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In fact, his parents were apparently told that a male lover living at Mercury's home in London was the gardener. As a young man Mercury dated women, and he entered into a serious relationship with Mary Austin in the s. The two lived together for several years and even got engaged before Mercury told Austin he was bisexual her response was that she thought he was gay. The two would maintain a close friendship after splitting up, with Austin continuing to appear at his side in public. He called her the love of his life and left her the bulk of his estate in his will. Mercury was also seeing men, both while he was with Austin and after ending their sexual relationship.

Yet Mercury didn't entirely give up on women: Mercury also didn't limit himself to steady relationships. While on the road in Queen's early days, Brian May, who shared hotel rooms with Mercury, saw his bandmate with female companions. Mercury and a girl at one of Queen's infamous parties. Mercury was the one who suggested naming the band Queen, which at the time was a derogatory term for a gay man. Onstage, he wore outfits that left gender and societal norms behind.

Among his sartorial choices were leotards, angel-wing cloaks, tight shorts, and leather or PVC attire that evoked a biker image then popular in gay nightclubs. Being a star allowed Mercury to push some boundaries, but he still lived at a time when honesty about his attraction to men could have limited his career, and the careers of his bandmates.

For someone who wanted his music to be heard, and who was loath to drive fans away, being open about his sexuality was something to avoid. Yet even in this climate, Mercury was able to use music to express himself—and he may have said more than a quick glance at his catalogue shows. For some—including renowned lyricist Tim Rice—"Bohemian Rhapsody," a worldwide hit written by Mercury, was a coming-out song.

In this interpretation, lyrics like "Mama, just killed a man" could be a reference to Mercury doing away with his heterosexual self. He may have hoped that the sight of the massed Spartan forces resolutely moving forward would be enough to intimidate the Theban and Athenian forces into breaking ranks. It was during this time that Chabrias gave his most famous command. Shortly after the stand-off in Thebes, Agesilaus disbanded his army in Thespiae and returned to Peloponnesos through Megara.

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Phoebidas engaged the advancing Theban army with his peltasts. The harrying of the light infantry apparently proved too much for the Thebans and they started to retreat. Phoebidas, hoping for a rout, rashly pursued them closely. However, the Theban forces suddenly turned around and charged Phoebidas' forces. Phoebidas was killed by the Theban cavalry. Not long afterwards, Agesilaus mounted a second expedition against Thebes. After a series of skirmishes which he won with some difficulty, he was forced again to withdraw when the Theban army came out full force as he approached the city. Diodorus observes at this point that the Thebans thereafter faced the Spartans with confidence.

It occurred near the Boeotian city of Orchomenus , then still an ally of Sparta. Hearing reports that the Spartan garrison in Orchomenus had left for Locris , Pelopidas quickly set out with the Sacred Band and a few cavalry, hoping to capture it in their absence. They approached the city through the northeastern route since the waters of Lake Copais were at their fullest during that season.

Unwilling to engage the new garrison, Pelopidas decided to retreat back to Thebes, retracing their northeastern route along Lake Copais. However, they only reached as far as the shrine of Apollo of Tegyra before encountering the returning Spartan forces from Locris. The Spartans were composed of two morai led by the polemarchoi Gorgoleon and Theopompus.

The Spartans advanced, confident in their numbers, only to have their leaders killed immediately in the opening clashes. Leaderless and encountering forces equal in discipline and training for the first time in the Sacred Band, the Spartans faltered and opened their ranks, expecting the Thebans to pass through and escape. Instead, Pelopidas surprised them by using the opening to flank the Spartans. An account of the battle was mentioned both by Diodorus and Plutarch, both based heavily on the report by Ephorus. The exact number of the belligerents on each side varies by account.

Diodorus puts the number of Thebans at against the Spartans' 1, each mora consisting of men , apparently basing it on Ephorus' original figures.

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Plutarch puts the number of the Thebans at , and acknowledges three sources for the number of Spartans: Some of these numbers may have been exaggerated due to the overall significance of the battle. For in all the great wars there had ever been against Greeks or barbarians, the Spartans were never before beaten by a smaller company than their own; nor, indeed, in a set battle, when their number was equal.

Hence their courage was thought irresistible, and their high repute before the battle made a conquest already of enemies, who thought themselves no match for the men of Sparta even on equal terms. But this battle first taught the other Greeks, that not only Eurotas, or the country between Babyce and Cnacion, [note 4] breeds men of courage and resolution; but that where the youth are ashamed of baseness, and ready to venture in a good cause, where they fly disgrace more than danger, there, wherever it be, are found the bravest and most formidable opponents.


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  3. Sacred Band of Thebes - Wikipedia?

According to Xenophon, they were alarmed at the growing power of Thebes and weary of fending off Spartan fleets alone as the Thebans were not contributing any money to maintaining the Athenian fleet. Thespiae and Tanagra were subjugated and formally became part of the reestablished democratic Boeotian confederacy.

