The shield of the Dentheletai

[Duncan Head]

The Dentheletai were a Thracian tribe from the Macedonian borders. An article on their coinage by M Manov discusses an interesting coin type with a Dentheletian warrior on the reverse. (Don't be put off by the initial pages of Bulgarian text: an English summary version follows after it.) See also here for a larger illustraton of one of the coins in the series.

These coins are tentatively dated to the mid-4th century, which means that they fit into something of a gap in depictions of Thracian infantry – after the plentiful illustrations of "traditional" crescent-shielded peltasts in Greek art, and before we have good evidence for Thracians using long oval shields, such as in the Kazanluk tomb. They give us a useful insight into how Thracian infantry in Alexander the Great's army might have been equipped, for instance.

The warrior has his hair piled up in a topknot, as occasionally shown in other Thracian sources, and is probably clean-shaven. He wears a short tunic, and is armed with a sword – the angle of the blade suggests a kopis or something similar. I cannot see any reason to suspect the greaves that Manov says were noted in earlier descriptions, nor any footwear. The shield is interesting, being depicted as a half-circle. The inside surface is inscribed with parallel horizontal lines, suggesting a cane or wicker construction. There is a single vertical handgrip, probably intended to be central. What is not clear is what original shape this semi-circular shield is intended to depict. I suspect we are seeing the inside surface of a quite deeply dished circular or oval shield, and the artist has had a little difficulty depicting this. Could the original shield be the same type as the earlier Perspolis relief that is thought to be a depiction of "Skudrian" Thracian tributaries?