The Sacred Band of Thebes was an elite military unit of 300 highly trained heavy infantry soldiers (hoplites), famously composed of 150 pairs of male lovers. Formed in the 4th century BCE the Thebans, who came from a uniquely gay-tolerant society, believed that soldiers would fight more ferociously to protect their partners and to avoid showing cowardice in front of them. They were not wrong. The Sacred Band quickly became the shock troops of the Theban army and one of the most dominant phalanx formations of the Ancient Greek world. While most people think of the Spartans when they think of Greek military excellence in the classical world most would also be surprised to know that the Sacred Band went on to not only defeat the Spartans but establish Thebes as a dominant, albeit short-term, power in Greece.

James Romm is Professor of Classics at Bard College and author of numerous books on Greek history and culture, including, Plato and the Tyrant: The Fall of Greece's Greatest Dynasty and the Making of a Philosophic Masterpiece (Norton). Most recently he has published his biography of Demosthenes as part of Yale's Ancient Lives series.

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