Hrethas

Hrethas were a Germanic tribe mentioned by the Roman historian Tacitus in his work Germania. According to Tacitus, they inhabited the region north of the Elbe River. He describes them as a warlike people and associates them with the Suebi confederation. Little concrete archaeological evidence specifically identifies the Hrethas, and their exact location and fate are subject to scholarly debate. Some theories suggest they may have been absorbed into other Germanic groups over time, or that their name might be a variant of another known tribe. The primary source of information about the Hrethas remains Tacitus's brief description, making detailed historical reconstruction challenging.