I’m living in Thebes and it’s a nice little city. In the past, it was a powerful city-state indeed, bringing fear to its enemies. Now the only thing bringing fear to the hearts of the people is the search for car parking space in the city center.
It is kind of sad isn't it. I wonder if there would be some way to properly rebirth local cultural diversity, pride and competition that didn't lead to the warfare, infighting and strife of the ancient world. Because even though undoubtedly our lives are more comfortable today, I can't help feeling some things have been lost.
Historical fact: None of the sources dealing with the battle of Chaeronea mentions the cavalry charge led by Alexander which have destroyed the sacred band of Thebes (the sources are: Diodorus Siculus, Plutarch, Justin, Polyaenus, Frontinus). This theory (about cavalry charge) was developed by historan N.G.L. Hammond in 1930s (since Diodorus Siculus attests that Philip had 2000 cavalry at his disposal, it seemed reasonable to assume he used them in the battle). This theory was later expanded by historian Minor M Markle. But in "The annihilation of the sacred band at Chaeronea" from 1981 historian Paul A Rhae objected this theory pointing out that the ancient sources actually suggests otherwise (that Alexander did not lead cavalry charge): that Diodorus Siculus describes the battle of Chaeronea as long, hard fought infantry clash; and that Plutarch reports that after the battle members of sacred band lied dead among sarissa (long pike used by phalanx) which they have faced in the battle. And recently there has been a discovery of a strategem found in Sylloge Tacticorum describing a battle which was identified as one of two battles preceeding battle of Chaeronea. It describes how Philip lost significant amount of horsemen in the engagement with Thebans. This new evidence prompted historian Jacek Rzepka to imploy a new reconstruction of the the battle of Chaeronea in his paper "The First Battles of Chaeronea Campaign 339/8 BC" from 2018, where he supports Paul A Rhae reconstruction. Jacek Rzepka suggests that since Diodorus Siculus omits two early battles (winter/spring 338 BC) fought shortly before battle of Chaeronea in which Greeks were victorious (mentioned by Demosthenes: "On the Crown"), the numbers of troops (2000 cavalry) refers to Philip's army strength at the beginning of the campaing and not in the actual battle of Chaeronea. Taking under the account significant losses of macedonian horsemen in the battle preceeding Chaeronea (described in recently discovered strategem in Sylloge Tacticorum) Jacek Rzepka suggests that cavalry in fact had played little or no role in the battle of Chaeronea. The prevailing reconstruction in academic world nowadays (as Jacek Rzepka says himself) is: that Alexander led infantry and not cavalry in the battle of Chaeronea. But the cavalry charge theory will still remain the most known in popular history, since it cannot be erased from all the books already released.
@@angryman132 I've made a video covering the battle of Chaeronea, using these papers and more. My narration sucks, but otherwise I am quite proud of it
@Klaidi Rubiku Just to clarify, Alexander led one flank (the one next to the river) in the Battle of Chaeronea, and he did destroy the Sacred Band of Thebes. But the prevailing nowadays theory says he led infantry (as Paul A Rahe and Jacek Rzepka argue) and not cavalry (as N.G.L. Hammond had conjectured in 1930s, and later Minor M Markle expanded on)
Correction: There weren't _only_ 300. There were exactly 300 Spartans there, but there were also other allied Greeks totaling a couple thousand. The Spartans (along with the usually-forgotten 700 Thespians) were the only ones who chose to stay and die after being outflanked.
Fun fact: the spartan battle cry was. Ah num num num numm. Jim Henson character cookie monster pays tribute to the old battle cry. Contrary to popular belief, Spartans did not like cookies.
The Spartan did lost a battle before 50 year after the battle og Thermopylae Sparta was at war with Athens and Sparta did lost one battle were 120 Spartan soldiers surrender
To be fair once the opposing armies discovered that the Sacred Band mostly preferred to attack from the rear , sometimes the flanks and even more rarely mouth first -- the were handily defeated. And mouthily, I'm sure. I am so going to hell, aren't I?
@@SabbaticusRex Who isn't? But it is better to go to hell as that is where the good company is! Only people who like gardening, talking with God and Greys Anatomy would enjoy heaven.
