Sacred Band

The term Sacred Band, also Sacred Company or Sacred Squadron (from Ancient Greek: Ἱερὸς Λόχος, Modern Greek: Ιερός Λόχος) can refer to one of the following military units:

In the ancient world:

  • Sacred Band of Thebes
  • Sacred Band of Carthage

In modern Greek history, the name has been used to denote several military units:

  • Sacred Band (1821) of the Greek War of Independence
  • Cretan Sacred Band during the Cretan Revolt of 1866–1869
  • Cretan Student's Sacred Band, which participated in the Balkan Wars as a part of the Hellenic Army
  • Epirote Sacred Band (1914), formed during the establishment of the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus.
  • Sacred Band (World War II), a special forces unit composed entirely of officers

In fiction:

  • the Sacred Band of Stepsons is a mythical Sacred Band of ancient cavalry fighters that eventually unites with the survivors of the Sacred Band of Thebes in a seven-novel saga

Famous quotes containing the words sacred and/or band:

    “God of justice, God of mercy,
    Make us merciful and just!
    Help us see all your creation
    As from you a sacred trust.
    And when people cry in anguish
    For their own or others’ pain,
    Show us ways to make a difference
    O dear God, make us humane!”
    —Jane Parker Huber (b. 1926)

    “And the heavy night hung dark
    The hills and waters o’er,
    When a band of exiles moored their bark
    On the wild New England shore.”
    —Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1783–1835)