The Sacred Band of Thebes

"A band cemented by friendship grounded upon love is never to be broken, and invincible; since the lovers, ashamed to be base in sight of their beloved, and the beloved before their lovers, willingly rush into danger for the relief of one another."

Thus was the motivation for the Sacred Band of Thebes, an elite Greek fighting force of 150 pairs of homosexual lovers. For forty years, from their creation in 378 B.C.E, until the gallant end on the blood-drenched field of Chaeronea, in 338, B.C.E, at the hands of Alexander the Great, they were considered the fiercest fighting force ever created. Even at the end, when the rest of the army, faced with overwhelming forces fled, the Sacred Band held their ground, dying where they stood. Upon seeing their lifeless bodies mingled one upon another and learning that this was the band of lovers, Alexander said, "Perish miserably they who think that these men did or suffered aught disgraceful!" He then proceeded to bury their bodies with honor, erecting the Lion of Chaeronea over them, a monument that stands to this day.

This is the story that "The Sacred Band of Thebes" through the eyes of Androkles and Kallistos will tell. Best of friends, they were taken from their village at the age of seven, their mother's slaughtered in front of them, to be trained by Ophion, the leader of the Thebes, to be both fierce warriors toward the outside world, and willing lovers to those of Sacred Band.

As they grow, not only do their abilities grow, but their love for each other, as brothers, not lovers, and their hatred for Ophion grows too. While Androkles becomes a leader, and takes newer "recruits" as lovers of his own, he also helps Kallistos avoid that part of his destiny, as only he knows the truth, that Kallistos is not part of the homosexual tradition of the Thebes. In fact, upon reaching full manhood, he meets a female warrioress, who he falls in love with and secretly marries. To the rest of the Thebes Androkles and Kallistos are lovers rather than brothers.

When Ophion tries to take Kallistos from Androkles and submit to the ways of the Thebes, Kallistos, now mature and a match for Ophion, kills him, protecting his friend, revenging their mothers and becoming the new leader of the Thebes. Under Androkles leadership, the Thebes continue to show their might and resolve, conquering all that challenge them.

Kallistos while maintaining his secrecy has a son of his own, but shortly after that, the two men find themselves up against Alexander the Great in a battle for their lives.

Glenn Rabney has been plying his craft as a writer for over two decades, writing in multiple genres including sitcom, sketch, hour, movie and limited series including HBO's NOT NECESSARILY THE NEWS and Disney's THE NEW MICKEY MOUSE CLUB. Along the way he has received a number of award nominations including one from the Writers Guild of America for Achievement in Television Writing.

He recently wrote two very well received streaming pilots, BARS & GRILL, a comedy about celebrity chef gets sent to prison and turns the penitentiary into the premier dining destination in the country, and PONDEROSA, a drama which follows the descendants of the Cartwrights and Sings as they deal with financial, personal and inter-family battles that derive from the competition for the Ponderosa and its valuable assets in 2025 Lake Tahoe.

Utilizing his Minor in History from Penn State University, he and Bart Baker wrote and are currently shopping a historical civil rights limited series, CONSPIRACY OF HEROES, based on a book they optioned.

Glenn has written or co-written numerous screenplays, many with Bart Baker including the above referenced Hallmark Channel hit, LOVE AND SUNSHINE.
Screenwriter, novelist and playwright, Bart Baker has had two features produced, including the Pierce Brosnan-starrer, LIVE WIRE, twelve TV-movies, including, the Hallmark Channel hit, LOVE AND SUNSHINE, and two Lifetime movies, and episodes of four series produced, including on staff for the FX show DIRT, starring Courteney Cox.

The movie rights to Bart's HONEYMOON WITH HARRY, were purchased by New Line Cinema while in galleys and he has since written nine other novels including A SECOND HONEYMOON WITH HARRY, THE LAST HONEYMOON WITH HARRY, WHAT REMAINS, THE VIRGIN DAIQUIRI, THE WEDDING GIFT and the three book CORDON FINN VENGEANCE series, about a man who delivers justice for those who can't get it for themselves.

Presently, Bart is writing the three book series BITCHES GET STITCHES based on the pilot script SCRAPS he wrote for Mar Vista and the third book in THE CORDON FINN VENGEANCE SERIES,

He presently has TV and film projects in development at production companies, and is excited to get up every day and write.
From the publication of The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation in 2006 and their subsequent graphic novels, including Anne Frank, The Anne Frank House Graphic Biography, a graphic novel based on the hideous and gruesome history of the man who gave his name to Dracula, Vlad the Impaler, The Torture Report: A Graphic Adaptation and Three-Fifths of a Man, Sid Jacobson and artist Ernie Colón, have sold over a million copies of their work. With the publication of The Sacred Band of Thebes that amount is only going to grow.

The word 'legend' doesn't do justice to Sid Jacobson. In a career spanning over six decades, until his passing in 2022, Sid has been a writer, an editor, a novelist, a sports biographer, a popular songwriter with a dozen hit songs, and a novelist. As an editor, and the editor in chief, at Harvey Publications, Jacobson has created many of the iconic characters we grew up with, including Richie Rich, Hot Stuff, Wendy, Little Lotta and Planet Terry. At Hanna-Barbera he oversaw the creation of a line of comic books based on the classic TV shows including The Flintstones, The Jetsons and Yogi Bear. During his time as an executive editor at Marvel, he oversaw the development of the very popular comic book Damage Control.

Outside of the comic and graphic novel arena, Jacobson wrote hit songs for Frankie Avalon, Johnny Mathis and Dion and the Belmonts, the several books including Streets of Gold and Pete Reiser: The Rough-and-Tumble Career of the Perfect Ballplayer.
A Filipino comic illustrator best known for his work on Dark Horse Comics' Shaper and various Zenescope Entertainment books, Ace Continuado began his professional career in 2012 penciling for 215 Ink on titles such as Super Action Man and A SInner's Prayer, which he had also written. He then moved on to a sci-fi limited series for Dark Horse Comics called Shaper written by Eric Heiserrer. He has also drawn for Zenescope Entertainment on titles such as Red Agent and Robyn Hood. He is currently working on a graphic novel for Fenom Comics, in addition to his work on The Sacred Band of Thebes.
DAF Daniele Afferni is an Italian artist. Contributing to the fine arts, his work earned him a reputation for surreal oil paintings often featuring weird creatures framed in boldly unreal perspectives. His comics credits include Metal Hurlant, lnterPop, Heavy Metal, David Lloyd Aces Weekly, Bushiroad, Macroverse Comics, Batman Nero. He also illustrates artworks for card game publishers, including X-Men Insurrection by Fantasy Flight Games, Varia by Guild House Games, Marvel / DC Universe by Upper Deck, Killing Floor III by Tripwire Interactive. He teaches Anatomy and Perspective at Milan's International School of Comics.