What Would Be the Outcome of a Eastern Roman-Backed Lombard Kingdom Restoration?

Tjakari

Tjakari

So, unbeknownst to me, there was an expedition to Italy in the late 780s by Empress Irene to place The son of Desiderius, the last king of the Lombards, Adalgis back onto the throne of Lombardy.
But when he arrived in Italy, he was met by a joint Lombard/Frankish force that defeated the expedition.

My questions are:

1. What would it take to have the expedition be a success? (Adalgis controlling territory in Italy, if not outright regaining the northern half of the kingdom)
2. What are the political consequences of the East having a renewed influence in Italy through the restored Lombard monarchy?

I'm sure that the Franks would be more than able of defending their gains in Italy at this time, but I wonder if a stalemate is possible. Especially a stalemate that stops the Pope from raising Charlelemagne to an Imperial title. The Lombards historically had awful relations with the Pope and with the backing of (what would be assumed to be) Iconoclastic Greeks, could this further along a deeper schism?

I'd like to read anyone's thoughts on this.
 
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Prince di Corsica

Well, according to the wiki article, the Lombard Duke of Benevento who fought with the Franks in the battle had just succeeded his father, who had been a supporter of Adalgis and refused to cooperate with the Franks. Maybe him surviving a bit longer could help turn the battle around and allow the expedition to get a foothold into Italy
 

Plundenoru

I think the best shot would be to have Desiderius supported by Byzantium win against Charlemagne when he came to the pope's defense.
 
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