[10] Prior to this, there were references to elite Theban forces also numbering 300. ]"[34] This is echoed by the historians John Buckler and Hans Beck who conclude that "In sum, Plutarch's description of the battle of Tegyra does justice both to the terrain of Polygyra and to the information gleaned from his fourth-century sources. Both Plato and Xenophon were Athenians. [49] The original position of the Sacred Band being led by Pelopidas is unknown. was recorded by Kevin Arndt at the Exchange Recording Complex in Milwaukee and mastered by the legendary Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound in New York. And if there were only some way of contriving that a state or an army should be made up of lovers and their beloved, they would be the very best governors of their own city, abstaining from all dishonour, and emulating one another in honour; and when fighting at each other's side, although a mere handful, they would overcome the world. [16][62][63] This tale was current already in the 1830s, but has been strongly refuted. Looking back at the rock, he was struck by its appearance of being sculpted and called for their party to stop. Photo by Miti on Unsplash. The formation of the Sacred Band of Thebes was not merely a publicity stunt. Athenians, in particular, held a special contempt for Thebes due to the latter's actions in the Peloponnesian War; as well as the Thebans' destruction of Plataea in 373 BC, and the invasion of the Athenian-allied Boeotian city of Oropus in 366 BC. About The Sacred Band. Xenophon, another Athenian, is the only contemporary who grudgingly notes some Theban accomplishments, and even then, never in-depth and with numerous omissions. Their defeat at the battle was a significant victory for Philip, since until then, the Sacred Band was regarded as invincible throughout all of Ancient Greece. [49] Anticipating the standard Spartan tactic of flanking enemy armies with their right wing, Epaminondas concentrated his forces on his own left wing, directly opposite the strongest Spartiate phalanx, led by Cleombrotus. Of Gods and Supermen, lacerations of the flesh, the sensuality acquired from the image of Saint Christopher impaled on the cross. The Sacred Band predominance began when led by the general Pelopidas, alongside Epaminondas who commanded the army of Thebes, in a crucial role where they were responsible for the defeat of the Spartans at the decisive Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC. Swords and remarkably long spearheads measuring about 15 in (38 cm) were also discovered, which Soteriades identified as the Macedonian sarissas. Though none of these mention the Sacred Band by name, these may have referred to the Sacred Band or at least its precursors. [7][25], Shortly after the stand-off in Thebes, Agesilaus disbanded his army in Thespiae and returned to Peloponnesos through Megara. [18][19], The Sacred Band was stationed in Cadmea as a standing force, likely as defense against future attempts by foreign forces to take the citadel. Xenophon's Socrates in his Symposium disapprovingly mentions the practice of placing lovers beside each other in battle in the city-states of Thebes and Elis, arguing that while the practice was acceptable to them, it was shameful for Athenians. In addition to Pausanias and Strabo, Justin also clearly says that Philip forced the Thebans to pay for the privilege of burying (not cremating) their dead. The Thebans however were committed to a fight. Leuctra established Theban independence from Spartan rule and laid the groundwork for the expansion of Theban power, but possibly also for the eventual supremacy of Philip II of Macedon. [52] Some military historians believe Epaminondas placed Pelopidas and the Sacred Band behind the main hoplite phalanx,[51] others believe he put it in front of the main hoplite phalanx and behind the cavalry,[52] while others put it on the front left corner of the main hoplite phalanx (the most likely). As The Sacred Band begins, one of them, Queen Corinn, bestrides the world as a result of her mastery of spells found in the ancient Book of Elenet. [5] Among the casualties of the battle, he notes that "three thousand were those of Carthaginians, a great affliction for the city. [35] His peltasts broke ranks and fled back to Thespiae pursued by Theban forces. For instance, the Athenian Isocrates (436–338 BC) in his Plataicus (which details the destruction of Plataea by the Thebans), makes no mention of the Theban victory in Leuctra, and harshly reviles Thebes throughout. Sanctuary, Book 2 of Janet Morris' Sacred Band series.. Black Gate Magazine says: "'Beyond Sanctuary' is a wonderful novel, and this edition is a brand-new, revised and expanded Author’s Cut. Among them are Ephorus and Callisthenes who were contemporaries of the Theban hegemony and the Sacred Band. [26] In unison, his mercenary hoplites immediately assumed the resting posture—with the spear remaining pointing upwards instead of towards the enemy, and the shield propped against the left knee instead of being hoisted at the shoulders. [6] However this broke down soon after in 374 BC, when Athens and Sparta resumed hostilities over Korkyra (modern Corfu). He mentions the Sacred Band as being led by the general Pelopidas and, alongside Epaminondas who commanded the army of Thebes (Boeotia), were responsible for the defeat of the Spartans at the decisive Battle of Leuctra(371 BC). His only mentions of Pelopidas and Epaminondas by name, for