Units of History - The Sacred Band of Carthage DOCUMENTARY

Carthage was a mighty empire whose domains once stretched across much of the western Mediterranean. Famed as great merchants and traders who used their immense wealth to raise armies of hired mercenaries and auxiliaries, their own native troops all too often get overshadowed by units like the war elephants, Numidian cavalry and Balearic slingers. Today, however, we will focus on the best of the best that Carthage itself had to offer. The sacred band, jewels of the great city. If you are fascinated by the famous units of history, then definitely check out our sponsor, World of Tanks, whose free-to-play PC game puts you in command of the most iconic military vehicles of the mid-20th century. With over 600 historically accurate tanks from 11 nations, there are countless strategies and tactics for you to master on your own or as a team in massive battles waged across over 40 unique maps. The game is constantly updated with new features and content which you can check out today for free. Start playing by using our link below. New players who register for the first time can use the code ONCEUPONATANK to unlock the tier 5 7 days of premium membership, 1 garage slot and 100% crew in addition to the Tiger 131 and Sherman VC Firefly to test out for 10 battles. Happy hunting! We will begin with an overview of the history of Carthage and its military forces. The city had initially been founded in 814 BC as a Phoenician colony with strong cultural and political ties to its mother city of Tyre. As with most city-states of the period, its citizens would have been the ones to take up arms in the defense of their home. In the early days, these soldiers would have closely resembled Phoenician troops who were armed and equipped in the eastern style. However, given Carthage's position at the center of the cross-Mediterranean trade network, they would certainly have had access to the gear of other armies. Thus, as the colony grew into a proper city, its citizen-soldiers would likely have not only grown in number but also in quality. For instance, some artistic depictions seem to indicate that foot troops could take a form very similar to that of a Greek hoplite. Whatever the case, they almost certainly purchased their own equipment and thus their armor and weapons would have varied. In addition, richer citizens also began taking the field as heavy cavalry and charioteers. These would have been deployed in many of Carthage's early wars of expansion, which we covered in another video. However, as the city grew, its primarily citizen-soldier army was slowly diluted by allies, mercenaries, and conscripts. This trend was a natural consequence of a growing empire, which extracted monetary and manpower tribute from an ever-widening pool of territories. The replacement of its native forces not only gave the army more flexibility but also served to insulate the relatively small pool of citizens from unnecessary military losses. Why waste good men who were busy earning you vast sums of money in trade and agriculture when you could easily use a fraction of those proceeds to get others to do the fighting for you? Thus, this process only accelerated as Carthage increasingly leveraged its wealth and connections to raise outsourced armies. By the 4th century BC, Carthage's rank-and-file soldiers were almost entirely composed of outside hires. Such was the makeup of the army that set out to conquer Sicily and eventually fought Rome in the Punic Wars. Yet the Carthaginian citizen-soldier was not entirely dead. Punic men routinely filled the upper ranks of the army, and we can find numerous records of citizens fighting for the city both on foot and on horseback alongside their allies and hired mercenaries. In particular, citizens were conscripted in times of great peril, such as the invasion of Agathocles in 310 BC or the Mercenary War of 240 BC. But how many of these citizen-soldiers were there exactly? Let's explore a crude model that can allow us to at least ballpark the size of Carthage's citizen force. In terms of the total city population size, we are looking at something on the order of 750,000 at its height. To this number, we will apply the common statistic for this period that only about 20-25% of people are actually fit for war, which gets us to a pool of able-bodied men of around 170,000. Being generous, we can then further assume that only about half of this number are citizens, which gets us to around 85,000 potential recruits. However, many of these would have been sucked up by the Punic navy. Generously dividing our number again in half leaves us with a final count of somewhere around 40,000 soldiers. This estimate lines up quite nicely with the claim that during the invasion of Agathocles, we are told that the Carthaginian citizen army numbered 45,000 men. While certainly an impressive tally, it indicates a far smaller force proportionately than could be deployed by the Romans and the Greeks, who could better leverage their population on the battlefield. However, the 45,000 number is only one data point, and it's likely that the strength of the citizen force varied greatly as the