Units of History - The Sacred Band of Carthage DOCUMENTARY

In this history documentary we continue our Units of History series by taking a closer look at the famous Sacred Band of Carthage. In other videos we covered the War Elephants of Carthage, the Numidian Cavalry, and the Balearic Slingers.

The documentary begins with an overview of the history of Carthage and the evolution of the Carthaginian Army. The Punic state began as a small Phoenecian colony in North Africa with forces of citizen soldiers who very much resembled eastern troops. Next came the rise of Carthage. As the city of Carthage grew so too did its army which appears to have also become more well equipped. The army of Carthage was soon deploying its own heavy hoplite infantry, cavalry, and even chariots on the battlefield in its conquest of the Mediterranean. At the same time however, Carthage also began to hire mercenaries and raise auxiliaries which slowly replaced its native forces. This trend continued until the army of Carthage was primarily composed of foreign troops. However Punic men still served in the army as officers and cavalrymen. Some citizens still served in the infantry and it appears that it is from this last remaining bastion that the Sacred Band of Carthage emerged. Its name actually comes to us from the ancient Greeks who compared it to the Sacred Band of Thebes.

Next we discuss the military equipment of the Sacred Band of Carthage which included richly decorated armour and weapons. We then turn to talk about their training and tactics as well as their service history which included participating in the Punic-Sicilian Wars against the greeks. While we don't have evidence of them participating in the Punic Wars against the Roman army, it is possible that they were present during the 3 invasions of africa and therefore would have fought in the Battle of Zama and the Siege of Carthage.

#History
#Carthage
#UnitsOfHistory

Research: Vaughn Fenton
Script: Vaughn Fenton
Narration: Guy Michaels
Production: PentaLimited

[gnewsome]

Phalanx soldier: "But I'm left-handed."
Carthaginian General: "Yeaaaah, I'm gonna need you to be right-handed."

[HistoryExplained]

I love your presentation style so much! Your artwork is absolutley gorgeous! You're a huge inspiration to me!

[ElBandito]

Ah Sicily, the Afghanistan of the Mediterranean.

[lordaragorn]

The sacred band : Bringing style to your local battlefield

[jeto]

Invicta: *raising an army is not like flipping a switch*
You hear that CK II?

[cassandrag]

Imagine not being a band of gay men, this post was made by the Theban sacred band

[alexanderm]

can you do a topic about the silver shields?

[InvictaHistory]

Alright folks, what units of history do we cover next?!

[firestorm]

The Punic War were basically a fight between the guy who wants to multiclass into a bunch of different classes and the guy who picks one class and becomes really good at one thing.

[thomasgomez]

Most armies: “Our people fight as one!”
My mount and blade army: 4:04

[CivilWarWeekByWeek]

I came in wondering what kind of music this band played and I still don't know.

[sirkermitthefirstoffrogeth]

Can you talk about architecture and houses of carthage.

[frankn]

Ottoman janissaries, Genoese crossbowman, Armenian cavalry, Hussars

[jesseberg]

I Tyre of hearing Carthage's origins reiterated.

[keldelmini]

You guys should cover Varangians in near future.

[theduck]

Maybe you guys can cover the Scholae Palatinae, another bodyguard unit that served with the famous Varangians in Byzantine Empire

[DirtCobaine]

Carthage is one of the most underrated Military powers of Antiquity. I feel like most don’t do them justice and not even Total War Rome does them justice. Yes it’s true they hired mercenaries but so did everyone. They didn’t have an over reliance on them, they often had a lot of Ally’s more than anything. Rome would have you think carthage were just rich barbarians who hired a bunch of mercenaries to do their fighting which isn’t true. Like I said what we know of carthage is what Rome wanted us to know. And they had a burning hatred for them not because they deserved it but because Romans were the epitome of prideful arrogance and what do you do to the only adversary that truly ever rivaled you? Defame them and wipe them from history. What we do know is Hannibal brought Rome to its knees defeating the Largest army it ever fielded. Ever. And out of honor didn’t sack Rome because he figured he’d give them an opportunity to surrender. And it was that decision alone that set in motion Romes eventual triumph over carthage. A part of me looking back just as a spectator of history would have wanted Carthage to win just so we could know more accurately about them. But I really appreciate this channel really trying their best to speculate in a positive light and fill in those gaps. I really Love of how they depict and portray the sacred band in this video. I love the intricate tattoos and body paints a long with the jewelry and intricate clothing. I wish Total war would have tried a bit harder with the look of Carthage.

[BOSIE]

Whenever I see the Sacred Band i always assume it's the Spartan-conquering Theban one. I always forget the Carthage Sacred band. Thanks for the video.

[blortbugman]

I remember when this channel was one guy doing total war rome 2 battles, its come a long way since then!

[facundocadaa]

6th punic-sicilian war: ends*

Carthage: oh no, I'll never use civilian again

7th punic-sicilian war: *starts

Cathage:... Oh well