The government of Michael VII Doukas () failed to deal with the situation effectively, and rapidly lost support among the military aristocracy. In late 1077, two of the Empire's leading generals, Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder, the "doux" of Dyrrhachium in the western Balkans, and Nikephoros Botaneiates, the "strategos" of the Anatolic Theme in central Asia Minor, were proclaimed emperors by their troops. Bryennios set out from Dyrrhachium towards the imperial capital Constantinople, winning widespread support along the way and the loyalty of most of the Empire's Balkan field army. He preferred to negotiate at first, but his offers were rebuffed by Michael VII. Bryennios then sent his brother John to lay siege to Constantinople. Unable to overcome its fortifications, the rebel forces soon retired. This failure led the capital's nobility to turn to Botaneiates instead: in March 1078 Michael VII was forced to abdicate and retire as a monk, and Nikephoros Botaneiates was accepted into the city as emperor.