About this episode

The episode discusses a unique military strategy involving cross-dressers in ancient Thebes to retake control from the Spartans.

In 379 BC, exiled government officials from Thebes devised a plan to retake the city-state from their Spartan captors. It involved a seven man military crew who disguised themselves as high end prostitutes for a winter banquet to assassinate the Spartan governors and military leaders and rally the citizens to fight back. Subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the Softcore History Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for hundreds of hours of extra history content including episodes like this, listener voicemails, movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes.  Get 10% off ZIppix Toothpicks with code SOFTCORE at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://zippixtoothpicks.com/discount/SOFTCORE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Rob Fox⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Dan Regester ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/danregester/ ⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

People in this episode

Hosts: Rob Fox, Dan Regester

Topics covered

• ancient history
• military strategy
• cross-dressing
• Spartan history
• Theban politics

Keywords

• Thebes
• Sparta
• cross-dressers
• assassination
• military history
• 379 BC

Sponsors

ZIppix Toothpicks

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Softcore History

Places: Thebes, Sparta

More episodes of Softcore History

• Why Bastille Day Is Stupid · July 13, 2026 · 1h 7m
• The Peg Legged Playboy Who Helped Write The Constitution · July 6, 2026 · 1h 4m
• The Massacre At Frank Lloyd Wright's Love Cottage · June 29, 2026 · 1h 3m
• History's Bad Dads · June 22, 2026 · 1h 8m
• The World Cup's Most Violent Match Ever · June 15, 2026 · 1h 6m

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Softcore History podcast page.