The Sacred Band of Thebes: “Till death do us part”

“If, by enchantment, an army could be composed only of (male) lovers and their beloved, there would not be a people that could take the horror of vice and the emulation of virtue to a higher level. Men united by love could conquer almost the entire world. For if there is someone that the lover would not want to see leaving his ranks or throwing down his arms, it is the man he loves,” writes Plato. And Xenophon mentions a band consisting exclusively of homosexual Theban warriors. A myth? What do we know of this “sacred band” today?