The Dentheletae (), also Danthaletae (Δανθαλῆται) or Denseletae, were a

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

tribe that in antiquity lived near the sources of the River Strymon, and are mentioned in texts by

Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history of ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

and by

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

. They lived in the neighbourhoods of the modern towns

Kyustendil Kyustendil ( ) is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of the Kyustendil Province, a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see. The town is situated in the southern part of the Kyustendil Valley, near the borders of ...

(ancient

Pautalia Pautalia is one of the great ancient cities of Thracia, Thrace, now located in Kyustendil, Bulgaria. It was a settlement of the Dentheletae, a Thracian tribe, and had been occupied since at least the Iron Age. It is noted for its temple of Asclep ...

) and

Dupnitsa Dupnitsa, or Dupnica ( (previously ), ), is a town in Western Bulgaria. It is at the foot of the highest mountains in the Balkan Peninsula – the Rila Mountains, and about south of the capital Sofia. Dupnitsa is the second largest town in Ky ...

(ancient

Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...

, from the

word for "hot", due to its springs), stretching to as far as the mountains to the west towards the valleys of the Morava and the

Vardar The Vardar (; , , ) or Axios (, ) is the longest river in North Macedonia and a major river in Greece, where it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . The maximum depth of ...

river, with territories situated next to the Thracian tribes

Agrianes The Agrianes (Ancient Greek: Ἀγριᾶνες, ''Agrianes'' or Ἀγρίαι, ''Agriai'') or Agrianians, were a tribe whose country was centered at Upper Strymon, in present-day central Western Bulgaria as well as southeasternmost Serbia, at t ...

(per

Theopompus Theopompus (, ''Theópompos''; 380 BC 315 BC) was an ancient Greek historian and rhetorician who was a student of Isocrates. Biography Early life and education Theopompus was born on the Aegean island of Chios in 378 or 377 BCE. In his ear ...

) and the

Maedi The Maedi (also ''Maidans'', ''Maedans'', or ''Medi''; ) were a Thracian tribe in antiquity. Their land was called Maedica (Μαιδική). In historic times, they occupied the area between Paionia and Thrace, on the southwestern fringes of ...

(per

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

). Their main city, called Dentheletica, was presumably Pautalia (modern-day Kyustendil) as this was the capital of the Roman region Dentheletica. They possibly built fortifications around

Stara Planina The Balkan mountain range is located in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula in Southeastern Europe. It is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia. It then runs for about , first ...

in the 1st century BC, lived around

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

and Skaptopara (modern

Blagoevgrad Blagoevgrad ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, а town in Southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Municipality and of Blagoevgrad Province. With a population of almost inhabitants, it is the economic and cultura ...

) was their town. Livy mentions them in passing in his account of King Philip V of Macedon, who in 214BC plundered them for supplies even though they were his ally. The Dentheletae were allies of Rome. Along with the

Scordisci The Scordisci (; ) were an Iron Age cultural group who emerged after the Celtic settlement of Southeast Europe, and who were centered in the territory of present-day Serbia, at the confluence of the Savus (Sava), Dravus (Drava), Margus (Morav ...

, the Dentheletae invaded Macedonia. Circa 30BC, when under their king 'Sitas, who was blind', and whilst under treaty with Rome, their territories were invaded by the

Bastarnae The Bastarnae, Bastarni or Basternae, also known as the Peuci or Peucini, were an ancient people who are known from Greek and Roman records to have inhabited areas north and east of the Carpathian Mountains between about 300 BC and about 300 AD, ...

. In response to this invasion and with the wider objective of securing the Macedonia/Thrace frontier of the Roman Empire, Consul Marcus Licinus Crassus Dives (grandson of

Crassus Marcus Licinius Crassus (; 115–53 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He is often called "the richest man in Rome". Wallechinsky, David & Walla ...

the

triumvir In the Roman Republic, or were commissions of three men appointed for specific tasks. There were many tasks that commissions could be established to conduct, such as administer justice, mint coins, support religious tasks, or found colonies. M ...

) earned a triumph for his attack on the Bastarnae in defense of the Denteleti in 28-29BC with Legio IIII ''Scythica'', Legio V ''Macedonica'' and possibly Legio X ''Fretensis''.''The Legions of Rome'', Stephen Dando-Collins, pp212-6, Quercus (December 2010) Raids in Dardania 16-13BC marked the end of the Dentheletae. In late antiquity, the area of the Dentheletae was Greek-speaking.

References

Sources

* *{{cite journal , last1=Petrović , first1=Vladimir P. , last2=Filipović , first2=Vojislav , title=Epigraphic and archaeological evidence contributing to identifying the location and character of Timacum Maius , journal=Balcanica , year=2013 , issue=44 , pages=35–49, doi=10.2298/BALC1344035P , url=http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/ft.aspx?id=0350-76531344035P, doi-access=free , hdl=21.15107/rcub_dais_4355 , hdl-access=free Ancient tribes in Thrace Ancient tribes in Bulgaria Ancient tribes in the Balkans Thracian tribes

See also

References

Sources