This column is not about individual homosexuals. It is about a specific band of gay men who distinguished themselves yet were forgotten by history for an extended period of time.
Today gays, homosexuals, and same sex marriages are common place. The closet has been outed in most instances. In the military, don't ask, don't tell, is no longer the command of the day.
There was a time way back when the homosexual lifestyle was recognized and respected. More so than today. The place was ancient Greece. The time the 300 BCs. Homosexual relations were common. Men so inclined lived openly as partners. The lifestyle was not politically incorrect.
The Greece of those years was not the same as the Greece of today.There was no central government. Cities ruled. They were powers unto themselves. Little kingdoms. They fought each other constantly.
Sparta was the big gun. It was the most powerful city in Greece. The men were devoted to the military arts. Spartan boys were sent to military school at seven, Every male between the ages of 20 and 60 was required to serve in the armed forces. The military might of Sparta was feared by all.
Thebes was recognized at the time as a city of substance. A power militarily and commercially. However it was not considered competition for Sparta.
The Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC changed that impression. The Spartans were beating the Thebes as expected. The turning point in the battle came when an elite Thebian military unit was able to break through the Spartan right wing. The unit was known as the Sacred Band.
Thebes won. Historians refer to the Battle of Leuctra as the most decisive battle ever fought by Greeks against Greeks.
The Sacred Band consisted of 300 soldiers who had something in common. They were gay. They were lovers. The Sacred Band consisted of 150 homosexual couples who lived openly as such. The group was referred to as a band of lovers. Respectfully, of course.
It was not accidental that the Sacred Band came to be. The unit was conceived and put together on the theory that every man would be motivated to fight to his maximum. To protect his lover and to avoid shaming himself in front of his lover. The Sacred Band did conduct themselves accordingly.
The Sacred Band was undefeated for 33 years. Their defeat when it came was an annihilation. The defeat occurred in 338 BC in the Battle of Chaeronea. They were defeated by the Macedonians.
The opportunity to surrendered was offered. The remaining Sacred Band members refused. They preferred to fight to the death. They did so. All were killed.
School children should have been taught of the bravery of the Sacred Band. One could say they were not because of their homosexuality. Such would not be true. It was politics.
City states were big time rivals. The dislike for each other was great. Over the years leading up to the defeat of the Sacred Band, Thebes reputation diminished. Sparta's and Athen's increased. After the defeat of the Sacred Band, Thebes continued its downward spiral reputation wise and power wise.
How many today have ever heard of Thebes? Yet all know of Sparta and Athens. The Greeks wrote Thebes out of the history books. It is only in recent times that knowledge of Thebes has been returned. And with it the bravery and glory of the Sacred Band.
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