The Dentheletae (), also Danthaletae (Δανθαλῆται) or Denseletae,Cicero, in Pis. 34; were a Thracian tribe that in antiquity lived near the sources of the River Strymon, and are mentioned in texts by Polybius, Cassius Dio, Tacitus and by Livy. They lived in the neighbourhoods of the modern towns Kyustendil (ancient Pautalia) and Dupnitsa (ancient Germania, from the Thracian 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 river, with territories situated next to the Thracian tribes Agrianes (per Theopompus) and the Maedi (per Strabo).The Cambridge Ancient History: pt. 1. The prehistory of the Balkans; and the Middle East and the Aegean world, tenth to eighth centuries B.C. Cambridge University Press, 1991. University of Minnesota/ The only writer who describes the Agrianes (under the form Agrii) as Thracians, is Theopom- pus (f 257(a)), but his evidence, isolated as it is, carries less weight.28 To the south of these two tribes lived the Dentheletae,29 in the neighbourhood of the towns of Stanke Dimitrov and of Kjustendil (Pautalia), as well as in the mountains to the west towards the valleys of the Morava and the Vardar 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 in the 1st century BC, lived around SofiaA History of Macedonia The Provincial Rome and Skaptopara (modern Blagoevgrad) was their town.SitzungsberichteLivy 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.Ab Urbe Condita, Book XL, pp22, Livy The Dentheletae were allies of Rome.The Student's Roman Empire: A History of the Roman Empire from Its Foundation to the Death of Marcus Aurelius (27 B. C.--180 A. D.)Appian and Illyricum Along with the Scordisci, the Dentheletae invaded Macedonia.Pannonia and Upper Moesia (Routledge Revivals):
Circa 30BC, when under their king 'Sitas, who was blind',Historia Romana, Book LI, pp23, Cassius Dio and whilst under treaty with Rome, their territories were invaded by the Bastarnae. 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 the triumvir) earned a triumph The Legions of Rome, Stephen Dando-Collins, pp216, Quercus (December 2010) 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.
See also List of Thracian tribes
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