John the Orphanotrophos essentially administered the state in the name of hisbrother. He was a capable ruler, although his ruthless taxation policies earnedhim a reputation for rapaciousness. John sought to tax the substantial wealthof the dynatoi, and for this he earned the support of the civil aristocracy, buthis measures naturally were felt more heavily by the poor than by the wealthy, and he did nothing effective to restrict the disappearance of peasant landholdingin the provinces.Partly as a resultof John’s fiscal policies and partly as a reaction to apparentByzantine military weakness, revolts broke out in the Balkans. The first ofthese, under Peter Deljan, sought to restore the empire of Samuel.