In the post-revolutionary period, robbery was on the rise, despite various measures taken by governments to neutralize it. The sparsely populated countryside, insufficient policing, lax guarding of the Greek-Turkish border and the political immunity of some bandits contributed to the maintenance of the phenomenon throughout the 19th century.
On March 30, 1870 a group of English tourists and diplomats set out on a visit to Marathon, accompanied by men of the Gendarmerie. It consisted of Lord and Lady Mancaster, their young friend Frederick Weiner, the barrister Edward Lloyd, the Third Secretary of the British Embassy in Athens Edward Herbert and the Secretary of the Italian Embassy in Athens, Count Alberto de Boyle, who was added at the last minute in companionship. Everything was going smoothly, when on the return journey the excursionists were ambushed which had been set up by the numerous gang of the brothers Takos and Christos Arvanitakis near Pikermi. The accompanying gendarmes were easily neutralized and the group of travelers found themselves in the hands of the Arvanitakis.
Takos Arvanitakis, who was the leader of the gang, defected to the government of Thrasyvoulos Zaimis her demands, which were a ransom of 50,000 and the granting of amnesty. And while the English embassy accepted the kidnappers' terms, the government was against it. Military Minister Skarlatos Tsoutsos argued that any concession to the demands of the gangs would constitute an unacceptable humiliation of the country. In addition, he invoked a constitutional obstacle to the granting of amnesty, only to receive an ironic response from a Foreign Office official:"I would not be able to accept as valid the objection regarding the unconstitutionality of the amnesty. The Greek Constitution has been violated so often in spite of the government, that I would not be able to pay attention to a preface based on such an excuse".
The delay in the government's response infuriated the captors and Lord Mancaster, one of the hostages, asked to be allowed to return to Athens to collect the ransom money and arrange for amnesty to be granted. The English nobleman arrived in Athens, but the government remained adamant and even took action, sending a military detachment to discover and arrest the kidnappers.
The Arvanitakis, who knew very well the localities of Attica, fled through Penteli and Parnitha and took refuge in Oropos, after having first freed the women. From there they informed the government that if the pursuit continued they would be forced to kill the captives. Tsoutsos, who had the general mandate from the government side, all he was discussing now was the unconditional release of the abductees and the favorable treatment of the kidnappers. At the same time, military detachments were trying to trap the gang members in Attica so that they wouldn't escape towards the Greek-Turkish border, which at the time was just above Lamia.
On April 9, 1870, the men of a detachment came face to face with the Arvanitakis in Delesi, a coastal area north of Oropos. They killed the four hostages and then tried to escape. Of the shootings that followed, only Takos Arvanitakis managed to escape. 20 of his men were killed on the spot, among them his brother Christos, and nine were arrested to later be sentenced to death and executed.
The loss for our country was great and its prestige collapsed. The European press spoke of a "country of semi-barbarians", a "nest of robbers and pirates", and characterized Greece as a "disgrace to civilization", which are "placed outside the circle of civilized states". Some English government officials reported that "the robberies are decided in Athens, where the money is distributed", implying a connection between the robbers and political power, while some others called for military intervention in Greece.
According to sansimera.gr, the situation was saved by the pro-Hellenic Foreign Minister Gladston and the ambassadors of Russia and the USA, who supported the actions of the Greek government. Finally, Greece was obliged to express its regret to the governments of England and Italy and to pay each of the families of the victims the sum of 22,000 pounds.
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