Alexios Philanthropinos came from a military family. In 1294 he was appointed by Andronikos, commander of the border forces on the Maeander River. General Livadarios was appointed commander of the other Asia Minor forces.
Philanthropinos recruited many Cretan refugees into the army – after a revolution against the Venetians, many Cretans left Crete and fled to Byzantium. In this way he reinforced the border guards with elite light infantry.
The Cretans were famous archers since ancient times. Reinforced, Philanthropinos decided to attack the Turks who were constantly harassing the border towns and villages. Philanthropinos quickly invaded the Turkish-occupied lands, dispersed the Turkish troops, captured the fortress of Melanudion and reached Miletos as a liberator!
He captured so many Turkish prisoners that, according to the historians of the time, a Turkish slave was worth less in the city than a sheep. The various Turkish governors and emirs were horrified and hastened to declare submission, granting him troops. A
n then, as he was reinforced, he continued the campaign, very likely he had cleared a large part of Asia Minor from the Turks with the help of the Turks themselves. After all, they did the same thing later, using the Greeks to enslave the Greeks, since unfortunately, the carnage of discord struck in this case as well.
Philanthropinos was persuaded by the army to rebel and proclaim himself emperor. That's exactly how it happened. However, Andronikos managed, through Livadarios, to arrest him and blind him, in December 1296.
In this way, the only opportunity to recover Asia Minor was lost, as well as the only worthy leader of the Greek forces. Also, Andronicus began to fear for his throne and stopped trusting the native troops, choosing to support mercenaries.