Theban hegemony

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 26. Chapters: Alexander II of Macedon, Androcydes (painter), Battle of Cynoscephalae (364 BC), Battle of Leuctra, Battle of Mantinea (362 BC), Battle of Tegyra, Boeotarch, Cleombrotus I, Epaminondas, Gorgidas, Megalopolis, Greece, Oblique order, Pagondas, Pammenes of Thebes, Pelopidas, Philip II of Macedon, Ptolemy of Aloros, Sacred Band of Thebes. Excerpt: The Sacred Band of Thebes (Ancient Greek: , Hieròs Lókhos) was a troop of picked soldiers, consisting of 150 pairs of male lovers which formed the elite force of the Theban army in the 4th century BC. It is said to have been organised by the Theban commander Gorgidas in 378 BC and to have played a crucial role in the Battle of Leuctra. It was annihilated by Philip II of Macedon in the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC. The earliest surviving record of the Sacred Band (, Hieròs Lókhos) by name was in 324 BC; in the oration Against Demosthenes by the Athenian logographer Dinarchus. 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). The ruins of ancient Theban citadel of CadmeaPlutarch (46-120 AD), a native of the village of Chaeronea, is the source of the most substantial surviving account of the Sacred Band. He records that the Sacred Band was originally formed by the boeotarch Gorgidas, shortly after the expulsion of the Spartan garrison occupying the Theban citadel of Cadmea. The 2nd century AD Macedonian author Polyaenus in his Stratagems in War also records Gorgidas as the founder of the Sacred Band. However, Dio Chrysostom (c. 40-120 AD), Hieronymus of Rhodes (c. 290-230 BC), and Athenaeus of Naucratis (c. 200 AD) credit Epaminondas instead. The exact date of the Sacred Band's creation and whether it was created before or after the Symposium of Plato (c. 424-347 BC) and the similarly titled Symposium by his rival Xenophon (c. 430-354 BC), has also long been debated. The generally accepted date of the Sacred Band's creation is between 379 to 378 BC. Prior to this, there were references to elite Theban forces also numbering 300. Herodotus (c.484-425 BC) and Thucydides (c. 460-395 BC) both record an elite force of 300 Thebans allied with the Persians who were annihilated by Athenians in the Bat