situation demanded. Yet we should consider that it would have been quite dangerous for Carthage to have to rebuild its native units from scratch every time. Raising an army is not like flipping a switch. It takes a while to ramp things up, and powering down completely risks losing invaluable experience and institutional knowledge. This is where the idea of core, professional force comes in as a means to form the permanent backbone of your army. The Achaemenid Persian Empire, for example, is believed to have used its 10,000 immortals in this capacity. For Carthage, the equivalent would have been their sacred band. The name may seem familiar, as it is actually given to us by Greek authors who are quick to draw parallels between this elite Punic force and the famous sacred band of Thebes. Thus, we need to remember that any description of the Carthaginian sacred band risks being heavily influenced by this association. That being said, what do the Greeks tell us about them? Well, they are first referenced in 341 BC during the Sixth Sicilian War, where it is reported to have fought valiantly. Beyond this, we only get brief mentions of its appearance in other sources. Nevertheless, what we have on the sacred band sets it apart as a unique unit in the Carthaginian army. Unlike the rest of Carthage's army, the unit contained only citizen soldiers, which, as we have seen, were a rarity. And these soldiers were the best of the best, handpicked either for their wealth, reputation, or valor. All told, there were between 2,000 and 3,000 Carthaginians in the unit at any time. Let's now discuss how they were armed and equipped. As we have stated, the sacred band were generally drawn from the upper echelons of a wealthy mercantile empire. As such, much of their attire would have reflected this fact and manifested in the dress of the troops before they even put on their war gear. For instance, tunics may have followed the Eastern tradition and been made of many colors, with the expensive Tyrian purple being displayed most prominently. On top of this, additional designs could have been embroidered into the material with fancy golden threads, depicting typical motifs of stars, crescents, leaves, and palmettes. It is very likely that they also wore a rich assortment of rings, bracelets, and earrings. From archaeological tomb findings, we also know that Punic men at times adorned themselves with body paint and tattoos. One can therefore imagine the prestigious soldiers of the sacred band showing off intricate patterning on their arms, thighs, and perhaps even faces. As for the actual practical gear, they would have had this in spades. Our best idea of what this kit entailed comes to us from descriptions of the Battle of Cremisus in Sicily by Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch. While not overly specific, it does speak of equipment typical of heavy infantry, which was brilliant to behold and of superior workmanship and beauty. We can fill in some of the gaps in this description by turning to hints from other authors and archaeology which indicate that Punic infantry bore much of the same high-end gear that was popular in this period. The chest, therefore, could have been protected by scale armor of Eastern influence or a set of ringmail armor more commonly encountered in the West. Other times they might have worn the light but strong linothorax armor often favored by the Greeks. But perhaps the most impressive pieces of chest armor would have been the bronze or iron muscled cuirasses that were perfect canvases for detailed artwork. Accompanying these would have likely been the popular pterygies skirt, which featured layered fabric strips for defense around the waist. Below this, legs would have been protected by bronze greaves on at least the leading side, though most likely both. Meanwhile, the head was protected by a helmet. Again, this would have taken multiple forms of either bronze or iron material. Eastern-style designs were often conical and we have some records of these being modified to include swept-back ram horns in reference to Bahal Hamon. Other times they would have worn Phrygian or Corinthian-style helmets. Again, these all would have featured lots of details and likely sported tall crests. It seems officers even wore animal skins like leopard or lion caps. Last but most important for defense was the shield. It appears the most popular type was the large, hoplon-type shield we are familiar with from the Hellenistic warfare. They were primarily made of wood and animal hide on the interior. For the sacred band, this piece of armor was another excellent opportunity to flex their wealth. The interior could have been covered with rare elephant hide, while the exterior was exquisitely decorated with chiseled decorations and inlaid or plated gold, silver, and perhaps even ivory, which gave them their distinctive white color. We are told that these patterns bore symbols of religious, tribal, familial, or unit-specific significance. One can expect to see signs of Tanit, Bahal Hamon, Herakles Melkart, and other religious iconography like river springs and an apotropaic eye to turn away evil. Depictions of wild