The Battle of Kalavrye (also Kalavryai or Kalavryta) was fought in 1078 between the Byzantine imperial forces of general (and future emperor) Alexios Komnenos and the rebellious governor of Dyrrhachium, Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder.

[4] After the defeat at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 against the Seljuk Turks and the overthrow of Romanos IV Diogenes (r. 1068–1071), the Byzantine Empire experienced a decade of near-continuous internal turmoil and rebellions.

The constant warfare depleted the Empire's armies, devastated Asia Minor and left it defenceless against the increasing encroachment of the Turks.

[5] The government of Michael VII Doukas (r. 1071–1078) failed to deal with the situation effectively, and rapidly lost support among the military aristocracy.

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.

[6] 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.

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.

His army comprised 12,000 mostly seasoned men from the standing regiments (tagmata) of Thessaly, Macedonia, and Thrace, as well as Frankish mercenaries and the elite tagma of the Hetaireia.

Alexios's forces included 2,000 Turkish horse-archers, 2,000 Chomatenoi from Asia Minor, a few hundred Frankish knights from Italy, and the newly raised regiment of the Immortals, which had been created by Michael VII's chief minister Nikephoritzes and was intended to form the nucleus of a new army.

The right wing, under his brother John, was 5,000 strong and comprised his Frankish mercenaries, Thessalian cavalry, the Hetaireia, and the Maniakatoi regiment (descendants of the veterans of George Maniakes's campaign in Sicily and Italy).

Again, according to standard doctrine, on his far left, about half a kilometre ("two stadia") from the main force, he had stationed an outflanking detachment (hyperkerastai) of Pechenegs.

Conversely, on the extreme left Alexios formed his own flanking detachment (apparently drawn from among the Immortals), concealed from enemy view inside a hollow.

His only chance at success was that his out-flankers, concealed by the broken terrain, would surprise and create enough confusion among Bryennios's men for him and his strong left wing to break through their lines.

In the meantime, on his right wing, the Chomatenoi, engaged with Tarchaneiotes's men, were outflanked and attacked in the rear by the Pechenegs, who had somehow evaded Alexios's Turkish flank-guards.

Confusion reigned behind their lines as a result of the Pecheneg attack on the rebel camp, and in this tumult Alexios saw Bryennios's imperial parade horse, with his two swords of state, being driven away to safety.

[19] The attack of Alexios's division initially caught Bryennios's men off guard, but, being veteran troops, they soon recovered and once again began to push it back.

[20] When the battle reached the place of the ambush, Alexios's wings, likened in the Alexiad to a "swarm of wasps", attacked the rebel army on the flanks firing arrows and shouting loudly, spreading panic and confusion among Bryennios's men.