Quote Originally Posted by macsen rufus

In Greece I would accept the Spartan hoplites as an elite due to their being (a) full-time soldiers, (b) more thoroughly trained than their contemporaries, (c) selected from a limited social class.
Didn't the Sacred Band of Thebes defeat a numberical superior army of Spartans at the Battle of Tegyra. also at Leuctra against the Spartans as well.