Philip didn't cry just because they fought bravely growing up he was a captive in Thebes where he learnt military strategy and many of these people were his friends
@@Cherry-pu4mx kind of sus that history perverts associate that number with the Spartans, who the Thebans absolutely battered in battle (and also bc there were hundreds Boeotian soldiers at the battle of the hot gates to help the Spartans out)
@@End-Result There were only 300 spartans sent at the battle of thermopylae and estimates at least 4000 other greeks. The 300 survived till the end along with 1500 other greeks. 2 were on mission and 298 spartans including Leonidas marched to their deaths upon hearing of the Persians flanking. He urged the 1500 remaining greeks to surrender. Historians debate whether this is true or if it was because they were surrounded by the immortals. The thebians were 300 but didnt fight alone either and although the side they fought on was outnumbered, they used a strategy unseen before. The thebian band filled the first file and filled tht file with more soldiers than the usual standard, leaving the other files less deep. This allowed them to use greater force by outnumbering one side and pushing through the front lines of the spartans.
Philip of Macedon was actually raised and educated in Thebes, so he knew the reputation of the Sacred Band well, he might've even met some of the men who died at Chaeronea while he was there.
And he was the eromenos(love object) of Pelopidas while he was there -Phillip was later assassinated by a jilted male lover (Pausanias) on Phillip's own wedding day.It is therefore likely that the "Holy Band" really was an army of male lovers given these details and also the fact that Alexander the Great and many other noble Macedonians had male lovers themselves -Hephaistion in the case of Alexander.
@Bored Again yeah, so you could have somebody from the Middle East or a fairly European Hispanic; but the diversity people in entertainment get seriously squeamish if there aren’t roles for black people, Indians or Asians.
The name Sacred Band :(Ιερός Λόχος) has been used by other Greek Formations. Such as the the Sacred Band which was a picked body of university students that participated in the Revolutionary War of Independence of 1821. The Cretan Sacred Band that participated in the Cretan Uprising of 1866-1869. The Cretan Students Sacred Band that fought in Epirus, Northern Greece, during the Balkan Wars. The Epirote Sacred Band that fought against the Kingdom of Albania and Central Powers forces at World War I. Finally the most famous after the Thebans, the Sacred Band which was established by exiled forces in Egypt, during World War II it aided in the Resistance and Liberation of modern Greece.
Οι καημένοι οι Ιερολοχίτες στην μάχη του Πέτα σχεδόν εξοντώθηκαν μέχρις ενός! Από μια ομάδα στρατιωτών περιμένεις τέτοια συμπεριφορά, όχι όμως κι από φοιτητές! Τιμή και δόξα στους μεγάλους Έλληνες αγωνιστές!
When Sacred Band of Thebes beat the Spartans they had the advantage of understanding enemy tactics and being somewhat unknown , they where finally defeated with the same situation happened to them. Extraordinary history, thank you.
...they actually didnt and it's a complete myth. The whole gay thing was suggested by a politician but they never actually did it. You are being lied to.
@@NeuKrofta There are a lot of sources that the Thebian bands did practice something related to a same-sex relationship in partnership whether through a friendship that often engaged in sex, or simply a pedastry type relationship (which is unfortunately common with most cultures that practice a sense of male same-sex relationship due to the ideas of masculinity being a "penatrative force" if you know what I mean"
@@jonathanmosher72 Platos last book "Laws" shows that he did not have a high regard for homosexuals and one piece of pottery scribbles doesn't mean it was a big thing in society.
@@NeuKrofta Wrong. It is largely accepted by historians. Plutarch is considered one of the most respected and highly reliable source of historical events. The historicity of the Sacred Band is largely accepted by historians and it is detailed in the writings of numerous classical authors including Plutarch.
Alexander living to old age is one of the biggest what ifs in history. Imagine an empire that stretched from the Atlantic to the Himalayan mountains that lasted thousands of years before probably falling to barbarians from Northern Europe. It would be like Rome on crack.
@Egg T Might be because there were less people. Today, a person is a dime a dozen. We don't matter as much tbh, since there are so many of us. Back then, you could take that person as a slave or trade with them when the conflict is over. Sacking cities was rarely down, usually only after a revolt.
well as greeks we believe that there is a huge error in all the translations from greek and arabic to old english back then.The partner in war translated as gay soldiers in your language.If we had so many gay and strong soldiers it is also a unique thing in war history...😂
You right Kostas, there is even meme about it POV You are a good buddy Modern historians interpreting that « Wouldn’t that make these 2 best friends… GAY?! »
There are 274 bodies in the Lion Tomb plus another single burial maybe of a warrior who died later and wished to be buried with the others. Another thoery explaining where the tomb is sited - near the pass leading back to Livadia- is that the band fought a suicidal rear guard action to cover the army’s retreat. I have visited the battlefied several times once walking from Levadia over the pass. It takes about an hour and a half - has some lovely views....