example, were very brief and shed no light on their previous accomplishments. The battleground between them was about 900 m (3,000 ft) wide. [47] The two armies pitched their camps opposite each other on two low ridges respectively. You love the image of the potent- bust carved from white marble. Diodorus puts the number of Thebans at 500 against the Spartans' 1,000 (each mora consisting of 500 men), apparently basing it on Ephorus' original figures. . The most unfriendly writers like Xenophon and Isocrates could do was omit his accomplishments in their work altogether. (Ashley, 2004), Homosexuality in the militaries of ancient Greece, "Same-Sex Desire and Love in Greco-Roman Antiquity", "Intra-Socratic Polemics: The Symposia of Plato and Xenophon", "The King's Peace and the Second Athenian Confederacy", "The Battle of Leuktra: Organizational Revolution in Military Affairs in the Classical World", "Monument (Trophy) of The Battle of Leuktra", "On the discovery of the Lion at Chæronea, by a party of English travellers in 1818", "Pausanias as a source for the classical Greek, "Special issue: Receptions of Pausanias: From Winckelmann to Frazer", "Between Athens, Sparta, and Persia: the Historical Significance of the Liberation of Thebes in 379 BC", The Queer Insurrection and Liberation Army, Transgender American Veterans Association, Sexual orientation and gender identity in military service, Sexual orientation and gender identity in the military, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sacred_Band_of_Thebes&oldid=1008001319, Military units and formations of ancient Greece, Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 21 February 2021, at 01:35. [68], The historian William Kendrick Pritchett criticizes Hammond's rationale as "subjective" and counters it with a passage from Historiarum Philippicarum Libri XLIV of the 3rd-century AD Roman historian Justin. They enlisted the help of some nearby farmers until they finally uncovered the massive head of a stone lion which they recognized as the same lion mentioned by Pausanias. It was during the famous stand-off between the Athenian mercenary commander (and later strategos) Chabrias (d. 357 BC) and the Spartan King Agesilaus II (444 BC–360 BC). The Sacred Band was an elite military unit from Thebes comprising 150 gay couples. The Sacred Band of Carthage was an infantry unit of Carthaginian citizens that served in Carthaginian armies during the fourth century BC. Although some Spartans were in favor of resuming the battle in order to recover the bodies of their dead, the allied perioeci of the Spartan left wing were less than willing to continue fighting (indeed some of them were quite pleased at the turn of events). The Sacred Band is usually recognised as being established by 379BC or 378BC and is discussed at length in the works of Plato, Plutarch and Xenophon. [59], In 1818, a British architect named George Ledwell Taylor spent a summer in Greece with two friends at Livadeia. He describes the Carthaginians being ambushed by Greek forces while crossing the river Crimissus, and the prolonged engagement that followed during torrential rain. The Sacred Band: They were called “an army of lovers” Hardly anyone ever mentions Thebes, thirty-three miles northwest of Athens in the region of Boeotia, once a powerful urban center that dominated the rest of Greece. Phoebidas was killed by the Theban cavalry. [25][44] Of the pro-Spartan Boeotian poleis, only Orchomenus remained. The Sacred Band was highly atypical since Carthaginian citizens generally only served as officers or cavalry; the bulk of Carthaginian armies was usually made up of foreign mercenaries, infantry from allied communities (who might be Punic colonists), and levies from client states. Its predominance began with its crucial role in the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC. In 338 BCE, during the Battle of Chaeronea that results in the massacre of the Sacred Band of Thebes, the legendary Tempus and his Stepson cavalry rescue twenty-three pairs of Theban Sacred Banders, paired lovers and friends, to fight on other days. Section III Legendary Loves & Sometimes-Real Romances. [56][57], Pausanias in his Description of Greece mentions that the Thebans had erected a gigantic statue of a lion near the village of Chaeronea, surmounting the polyandrion (πολυάνδριον, common tomb) of the Thebans killed in battle against Philip. The Spartans advanced, confident in their numbers, only to have their leaders killed immediately in the opening clashes. The five pieces (head, neck, chest, and forelegs) into which the statue was divided for most of the 19th century, before its reconstruction in 1902, bore no evidence of an explosion, but were cleanly cut, likely being the original pieces that formed the statue. The Spartan right flank were forced to retreat (after retrieving the body of Cleombrotus). In 338 BCE, during the Battle of Chaeronea that results in the massacre of the Sacred Band of Thebes, the legendary Tempus and his Stepson cavalry rescue twenty-three pairs of Theban Sacred Banders, paired lovers and friends, to fight on other days. Their main function was to cripple the enemy by engaging and killing their best men and leaders in battle. [16] A tumulus near the monument was also tentatively identified as the site of the Macedonian polyandrion where the Macedonian dead were cremated. He mentions the Sacred Band as being led by the general Pelopidas and, alongside Epaminondas who