The term Sacred Band, also Sacred Company or Sacred Squadron (from grc, Ἱερὸς Λόχος,

Modern Greek Modern Greek (, , or , ''Kiní Neoellinikí Glóssa''), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the ...

: ) can refer to one of the following military units: In the ancient world: * Sacred Band of Thebes *

Sacred Band of Carthage The Sacred Band of Carthage is the name used by ancient Greek historians to refer to an elite infantry unit of Carthaginian citizens that served in military campaigns during the fourth century BC. It is unknown how they identified themselves o ...

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 Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

* Cretan Student's Sacred Band, which participated in the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

as a part of the Hellenic Army *

Epirote Sacred Band (1914) Epirus (; el, Ήπειρος, translit=Ípiros, ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region in northwestern Greece.Π.Δ. 51/87 “Καθορισμός των Περιφερειών της Χώρας για το σχεδια ...

, formed during the establishment of the

Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus ( el, Αὐτόνομος Δημοκρατία τῆς Βορείου Ἠπείρου, translit=Aftónomos Dimokratía tis Voreíou Ipeírou) was a short-lived, self-governing entity founded in the aft ...

. * Sacred Band (World War II), a special forces unit composed entirely of officers In fiction: *

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 BC in ancient Gr ...

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

See also