{"product_id":"the-sacred-band-three-hundred-theban-lovers-and-the-last-days-of-greek-freedom-paperback","title":"The Sacred Band: Three Hundred Theban Lovers and the Last Days of Greek Freedom - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJames Romm\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\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 \u003c\/p\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.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eJames Romm is an author, reviewer, and the James H. Ottaway Jr. Professor of Classics at Bard College in Annandale, New York. His reviews and essays appear regularly in \u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe New York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e. He currently oversees the ambitious \u003ci\u003eAncient Lives\u003c\/i\u003e series recently launched by Yale University Press.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 320\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.92 x 8.35 x 5.62 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e June 21, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51978587406637,"sku":"9781501198021","price":20.18,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0938\/3185\/6429\/files\/cGFQYnhnV0RCOTZyWFpQTEw2bDg0Zz09.webp?v=1775806016","url":"https:\/\/ishookbooks.com\/products\/the-sacred-band-three-hundred-theban-lovers-and-the-last-days-of-greek-freedom-paperback","provider":"iShook Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}