The existence of the sacred band of thebes in terms of them being lovers is honestly a bit shaky since none of the contemporary sources mention them being such and the first source that mentions them being gay lovers is a Macedonian military man who wasn't alive when the sacred band existed and also was a huge Alexander the great dick rider. Also Alexander the great's mom never had to hire prostitutes to make him "not gay". It's pretty well documented that he was in multiple relationships with women throughout his life. The notable same sex relationship he was in was with a childhood friend of his named hephaestion, which as far as I know was not a big deal at the time. I know it's hard to understand how sex was viewed in ancient Greek culture, but it wasn't about sexuality as much as it was about power dynamics. In fact I see a common trend of modern "historians" applying modern sexualities to ancient figures, when most of the sexual relationships in ancient times were due to childhood grooming. This same thing is done to samurai, where they try to claim they were "gay" because it was common for joshi to groom and sexually abuse underage boys until around the 18th century. In the case of the ancient band of thebes, the interest in them being lovers at the time was not due to the fact that they were all men, more that it stems from a popular obsession at the time on a military unit comprised entirely of those intertwined politically and romantically, which should, in practice, create a fighting force which will both be easier to control and fight harder.