Gorgidas was the first known Theban military leader of the Sacred Band of Thebes

Sacred Band of Thebes

The Sacred Band of Thebes was a troop of picked soldiers, consisting of 150 male couples which formed the elite force of the Theban army in the 4th century BC. It was organised by the Theban commander Gorgidas in 378 BC and played a crucial role in the Battle of Leuctra...

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Plutarch

Plutarch

Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...

 chronicled their exploits. Gorgidas, around 378 BC, first established the Sacred Band by choosing couples from his army. Plutarch in his Life of Pelopidas said this was Gorgidas' inspiration: "Since the lovers, ashamed to be base in sight of their beloved, and the beloved before their lovers, willingly rush into danger for the relief of one another."

The Sacred Band was at first dispersed throughout the front ranks of the regular infantry, with the idea that they would inspire valour, but they were later arrayed as a unit in order to make their gallantry more conspicuous.

After Thebes contributed to a Peloponnesian League victory in the Peloponnesian War

Peloponnesian War

The Peloponnesian War, 431 to 404 BC, was an ancient Greek war fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases...

 in 404 BC, they allied themselves with Corinth, Argos, and Athens in the Corinthian War, fighting with Sparta

Sparta

Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...

n troops, and becoming fierce warriors. Pelopidas

Pelopidas

Pelopidas was an important Theban statesman and general in Greece.-Athlete and warrior:He was a member of a distinguished family, and possessed great wealth which he expended on his friends, while content to lead the life of an athlete...

 recaptured the Theban Cadmea in 379 BC after a Spartan takeover in 381, and he assumed the command of the Sacred Band in which he fought alongside his good friend, General Epaminondas

Epaminondas

Epaminondas , or Epameinondas, was a Theban general and statesman of the 4th century BC who transformed the Ancient Greek city-state of Thebes, leading it out of Spartan subjugation into a preeminent position in Greek politics...

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The Sacred Band under Pelopidas fought the Spartans in Tegyra

Tegyra

Tegyra was the site of an oracle of Apollo in ancient Greece, located north of Orchomenus in Boeotia, near to the shores of Lake Copais, but is best known as the site of the Battle of Tegyra in 375 BC....

, vanquishing an army that was at least three times their number.

The Sacred Band was also responsible for the victory of Leuctra

Battle of Leuctra

The Battle of Leuctra was a battle fought on July 6, 371 BC, between the Boeotians led by Thebans and the Spartans along with their allies amidst the post-Corinthian War conflict. The battle took place in the neighbourhood of Leuctra, a village in Boeotia in the territory of Thespiae...

 in 371 BC, called by Pausanias

Pausanias (geographer)

Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between classical...

 the most decisive battle ever fought by Greeks against Greeks. Leuctra established Theban independence from Spartan rule, and laid the groundwork for the expansion of Theban power, though possibly also for Philip II's eventual victory.

The Sacred Band was eventually destroyed by Philip II of Macedon

Philip II of Macedon

Philip II of Macedon "friend" + ἵππος "horse" — transliterated ; 382 – 336 BC), was a king of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip III.-Biography:...

, who had been held as a hostage in Thebes, and had learned his military tactics there. The remainder of the Theban army fled when faced with the overwhelming forces of Philip and his son Alexander, but the Sacred Band, surrounded, held their ground and many died where they stood. Philip buried their bodies with honor, setting up the Lion of Chaeronea over them. The grave was excavated in 1890, confirming Plutarch's account, though only 254 skeletons were unearthed.

Cultural references

In the Videssos

Videssos

Videssos is a series of fantasy novels series by Harry Turtledove.-The Videssos novels:*The Videssos cycle**The Misplaced Legion **An Emperor for the Legion **The Legion of Videssos...

 Cycle by Harry Turtledove

Harry Turtledove

Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...

, there appears as a main character a Greek physician named Gorgidas, who has much in common with the men of the Sacred Band of Thebes.

In the Thieves' World shared universe, Janet Morris

Janet Morris

Janet Ellen Morris is an American author of fiction and nonfiction, best known for her fantasy and science fiction and her authorship of a nonlethal weapons concept for the U.S. military.-Writing:...

 introduced The Sacred Band of Stepsons

The Sacred Band of Stepsons

The Sacred Band of Stepsons is a fictional ancient cavalry unit created by Janet Morris and based on the historical Sacred Band of Thebes, an elite strike force of paired lovers and friends that flourished during the fourth century BCE in ancient Greece, where sexuality was a behavior, not an...

, a mythical ancient fighting unit of couples interspersed with unpaired hoplites in the same way that Gorgidas used the Sacred Band of Thebes.