[1] The next move was the arrival of Robert Guiscard, with a large corps, who laid siege to the Byzantine city of Bari on 5 August 1068.
When the Norman troops neared, the former had prevailed and the local barons shut the city's gates and sent an embassy led by Bisantius Guirdeliku to emperor Romanos IV Diogenes in order to seek military help.
[2] Otranto fell in October,[1] but at Bari the Norman attacks against the walls were repeatedly pushed back by the Byzantines.
Robert did not return immediately to Bari, and in the January 1070 he moved to Brindisi to help the Norman forces then besieging that coastal fortress.
Stephen Pateran, appointed as new catepan of Italy, came with him; however, the Normans intercepted the Byzantine ships off Bari and scattered them.
The Norman sailors identified Gocelin's ship and, despite the loss of 150 men, finally captured it; Stephen Pateran was instead able to reach Bari.