He thus dispatched a petition for military aid to the council in Piacenza, urging Urban to send a detachment of Latin troops to help repel the threat posed by Islam. Alexius probably hoped for little more than a token force of Frankish mercenaries, a small army that could be readily shaped and directed. In fact, over the next two years, his empire would be practically overrun by a tide of humankind.
The paragraph before this established that the Byzantine Emperor's trove is filling up but he still had to deal with external threats.
So what I highlighted might be hearsay. See, if I were the Byzantine Emperor, having much money to hire mercenaries, would I request the help from someone like the Pope who has no army?
Reading between the lines tell me that there is a bigger threat that a "little more of a token force of Frankish mercenaries" can handle. Besides, have I no other allies I could request assistance from?
