{"product_id":"the-sacred-band-three-hundred-theban-lovers-and-the-last-days-of-greek-freedom-9781501198021","title":"The Sacred Band: Three Hundred Theban Lovers and the Last Days of Greek Freedom","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom classicist James Romm comes a \"striking...fascinating\" (\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e) deep dive into the last decades of ancient Greek freedom leading up to Alexander the Great's destruction of Thebes--and the saga of the greatest military corps of the time, the Theban Sacred Band, a unit composed of 150 pairs of male lovers.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe story of the Sacred Band, an elite 300-man corps recruited from pairs of lovers, highlights a chaotic era of ancient Greek history, four decades marked by battles, ideological disputes, and the rise of vicious strongmen. At stake was freedom, democracy, and the fate of Thebes, at this time the leading power of the Greek world. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe tale begins in 379 BC, with a group of Theban patriots sneaking into occupied Thebes. Disguised in women's clothing, they cut down the agents of Sparta, the state that had cowed much of Greece with its military might. To counter the Spartans, this group of patriots would form the Sacred Band, a corps whose history plays out against a backdrop of Theban democracy, of desperate power struggles between leading city-states, and the new prominence of \u003ci\u003eeros\u003c\/i\u003e, sexual love, in Greek public life. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAfter four decades without a defeat, the Sacred Band was annihilated by the forces of Philip II of Macedon and his son Alexander in the Battle of Chaeronea--extinguishing Greek liberty for two thousand years. Buried on the battlefield where they fell, they were rediscovered in 1880--some skeletons still in pairs, with arms linked together. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom violent combat in city streets to massive clashes on open ground, from ruthless tyrants to bold women who held their era in thrall, \u003ci\u003eThe Sacred Band \u003c\/i\u003erecounts \"in fluent, accessible prose\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e) the twists and turns of a crucial historical moment: the end of the treasured freedom of ancient Greece.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e James Romm\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Scribner Book Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/21\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.65lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.35h x 5.62w x 0.92d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781501198021","brand":"Scribner Book Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42709222555785,"sku":"9781501198021","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_f15cdeba-c6ca-413d-9fce-79dea4194002.jpg?v=1719512512","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/the-sacred-band-three-hundred-theban-lovers-and-the-last-days-of-greek-freedom-9781501198021","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}