Theban Sacred Band

E298882

ancient Greek military unit elite infantry formation

The Theban Sacred Band was an elite ancient Greek military unit of 300 hoplite soldiers, famed for its battlefield effectiveness and composed of pairs of male lovers whose bonds were believed to strengthen their courage and cohesion in combat.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Sacred Band of Thebes	7
Theban Sacred Band canonical	5
Boeotian sacred band	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2789444 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Theban Sacred Band
Context triple: [Thebes, knownFor, Theban Sacred Band]

A. Perizzites
The Perizzites were an ancient people mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as inhabitants of Canaan prior to the Israelite settlement.
B. Spartan army
The Spartan army was the highly disciplined and professional land force of ancient Sparta, renowned for its rigorous training, strict military culture, and effectiveness in hoplite warfare.
C. Barbarathermen
Barbarathermen is a large Roman bath complex in ancient Trier (Augusta Treverorum), Germany, notable as one of the biggest surviving Roman thermal bath ruins north of the Alps.
D. Athenian army
The Athenian army was the land-based military force of ancient Athens, composed largely of citizen-soldiers who defended the city-state and fought in its numerous wars across classical Greece.
E. Athenian cavalry
The Athenian cavalry was the mounted military force of ancient Athens, used primarily for reconnaissance, skirmishing, and supporting the city-state’s infantry-dominated armies.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Theban Sacred Band
Target entity description: The Theban Sacred Band was an elite ancient Greek military unit of 300 hoplite soldiers, famed for its battlefield effectiveness and composed of pairs of male lovers whose bonds were believed to strengthen their courage and cohesion in combat.

A. Perizzites
The Perizzites were an ancient people mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as inhabitants of Canaan prior to the Israelite settlement.
B. Spartan army
The Spartan army was the highly disciplined and professional land force of ancient Sparta, renowned for its rigorous training, strict military culture, and effectiveness in hoplite warfare.
C. Barbarathermen
Barbarathermen is a large Roman bath complex in ancient Trier (Augusta Treverorum), Germany, notable as one of the biggest surviving Roman thermal bath ruins north of the Alps.
D. Athenian army
The Athenian army was the land-based military force of ancient Athens, composed largely of citizen-soldiers who defended the city-state and fought in its numerous wars across classical Greece.
E. Athenian cavalry
The Athenian cavalry was the mounted military force of ancient Athens, used primarily for reconnaissance, skirmishing, and supporting the city-state’s infantry-dominated armies.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	ancient Greek military unit ⓘ elite infantry formation ⓘ
activePeriod	4th century BCE ⓘ
allegiance	polis of Thebes ⓘ
associatedWith	Theban hegemony in Greece ⓘ decline of Spartan military supremacy ⓘ
battle	Battle of Chaeronea ⓘ Battle of Leuctra ⓘ Battle of Tegyra ⓘ
burialSite	mass grave at Chaeronea ⓘ
commander	Gorgidas ⓘ Pelopidas ⓘ
country	Thebes ⓘ
createdBy	Gorgidas ⓘ
culturalContext	classical Greek pederastic tradition ⓘ
dateOfDestruction	338 BCE ⓘ
defeatedBy	Alexander the Great ⓘ Philip II of Macedon ⓘ
disbandedAfter	Battle of Chaeronea ⓘ
equipment	body armor ⓘ helmet ⓘ hoplite shield ⓘ spear ⓘ
formationSize	150 pairs ⓘ
formationType	heavy infantry ⓘ
greekName	Ιερός Λόχος Θηβών ⓘ
languageOfName	Ancient Greek ⓘ
locatedIn	Boeotia ⓘ Thebes ⓘ Greek Antiquity ⓘ surface form: ancient Greece
memorial	Lion of Chaeronea ⓘ
militaryBranch	Boeotian army ⓘ surface form: Theban army
militaryRole	hoplite infantry ⓘ
notableCharacteristic	composed of pairs of male lovers ⓘ elite status within Theban army ⓘ famed for battlefield effectiveness ⓘ strong unit cohesion based on personal bonds ⓘ symbol of Theban military power ⓘ
notableCommander	Pelopidas ⓘ
notableFor	decisive role in Theban victory at Leuctra ⓘ defeat of Spartan forces at Tegyra ⓘ destruction at the Battle of Chaeronea ⓘ
numberOfSoldiers	300 ⓘ
sexualOrientationContext	homoerotic military unit ⓘ
sourceMention	Diodorus Siculus ⓘ Pausanias ⓘ Plutarch ⓘ
tacticalUse	deployed in Theban left wing ⓘ shock infantry ⓘ

How these facts were elicited