13. When Homosexual Didn’t Mean Effeminate
Ancient Greek city state armies were composed of citizen soldiers who pursued daily civilian pursuits, and took up arms in times of war. The Spartans, however, had a system whereby most work was done by state slaves. That freed Sparta’s citizens – about a tenth of the population – to dedicate themselves full time to military training. The result was an elite Spartan phalanx, unmatched anywhere in the world for discipline and toughness. So Thebes faced a daunting task when it went to war against Sparta in the fourth century BC.
Fortunately for the Thebans, they had creative military commanders such as Pelopidas (died 364 BC) and Epaminondas (died 362 BC). They adopted innovative tactics that allowed the Thebans to overcome the Spartans’ advantages, such as at the Battle of Leuctra, 371 BC. There, although outnumbered by the Spartans, Epaminondas stacked the left flank of the Theban phalanx fifty men deep. With that great mass, he achieved local superiority against the Spartan right flank, formed in a standard depth of eight to twelve men, and shattered it. The Theban advance was spearheaded by the Sacred Band, an elite unit composed of 150 pairs of gay lovers.