Niketas Choniates
The defence of the Orthodox faith was the central ideology of Theodore's realm. Niketas Choniates compiled his "Treasury of Orthodoxy"a treatise against heresyin the Nicaean court. He described the fall of Constantinople as a punishment for the Byzantines' sins and compared their exile into Asia Minor to the Israelites' Babylonian captivity. Theodore realized that he was unable to recapture Constantinople from the Latins, but located near the old Byzantine capital, Nicaea was ideally placed for its future reconquest.