[RERUN] EPISODE 82: The Other 300 (Part 2)

Nov 3, 2025

Dive into the dramatic decline of Thebes as the Sacred Band era bows to Macedon's rise. Discover Pelopidas's heroic stands and his final fight against Alexander of Pherae. Explore the chaotic court of Dionysius of Syracuse and the influence of Phryne, the famed courtesan. Unravel the aftermath of the Battle of Chaeronea, where the Sacred Band faced obliteration. The shifting alliances and the bloody rise of powerful tyrants reveal a turbulent Greek landscape, ultimately leading to Alexander's ruthless revenge and Thebes' irreversible fall.

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INSIGHT

Sacred Band Rewrote Greek Power

The Sacred Band of Thebes was 150 couples of lovers who formed an elite infantry that reshaped Greek power dynamics.
Their decisive victory at Leuctra marked Thebes' rise and Sparta's decline in the 4th century BCE.

ANECDOTE

Philoxenus Mocked A Tyrant

Dionysius of Syracuse humiliated poet Philoxenus by sending him to the quarries and then reinstated him after public pleading.
Philoxenus later mockingly told guards "take me back to the quarries" instead of praising the tyrant's verse.

INSIGHT

Thebes Trained Its Future Rival

Young Philip of Macedon was a hostage in Thebes and absorbed Theban military culture and tactics.
This Theban influence later enabled Macedon to eclipse the classical polis system.

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“Take me back to the quarries.” Philoxenus

“Pelopidas died as he’d lived, a freedom fighter who rushed fearlessly into the fray.” James Romm

“As one approaches Chaeronea, there is a tomb of the Thebans who died in the battle with Philip. No inscription adorns it, but a monument stands over it in the form of a lion, the best emblem of the spirit of those men. It seems to me the inscription is lacking because their fortunes were not equal to their courage.” Pausanias

In this second and final episode in this series, we see the age of Thebes’ Sacred Band coming to an end, as a new power rises in Macedon. As we tackle this fundamentally important period in Greek history, we’ll run into Dionysius of Syracuse and his horrendous poetry, the rise of Philip of Macedonia and Alexander (soon to be ‘The Great’), the badass sayings of Pelopidas and his heroic death, the rise of wealthy dictators and their bloody ends, the Sacred Wars, the career of Phyrne—the greatest hetaera of the age, and the end of Thebes.

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