commanded the army of Thebes (Boeotia), were responsible for the defeat of the Spartans at the decisive Battle of Leuctra (371 BC). After its destruction at White Tunis, the "Sacred Band" disappears from historical record. [23] In 375 BC, the command of the band was transferred to the younger boeotarch Pelopidas, one of the original Theban exiles who had led the forces who recaptured Cadmea. [36] In 373 BC, Thebans under the command of the boeotarch Neocles attacked and razed its traditional rival, the Boeotian city of Plataea. With the fall of the stockades, they were left with two choices, either to retreat back to the defensible walls of Thebes or to hold their ground and face the Spartans in the open. This page was last edited on 10 March 2021, at 00:34. [42], The historian Gordon S. Shrimpton further provides an explanation for Xenophon's silence on much of Theban history. (Rhodes, 2006), Paul Cartledge and other historians believe that the exceedingly tiny proportion of spartiates dominating a force of about 10,000 allied troops (not all of them fully loyal) may have contributed to the defeat. [18], According to Plutarch, Gorgidas originally distributed the members of the Sacred Band among the front ranks of the phalanxes of regular infantry. [18] Other historians however argue that Alexander actually commanded hoplites armed with sarissas (pikes), rather than cavalry, especially since Plutarch also mentions that the Sacred Band fell to "lances of the Macedonian phalanx". [42][note 8] They succeeded in fixing the Spartans in place until the rest of the Theban heavy infantry finally smashed into the Spartan right wing. [6] It left a deep impression in Greece and boosted the morale among Boeotians, foreshadowing the later Battle of Leuctra. The story of the Sacred Band, an elite 300-man corps recruited from pairs of lovers, highlights a chaotic era of ancient Greek history, four decades marked by battles, ideological disputes, and the rise of vicious strongmen. The Thebans of the Sacred Band held their ground and Plutarch records that all 300 fell where they stood beside their last commander, Theagenes. [52][53], The battle opened with a cavalry charge by both armies. The Spartan cavalry were quickly defeated by the superior Theban cavalry and were chased back to their own side. The Sacred Band of Thebes (Ancient Greek: Ἱερὸς Λόχος, Hieròs Lókhos) was a troop of select soldiers, consisting of 150 pairs of male lovers which formed the elite force of the Theban army in the 4th century BC, ending Spartan domination. In 338 BCE, during the Battle of Chaeronea that results in the massacre of the Sacred Band of Thebes, Tempus and his Stepson cavalry rescue twenty three pairs of Theban Sacred Banders, paired brothers and lovers, to fight on other days. Hence their courage was thought irresistible, and their high repute before the battle made a conquest already of enemies, who thought themselves no match for the men of Sparta even on equal terms. Democracies saw it as insurance against tyranny . [24], Agesilaus first sent out skirmishers to test the combined Theban and Athenian lines. The Sacred Band of Thebes was comprised of 300 men, 150 pairs of lovers. They also had the same opinion of his account on Leuctra, dismissing assertions that his accounts were confused or rhetorical. Gilgamesh (Aether) Company Slogan is an free company! Noted classical historians such as John Kinloch Anderson and George Cawkwell accept Plutarch's Life of Pelopidas, which contains the most detailed account of the Sacred Band, as a highly reliable account of the events, in contrast to Xenophon's patchy treatment of Theban history. Diodorus records that the numbers involved for the two armies were more or less equal, both having around 30,000 men and 2,000 cavalry.[55]. [19] Athenaeus of Naucratis also records the Sacred Band as being composed of "lovers and their favorites, thus indicating the dignity of the god Eros in that they embrace a glorious death in preference to a dishonorable and reprehensible life",[9] while Polyaenus describes the Sacred Band as being composed of men "devoted to each other by mutual obligations of love". The Sacred Band of Thebes lives on, a world away, in this mythic novel of love in war in ancient times. He then placed the non-combatants directly behind the defenders of Elateia. At stake was freedom, democracy, and the fate … At the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC, these 300 gay warriors led the Theban army against the Spartan army. Her younger brother, Dariel, has been sent on a perilous mission to the Other Lands, while her sister, Mena, travels to the far north to confront an invasion of the feared race of the Auldek. [29][34] These forays became so destructive that by the end of the summer, the Thebans went out in force against Thespiae under the command of Gorgidas. Herodotus describes them as "the first and the finest" (πρῶτοι καὶ ἄριστοι) among Thebans. The story of the Sacred Band, an elite 300-man corps recruited from pairs of lovers, highlights a chaotic era of ancient Greek history, four decades marked by battles, ideological disputes, and the rise of vicious strongmen. According to Pausanias (c. 2nd century AD), the Battle of Leuctra was the most decisive battle ever fought by Greeks against Greeks. They dismounted and dug at it with their riding-whips, ascertaining that it was indeed sculpture. . Romm traces the origins and reasons behind the formation of the Theban sacred