 Soon after that, Balata, who seems to have taken over the functions, if not the title, of the imperial "strategos" on the island, appeared nearby with a Byzantine force.The two armies clashed on a plain south-east of Mazara, where Asad's men, after exhortations by their leader, gained a victory.Balata retreated first to Enna and from there to Calabria on the Italian mainland, where he may have hoped to gather more troops.