Many snide comments about them being a _flamboyantly oriented_ army, but you guys should know this: Soldiers have this thing that restrains their will to die fighting, called _"My wife and children bac7 home."_ Now imagine if the _'wife and husband'_ were in the same platoon together .... Dude, the one would be charging headfirst beside 'their significant other' to make sure they aren't killed by the enemy. .... I know I'm terrified whenever I look out my window and see a couple coming to ask why I stole their WiFi, talk less of seeing an army of male-male couples coming to end my natural connection with life and oxygen.
@CXVII 117 R I dunno man Alexander/Philip on campaign with 80,000 other men? and 100 of their closest buds? Homoeroticism is baked into the military, just ask any soldier today!
@CXVII 117 R Your comment shows you clearly have not served in any military/police/martial service, regardless of nationality or origin. My (somewhat joking) comment's based in reality, having spoken to actual people (from many nationalities and origins) who have actually served, or continue to serve. Homoeroticism is baked into the military.
Having only heard of Carthage, when it came to the unit known as the Sacred Band, it's good to know that it wasn't the only unit that bore that name. It would seem that these two units were the pride of their respective nations.
With the Battle of Tegyra, it seems the Spartans assumed they were going up against a unit of regular Thebans and didn't realize it was Pelopidas and the elite of the Sacred Band, and so they adopted a thin line with the plan of encircling and destroying them. This allowed the Thebans to break through their line and destroy them.
Holy shadows of the dead, I’m not to blame for your cruel and bitter fate, but the accursed rivalry which brought sister nations and brother people, to fight one another. I do not feel happy for this victory of mine. On the contrary, I would be glad, brothers, if I had all of you standing here next to me, since we are united by the same language, the same blood and the same visions. ~Alexander
Last year I wrote a really long detailed paper over the battle of chaerona, I became super interested in the sacred band and wanted to learn more while I wrote the paper, the only information I could find came from Plutarch and the lions tomb erected near the battlefield, I’m so happy you made this video, wish I had it last year while I wrote my paper
About there being a Sacred Band of Thebes or that it included gay couple lovers? Because one fact is verified - there was a Sacred Band of Thebes The second fact isn't really confirmed as true - it might be but also might not as mentioned in this very video
@@API-Beast I'm not Plutarch, but I am Greek, it was for the most part inconsequential if it did not affect other aspects of life, and men of status were expected to show restraint.
Considering the movie Troy made Patroclus into Achilles’ ‘cousin’ and Hollywood also toned down the relationship between Hephaistion and Alexander in Alexander the Great I really don’t know that I’d trust them not to chicken out. ‘It would get censored in China which is a major market’ being the usual excuse to not tell stories about same sex attracted ‘heros’. I don’t use the term homosexual since it just didn’t exist as a word or a concept - people had sex with other people as they wished (of course women are much less free and very lightly documented) as long as they married and had children.
Philip II grew up as hostage in Thebe, he probably wept also because he knew them (perhaps not personally, but he must have recognized them and respected them)
SACRED BAND OF THEBES: “I want you to remember, Spartans. In all the years to come, in your most private moments, I want you to remember, my hand, at your throat, I want you to remember, the one man who beat you.”
i have done zero research on this comment, but over the years, i have seen similar channels upload asian military history videos and i have seen comments here and there from the owners that they don't generally perform as well in views. views, likes, comments, subscribers, and engagement from viewers determine how much they charge sponsors. for example, i love history and i often really struggle to follow chinese military videos because the names start to blend and i end up having to focus on the portraits once there are numerous actors involved and then i end up clicking off.
@@Rex73777 No, that is you declaring a certain interpretation of evidence incorrect in one statement, and then launching a pre-emptive ad hominem attack upon anyone who might decide to query or qualify your statement. That a historical argument does not make. Do it the right way. Using the information about εραστής and εραστές as a starting point, write your evidenced thesis.
Lover in ancient greek have a broader meaning, as we call today "love for art" so the Lover was the older man who training military and social the younger one Erastis, this close relationship exist as great friendship after the marriage of the younger one.
Fun fact: after killing all the sacred band in battle, Philip erected a large marble statue of a lion to represent the courage of the men who'd fought like lions and placed it on the part of the battlefield where theyd made their last stand. And that statue is still there to this day! So if you visit chaeronea you can see the exact spot where the sacred band met their end
Men on guard ! We are falling in enemy hands ! thebean soldier to the guy next to him : i would rather fall right into your strong arms any day (touches his face gently) 😜
This is fantastic. I loved that nothing we don't have any clear source about is stated as facts, instead the creators speculate and they highlight it. This is how history is meant to be told!
