other political prisoners. This demand was refused and he appeared before the executive branch and parliament to tell them he would go to Messinia alone to organize a resistance against Ibrahim, determined to return victorious or die in the battlefield. George Finlay writes in his book, “The archimandrite Daikaios (Pappa Phlessas) was still Minister of the Interior. He was the most unprincipled man of the party of the Moreot chiefs. The universal indignation now expressed at his conducts convinced him that it would be dangerous for him to remain in Nauplia, where his licentious life and gross peculation pointed him out as the first object of popular vengeance, and the scapegoat for the sins of his colleagues. The archimandrite was destitute of private virtue and political honesty, but he was a man of activity and courage. Perhaps too, at this decisive moment a sense of shame urged him to cancel his previous misdeeds by an act of patriotism. He asked permission of the government to march against the Egyptians, boasting that he would vanquish Ibrahim or perish in the combat”. Papaflessas gathered 3,000 poorly armed men and went to the province of Pylia, Messinia, searching for the best spot to face Ibrahim's army coming out of the city of Pylos. He selected the hills of Maniaki in order for him to have a better view of the enemy's movements and there Papaflessas established three lines of defence. On June 1, 1825, Ibrahim's forces led by well-trained French officers attacked Papaflessas' defence lines. Most of the Greek troops lost their nerve, abandoned their positions, and fled. Papaflessas continued to fight the Egyptians with a small force of 800-1000 men loyal to him and his cause. Papaflessas knew that in choosing to face Ibrahim he would die on the battlefield. Papaflessas's defenses were ultimately broken by the heavy bombardment of Ibrahim's artillery and the repeated attacks of his infantry and cavalry. Fierce hand-to-hand fighting ended with the death of the last defender. After Papaflessa's death from a bullet in the chest, Ibrahim ordered that his body be cleaned of blood and dirt and tied to a tree. After a few minutes of looking at his foe, Ibrahim walked up to the corpse and kissed it on the cheek as a sign of extreme respect. In speaking of Papaflessas after his death, it is said that Ibrahim told his officers: "If Greece had