By the time of Theodore's arrival, Asia Minor had been a centre of uprisings against the imperial government for decades. A rebellious magnate, Theodore Mangaphas, held Philadelphia; another aristocrat, Sabas Asidenos, ruled Sampson; and Nikephoros Kontostephanos controlled the lands on the upper course of the Maeander River. Theodore appeared as his father-in-law's representative and secured the Bithynian towns' loyalty in AlexiosIII's name until the end of 1204. The local Greeks acknowledged him as the "strategos" (or military leader) of Bithynia. He established his seat in Prussa, but he made frequent journeys to attend assemblies and dinners, encouraging the local Greeks' resistance against the "Latins", as the crusaders were universally called. He also took control of state revenues, and he could offer money to the Seljuq Sultan of Rum, Rukn al-Din Suleiman II, in return for his assistance against the Latins. SuleimanII died and his underage son, Izz al-Din Kilij Arslan III, succeeded him in June 1204.