band; in broad terms, Thebes needed a mighty army to defend the state against constantly fluctuating allegiances. The Sacred Band of Carthage is the name used by ancient Greek historians to refer to an elite infantry unit of Carthaginian citizens that served in military campaigns during the fourth century BC. The earliest known mention of this unit is in the first century AD by Diodorus Siculus, in his account of the Battle of the Crimissus in Sicily in 341 BC. The exact number of the belligerents on each side varies by account. The remaining polemarchoi eventually decided to request a truce, which the Thebans readily granted. The Sacred Band of Thebes lives on, a world away, in this mythic novel of love in war in ancient times. [18] It was composed of 150 male couples,[15] each pair consisting of an older erastês (ἐραστής, "lover") and a younger erômenos (ἐρώμενος, "beloved"). It is unknown how they identified themselves or whether they were considered a distinct formation. Phoebidas, hoping for a rout, rashly pursued them closely. The Spartans also sent a large force led by King Cleombrotus I (Sparta having two kings simultaneously for most of its history) to Phocis, ready to invade Boeotia if the Thebans refuse to attend the peace conference or accept its terms. Diodorus also records 300 picked men (ἄνδρες ἐπίλεκτοι) present in the Battle of Delium (424 BC), composed of heníochoi (ἡνίοχοι, "charioteers") and parabátai (παραβάται, "those who walk beside"). [6][20][21] It was occasionally referred to as the "City Band" (ἐκ πόλεως λόχος), due to their military training and housing being provided at the expense of the Boeotian polis. [19][39] The Thebans didn't pursue the fleeing survivors, mindful of the remaining Spartan mora stationed in Orchomenus less than 5 km (3.1 mi) away. [62], In the late 19th century, excavations in the area revealed that the monument stood at the edge of a quadrangular enclosure. [76], Shrimpton believes that the apparent indifference of earlier authors was due to the general hatred by other Greeks against the Thebans who had medized (i.e. The authors open it without wasting any time to hint that some of the characters, like Tempus (AKA the Riddler) have multiple names. For what lover would not choose rather to be seen by all mankind than by his beloved, either when abandoning his post or throwing away his arms? [16][18], The Sacred Band first saw action in 378 BC, at the beginning of the Boeotian War. It only shows that Plato was more mindful of his chronology in his Symposium than Xenophon, and proves that he was actually quite aware of the Sacred Band in his time. He notes that all the surviving contemporary accounts of Thebes during the period of Theban hegemony between 371 and 341 BC were often highly critical; with their failures ridiculed and their accomplishments usually being downplayed or omitted altogether. [16] The lion, which stands about 12.5 ft (3.8 m) high, was mounted on a reconstructed pedestal about 10 ft (3.0 m) high. After a series of skirmishes which he won with some difficulty, he was forced again to withdraw when the Theban army came out full force as he approached the city. [22] They likely ended their service at age 30. Tonight. Or who would desert his beloved or fail him in the hour of danger? [42][49] Either way, the Sacred Band is definitely known to have been on the left wing, close to the main Theban forces and detached enough to be able to maneuver freely. [31][36][41] In Plutarch's own words: For in all the great wars there had ever been against Greeks or barbarians, the Spartans were never before beaten by a smaller company than their own; nor, indeed, in a set battle, when their number was equal. [2][3] As in many Greek city-states and the early Roman Republic, members of the Sacred Band were armed and equipped at their own expense, and thus had high quality armor and weaponry. Demosthenes records this sentiment very clearly in a disclaimer in his speech On the Navy (354 BC): "It is difficult to speak to you about [Thebans], because you have such a hearty dislike of them that you would not care to hear any good of them, even if it were true. The Sacred Band of Thebes lives on, a world away, in this mythic novel of love and war in ancient times. [47], The Theban army was outnumbered by the Spartans, being composed of only about 6,000 hoplites (including the Sacred Band), 1,500 light infantry, and 1,000 cavalry. But the major source of … You love the image of the potent- bust carved from white marble. The classical Greeks tolerated a wide range of sexual appetites. The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris is an epic story of love in war that begins at the historical Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC and ends with a battle for the hearts and souls of … They stripped the dead and set up a tropaion (τρόπαιον, a commemorative trophy left at the site of a battle victory) before continuing on to Thebes. Louisville, KY (40203) Today. Diodorus observes at this point that the Thebans thereafter faced the Spartans with confidence. [67] In 1902, however, permission was granted and the monument was pieced back together with funding by the Order of Chaeronea. The self-titled E.P. Cleombrotus then moved inland, following the eastward road towards Thebes, until he reached the Boeotian village of Leuctra (modern Lefktra, Plataies) near the southwestern end of the Theban plain.
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