 Closer relations with the papacy therefore had to wait for the outbreak of tensions caused by the worsening of the Byzantine tax, and the expedition in 724 conducted by the Exarch of Ravenna against Pope Gregory II.Later on he exploited the disputes between the pope and Constantinople over iconoclasm (after the decree of Emperor Leo III the Isaurian of 726) to take possession of many cities of the Exarchate and of the Pentapolis, posing as the protector of Catholics.In order not to antagonize the Pope, he gave up the occupation of the village of Sutri; however, Liutprand gave the city not to the emperor, but to "the apostles Peter and Paul", as Paul the Deacon related in his "Historia Langobardorum".