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:
“See how the sacred old flamingoes come,
Painting with shadow all the marble steps:
Aged and wise, they seek their wonted perches
Within the temple, devious walking, made
To wander by their melancholy minds.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“There was a young lady called Gloria
Who was had by Sir Gerald Du Maurier
And then by six men
And Sir Gerald again
And the band of the Waldorf-Astoria.”
—Anonymous.