animals, hunting scenes, and warhorses were also quite common. We are told that ultra-high-end shields, sported by generals like Hannibal, even had intricate stories of Carthage's mythology and history worked into them. For offense, their primary weapon would have been a spear common to most hoplite infantry. It would have been around 2 to 3 meters long, with a flat, leaf-shaped spearhead on one end and a butt spike on the other. We have evidence of additional weapon belts and scabbards, which meant the sacred band would likely also have sported a backup short sword and dagger. Again, these would have been of the highest quality. Thus, what we have here are walking embodiments of Carthage's economic and military might, which must have been a truly incredible sight to behold. All this was possible due to the massive arms sector in ancient Carthage and across its domains. Let's now turn to a discussion of their training and tactics. The sacred band of Carthage were professional soldiers, who served in the army not due to conscription but volunteering. They were almost certainly drilled and trained, which seems evident by their service record. As heavy infantry, they would frequently bear the brunt of the battle and thus needed to be able to withstand more punishment than the enemy. Physically, they had to be tough, and mentally, they had to be able to stand their ground. In both of these areas, they excelled, though we have little evidence of how they achieved these standards. As for tactics, it seems that they functioned primarily as elite heavy infantry. For the Greek phalanx, this meant organizing and deploying their units by familial and political association. A similar practice may have been used by the sacred band to improve their sense of camaraderie. In any case, once deployed on the battlefield, they would likely have held the right wing of the Carthaginian formation, the place of honor in the typical phalanx. This was due to the fact that shields held in the left hand would leave the right side of the body unprotected, thus weakening the right side of the phalanx. Ancient generals would therefore place their best soldiers on the right wing to stiffen the army. We have evidence of this at the Battle of White Tunis, and most likely the sacred band was consistently deployed in this fashion, fighting side by side with their general. As mentioned earlier, the history of the sacred band is shrouded in mystery. While there are no recorded instances of the unit before the mid-300s BC, it probably existed before this, as there would always have been an elite amongst the early citizen army of Carthage. Perhaps as the native troops were slowly replaced by outside hires, the remaining citizen soldiers coalesced and evolved into the elite regiment of the sacred band. Or perhaps the unit was founded at some point in an attempt to reform the army. The ancient historians are unclear. The first official record of the sacred band comes as a part of their deployment during the Sixth Punic-Sicilian War against Timoleon, the leader of Syracuse. In response to Timoleon's pillaging of Punic territory, Carthage had marched its army east to confront the Greeks, but was ambushed while crossing a river at the Battle of Chromisus around 339 BC. Though the sacred band fought valiantly and is said to have stood to the last man, they could not salvage the situation and the army was slaughtered. Their rich jewellery and armour was all pilfered, and the loss of some 2,000 citizen lives was said to be so shocking to Carthage that they resolved to never use citizens in battle again. However, this last point was clearly an exaggeration made by historians, as they appear again in the Seventh Punic-Sicilian War. During the war, a group of citizens served in the Carthaginian army against Syracuse, and this group may have constituted the sacred band, but it is unclear. However, the sources do say that the band was reformed when Agathocles, the Syracusan tyrant, invaded Africa in 310 BC. At the Battle of White Tunis, they once again fought valiantly and were given the right wing, the place of honour, to hold alongside the general Hanno. It is said that they were the last to retreat in the face of defeat, fighting on to allow the rest of their allies to flee. It can be assumed that the band continued to serve throughout the war as well, though in what battles and for how long is unknown. After the Sicilian Wars, the sacred band is never mentioned again, and we have no records of them fighting the Romans in any of the Punic Wars. However, citizen levies did fight with some frequency during the darker days of the conflict, and it is possible that the sacred band was among these citizen soldiers. For instance, in response to all three Roman invasions, Punic citizens were conscripted to fight by the Carthaginians. If the sacred band was amongst them, then they may even have fought at famous battles like Zama under Hannibal and served in the final, climactic siege of Carthage. Alas, we simply do not know. But while Carthage's history may be lost to us, we hope you've appreciated our attempts in this video and others to bring it back to life. Thanks for watching.