The Argead dynasty (Greek: Ἀργεάδαι, Argeádai) was an ancient Macedonian royal house of Dorian Greek provenance. They were the founders and the ruling dynasty of the kingdom of Macedon from about 700 to 310 BC. Their tradition, as described in ancient Greek historiography, traced their origins to Argos, of Peloponnese in Southern Greece, hence the name Argeads or Argives. Initially the rulers of the homonymous tribe, by the time of Philip II they had expanded their reign further, to include under the rule of Macedonia all Upper Macedonian states. The family's most celebrated members were Philip II of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great, under whose leadership the kingdom of Macedonia gradually gained predominance throughout Greece, defeated the Achaemenid Empire and expanded as far as Egypt and India. The mythical founder of the Argead dynasty is King Caranus
Soo... you wasted the chance of menctioning the Tomb of the sacred band erected by the nearby towns people that still exist to this day in that same spot.
@Grillo The Tomb erected by the nearby towns people?? Sooo....you wasted the chance to credit the "Englishmen" who actually discovered the Tomb. And paid the locals to dig it up??? All the while castigating someone else for...missing stuff?? LoL.
@@zutrue Well, englishmen didn´t even existed on the times of Alexander. On more recent centuries yes they have wandered the orb making many marvelous discoveries and then promptly looting them back to their island. As a non-english and since many treasures from my own homeland now are on exhibition on the British museum im like most inhabitants of the world not quite found of their imperialist (and quite rudimentary) type of archaeology.
@@BatmanSeRiedeTi LoL, I see you have a taste for distortion. Virtually every State has looted another. I have both read the history of and traveled about Greece. It is a history of conflict. Virtually every city/state looted another if it could. So, you get no points against the British there. As for you assertion that British archaeology is rudimentary, that claim is ludicrous. And the history, not to mention wealth of the exhibitions of the justifiably vaulted British Museum attest to that fact. But the point was that a young British gentleman was responsible for the tomb being dug up. That is historical fact. That you, through ignorace, or going by your statements here, bigotry, failed to mention.
@@zutrue I did not stated that British archaeology IS rudimentary but that it WAS rudimentary back on those days , i was actually thinking more about the lines of bruttish pillage. Its also a VERY european way of thinking to say that every state has at one point looted the others, still this is truth of the "empire where the sun never sets" for i cannot think of a land of the world that they had not sacked or robbed at one time or another. Finally i will state that only a true ignorant will ever acuse any other person of ignorance.
@@zutrue Can change affect all things? Maybe, but will it be for the better? My question is, since now and for ever, the archeological findings been discovered, and are a part of the culture of the Hellenic Republic. Which is a fact. Why does the british museum doesn't return them? The parthenon could be rebuilt. Now we live in a different time don't we? We dont live at the medieval times of crazy people like Michael Fourmont (who he destroyed Sparta). Why don't they let "change" for the better happen? Is it because they, at the british museum have no history to show for themselves? Or their culture and their (many times flexible although conservative) policy about foreign findings never changed? Maybe both. But does this set them apart from Michael Fourmont? Change happens, and history, facts, they never change, or be destorted from things like "ΑΡΧΑΙΟΚΑΠΗΛΙΑ".If you don't know the word, it means stealing or destroying ancient artifacts.
We gotta remember that there were multiple factors leading up to Sparta's loss at Leuctra. One is that Sparta was a little past her prime at that time in history. I don't think they were even practicing their "agoge" anymore(correct me if I'm wrong), and perhaps mostly relying upon their past reputation. So I think it would be fair to say that without the special training described by Xenophon, the "edge" of their fighters would be dulled, making them not particularly special compared to other "elite" hoplites of the day. Plus, if I recall correctly, the army Sparta was leading at that battle was made up of mostly mercenary forces from the Peloponnese, with the Spartan citizens on the right flank. And if you have an enormous overly-stacked phalanx of pressing against a typical phalanx caught in mid-maneuver... well... it's not like the Spartans were 8-pack-abs-wielding brawny-boys from 300, they were simply men of the day, and of course, no one could have expected or have been able to stand up to a formation like that. And thus, in the aftermath of that catastrophe, it's not hard to imagine the mercenaries losing their nerve and making a run for it. One thing I'd like to make clear is, while I love the history of Sparta as much as your average American lad might, I'm certainly not a Spartan boot-licker. In closing, I'm willing to give Sparta a break when referring to this battle.
