was left to his son Rouben II.

During the reign of this king, New Armenia was thrown into chaos due to the provocations of the uncle of the king, Mleh. Mleh, who had entered the Templar Knights order and converted to Islam, was serving the sultan of Aleppo, Nourredin. With the help of Nourredin, he managed to remove Rouben II from the throne and became the king of New Armenia. Mleh warded off the assault of Byzantine at three different occasions but was finally murdered by the Armenians in Sis.