Homosexuality in the militaries of ancient Greece

By this time, Thebes had also started attacking Phocian poleis allied to Sparta. In response to the Theban army outside the city's walls, the Phocian general Onomarchus brought out all the inhabitants of the city including the elderly, women, and children and locked the gates. He then placed the non-combatants directly behind the defenders of Elateia.

On seeing this, Pelopidas withdrew his forces, recognizing that the Phocians would fight to the death to protect their loved ones. It was initiated by either the Athenians or the Persians perhaps at the prompting of the Spartans. The Spartans also sent a large force led by King Cleombrotus I Sparta having two kings simultaneously for most of its history to Phocis, ready to invade Boeotia if the Thebans refuse to attend the peace conference or accept its terms.

Epaminondas' refusal to accept the terms of the peace conference of BC excluded Thebes from the peace treaty and provided Sparta with the excuse to declare war. Shortly thereafter the army of Cleombrotus was ordered to invade Boeotia. The Thebans however were committed to a fight. Cleombrotus then moved inland, following the eastward road towards Thebes, until he reached the Boeotian village of Leuctra modern Lefktra, Plataies near the southwestern end of the Theban plain. There they were met by the main Theban army.

The Spartan army numbered about 10, hoplites, 1, light infantry, and 1, cavalry. The Theban army was outnumbered by the Spartans, being composed of only about 6, hoplites including the Sacred Band , 1, light infantry, and 1, cavalry. Here, the massed Theban phalanx was arrayed into a highly unconventional depth of fifty men. The battle opened with a cavalry charge by both armies.

The Spartan cavalry were quickly defeated by the superior Theban cavalry and were chased back to their own side. Their disorderly retreat disrupted the battle lines of the Spartan heavy infantry and, because of the resulting chaos and the dust stirred up, the Spartans were unable to observe the highly unusual advance of the Theban army until the very last moment.

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By the time the Spartans realized that something unusual was happening it was already too late. Shortly before the Theban left wing made contact, the Spartans hastily stretched out their right wing in an attempt to outflank and engulf the rapidly approaching Thebans.


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  • This was a traditional tactic and, once the Thebans were in range, the stretched wing would then be brought back in an encircling movement. Acting under his own initiative, Pelopidas quickly led the Sacred Band ahead of the Theban left wing to intercept the Spartan maneuver before it could be completed. The sheer number of Thebans overwhelmed the Spartan right wing quickly. The number of Spartan casualties amounted to about 1, dead, among whom were Spartiates and their own king. The Spartan right flank were forced to retreat after retrieving the body of Cleombrotus.

    Seeing the spartiates fleeing in disarray, the perioeci phalanxes also broke ranks and retreated. Although some Spartans were in favor of resuming the battle in order to recover the bodies of their dead, the allied perioeci of the Spartan left wing were less than willing to continue fighting indeed some of them were quite pleased at the turn of events.

    The remaining polemarchoi eventually decided to request a truce, which the Thebans readily granted. The Spartan dead were returned and a tropaion was set up on the battlefield by the Thebans to commemorate their victory. According to Pausanias c. Leuctra established Theban independence from Spartan rule and laid the groundwork for the expansion of Theban power, but possibly also for the eventual supremacy of Philip II of Macedon.

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    It was fought between the Macedonians and their allies and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Athens and Thebes. Diodorus records that the numbers involved for the two armies were more or less equal, both having around 30, men and 2, cavalry. The traditional hoplite infantry was no match for the novel long-speared Macedonian phalanx: The Thebans of the Sacred Band held their ground and Plutarch records that all fell where they stood beside their last commander, Theagenes. Their defeat at the battle was a significant victory for Philip, since until then, the Sacred Band was regarded as invincible throughout all of Ancient Greece.

    Plutarch records that Philip II, on encountering the corpses "heaped one upon another", understanding who they were, wept and exclaimed,. Though the significance of the battle was well-documented by ancient scholars, there is little surviving information on the deployment of the armies involved. Most modern scholars including N. Hammond and George Cawkwell credit Alexander as having led a cavalry wing.

    DeVoto, likewise, says in The Theban Sacred Band that Alexander had deployed his cavalry behind the Macedonian hoplites, apparently permitting "a Theban break-through in order to effect a cavalry assault while his hoplites regrouped". Plutarch and Diodorus both credit Alexander as being the first to engage the Sacred Band. On June 3, they decided to go horseback riding to the nearby village of Chaeronea using Pausanias' Description of Greece as a guidebook. Two hours away from the village, Taylor's horse momentarily stumbled on a piece of marble jutting from the ground.

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    Looking back at the rock, he was struck by its appearance of being sculpted and called for their party to stop. They dismounted and dug at it with their riding-whips, ascertaining that it was indeed sculpture. They enlisted the help of some nearby farmers until they finally uncovered the massive head of a stone lion which they recognized as the same lion mentioned by Pausanias.

    Parts of the statue had broken off and a good deal of it still remained buried. They immediately reported their discovery when they returned to Athens. He found nothing but spears and shields, some of which with names still inscribed in them.