LouPlaysSongs | I genuinely don’t know why people refer to the battle of Leuctra as evidence that the Spartans were overrated. The only thing this battle proves is that the Spartans stagnated after winning the Peloponissian War, and relied too much to the Oligarchs they placed in allied and enemy cities. The Thebans also had 2 incredible generals leading them, the Spartans did not, and as such they used old phalanx-based tactics. King Aegisileus could have proven a challenge for Pelopidas and Epaminondas, but at that time the Spartan King was old and weary.
At that moment probably they had to rely way more heavily than all the other powers of the day in troops from "allies" to fill the army to those pretty high numbers like the ones seen at Leuctra, true Spartans or full-citizen soldiers that could dedicate themselves fully to train and fight were never that many and the system that allowed the creation of those elite soldiers was not terribly efficient, it depended in a huge population of slaves and half-citizens and the loss of even one of those elite soldiers meant the loss of a lot of resources including experience and time that could not be easily or quickly replaced, by the time Leuctra happened the number of true Spartans was already lower than in previous generations and the losses they took there and later in Mantinea were pretty much crippling.
However, i think spartans continued their Agogae system, at least the ones that fought in the specific battle. Precisely, we can assume that those who battled the Thebans were the reknown "Hippeus", the King's Guard always accompanying him to battle. Those were the peak of Spartan military prowess, the ones that fought off and died against the Persians at Thermopylae along with king Leonidas.
I agree. Sparta had just seen the end of the Peloponese War against Athens that lasted over 20 years. A War that consumed vast resources and manpower. Even in it's prime the Spartan Agoge system produced 5.000 to 6.000 Citizen Hoplites. About 300 were the personal Guard of the 2 Kings. It is attested in many sources that the Spartans "naturalised" many non Spartan citizens and even Helots and entered them into their ranks. So the Spartan army after the Peloponese War was in no way comparable to the Spartan army who fought against Persians two generations ago. The Spartans who faced Thebes were possibly down to 2.000 or 3.000 Citizen Hoplites. Half of them had to remain in Sparta to hold down the immense population of 20.000 Helots and slaves who farmed Spartan land. On the other hand the Thebans were ultra militaristic having a professional standing Army in the Sacred Band and a society were military status resulted into economic gain. Phillip who grew up as a "guest" in this society took the idea for a professional army from the Thebans and implemented it in Macedon. The professional Macedonian Phallanx, more advanced than any of the Hoplite formations of it's day, ruled the Greek World for the next 500 years.
Im glad Invicta changed its narrator, this narrators voice is very smooth, professional and easy on the ear. The previous guy was impossible to listen too.
Making the Sacred Band a gay bar is a little bit off. Also, we Greeks use the word Eros not just for implying sexual "love", but also for admiration, enthusiasm, and a deep connection, amongst other things. I didn't read Plutarch, but the whole "Greeks were pedestrians" is a great tool of propaganda to ramp up gay culture in 2020... Even if there were some, Greeks like all cultures were mostly heterosexual.
I think your really downplaying just how often pedastry occured in ancient cultures. Pedastry though is not gay by our modern time. Pedastry did not matter if you were homosexual or heterosexual. You would be able to participate at leisure. Most men who did participate in it had wives. Most men had children. This is not a gay propaganda for 2020. Lgbt people are not pedophiles, they are not practicing pedastry. Back then it featured in literature, plays, and the general culture. If you were an older man, you probably practiced pedastry. It was a status symbol.
@@nunoalvarespereira87 not completely. Being the receptive partner was frowned upon. Because it meant you did not "grow up". Enough scholars have gone over this. Being the receiving partner meant you were less a man, which anything not man in ancient greece was not liked.
According to Solons laws, any man practising homosexuality was: 1- banned from becoming a member of the council of nine; 2- was banned from standing for elections as a priest; 3- was banned from being a citizen’s advocate; 4- was not allowed to exercise power in or outside the city of Athens; 5- was not permitted to be sent an emissary of war; 6- was banned from expressing his opinions; 7- was banned from entering temples; 8- was banned from being wreathed in races; 9- was not allowed to enter the agora. All these violations were punishable by death, according to Solon’s Laws.
That was for male prostitution, not homosexuality. Εταιρήση means "gives himself unto prostitution". Please do not spread the lie our talking heads love to spread by deliberately mistranslating one word.
I had a history teacher that said they can be a couple of lover or even blood bother. She use to say the word love in Greek had like 6 different meanings.
