The Immortals
In the aftermath of the killing of Bin Laden by Navy Seal Team 6, TIME has taken a look at the world’s most elite military teams in history. Persian Empire’s Immortals are ranked number 2 among them all. The Immortals were a Special Forces unit, always at its full compliment of 10,000 soldiers, within a vast Persian army, adept with both bow and blade. Another Persian unit, the Assassins or the Hashishins, the Ismaili elite force, was also selected among the top ten units.
Below is TIME’s selection of the top ten most highly trained units in world’s history.
- The Navy Seals
- The Immortals
- The Brigade of Gurkhas
- The Knights Hospitaller
- The Special Air Service
- The Green Berets
- The Varangian Guard
- The Hashishin
- The Israeli Special Forces
- The Jaguar Warriors
Photo: Getty Images / TIME
