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 or whether they were considered a distinct formation.
The Sacred Band was highly atypical since Carthaginian citizens generally only served as officers or cavalry; the bulk of Carthaginian armies was usually made up of foreign
The earliest known mention of this unit is in the first century AD by
In the second century AD, Plutarch writes of the same events, but makes no explicit mention of the Sacred Band. He describes Carthaginian forces as consisting of 10,000 infantrymen bearing white shields, wearing splendorous armor, and marching in a disciplined manner.[5] Among the casualties of the battle, he notes that "three thousand were those of Carthaginians, a great affliction for the city. For no others were superior to these in birth or wealth or reputation".[6] The number and description of this force are roughly analogous to the account of Diodorus, and most likely describe the Sacred Band.
Two thousand citizen troops from Carthage are recorded as being in Sicily in 311 BC, during another conflict with the Greeks. It is the last time that citizens troops are known to have deployed abroad. By 310 BC, the Sacred Band appears to have been revived: in the
After its destruction at White Tunis, the "Sacred Band" disappears from historical record. Although Carthaginian citizen infantry appear in historical sources during later wars, their numbers are significantly higher, implying an emergency levy of all available citizens, rather than an elite force. Larger citizen forces turned out during the First Punic War (namely the Battle of Bagradas), the Mercenary War, and the Third Punic War, but the "Sacred Band" or any other elite unit is not mentioned in any surviving accounts of these wars.
See also
External links
Primary sources
- Plutarch, Life of Timoleon.
- Diodorus Siculus, Library xvi. and xx.
Further reading
- Head, Duncan "Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars 359 BC to 146 BC" (1982), pp. 33–34.
Notes
- ^ Plutarch, Parallel Lives.
- ^ "Phalanx and hoplites". 2008-08-15. Archived from the original on 2008-08-15. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
- ^ Head, Duncan "Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars 359 BC to 146 BC" (1982), p140.
- ^ Diod. Sic. 16.80.4.
- ^ Plut. Tim. 27.4-5
- ^ Plut. Tim. 28.10-11.
- ^ Diod. Sic. 20.10.6.
- ^ Diod. Sic. 20.11.1
- ^ Diod. Sic. 20.12.7.