Bohemond returned to Italy in the early months of 1105, after having to fake his own death and be transported from Syria to Italy through Corfu. By 1104, he had left his territories in Syria under serious pressure from the imperial forces, with the Byzantine army firmly in control of Cilicia and the lower city of Laodicea, while the imperial navy was moving offensive operations from Cyprus and the Cilician ports. Hence, if Bohemond had taken his newly recruited army back to Antioch he would not have achieved much, with the Byzantine resources in manpower and money far outnumbering what the Normans could put on the field. Since Bohemond must have been perfectly aware of this, he thought that he had to strike at the root of all his troubles in Syria, the Byzantine emperor himself, and attempt to replace him with someone more sympathetic to him – a plan that brings to mind the Fourth Crusade some hundred years later.