At first, Botaneiates lacked enough troops to oppose Bryennios, who in the meantime had consolidated his control over his native Thrace, effectively isolating the capital from the remaining imperial territory in the Balkans. Botaneiates sent an embassy under the "proedros" Constantine Choirosphaktes, a veteran diplomat, to conduct negotiations with Bryennios. At the same time he appointed the young Alexios Komnenos as his Domestic of the Schools (commander-in-chief), and sought aid from the Seljuk Sultan Suleyman, who sent 2,000 warriors and promised even more. In his message to Bryennios, the aged Botaneiates (76 years old at his accession) offered him the rank of "Caesar" and his nomination as heir to the throne. Bryennios agreed in principle, but added a few conditions of his own, and sent the ambassadors back to Constantinople for confirmation. Botaneiates, who likely had initiated negotiations only to gain time, rejected Bryennios's conditions, and ordered Alexios Komnenos to campaign against the rebel.