[X] The Protostrator
A glass of water in the desert is priceless.
This option alone can drastically change the fate of southern italy; it's also far from the capital so we can more firmly secure a powerbase for ourselves. My hope is that if we swing things around so that Alexios Axouchos wins, we will have his gratitude and trust when he leaves for mainland Greece. Because of the prophecy, he and the Emperor will come to blows; and in such a situation there is no shortage of opportunity.
So long as Southern Italy and Sicily is in our hands, we can become the deciding factor in any civil war, winning the gratitude of the winner, or crown ourselves King should we pursue independence. In contrast the other options involve indenturing ourselves to powerful players who anyways have better generals...also being too close to the capital means politics and intrigue, which we aren't specced for.