The Sileraioi were ancient Bruttian mercenaries who served in the armies of King Dionysius I of Syracuse during the 4th century BC. Named for the Sila plateau of northern and central Calabria, the Sileraioi only left those mountains once employed by Syracuse, and they founded a city between Agrigento and Caltanissetta in Sicily. Dionysius used his mercenary army to suppress dissent among his fellow Sicilian Greeks, putting an end to Syracusan democracy, and the Sileraioi were granted citizenship and land in exchange for their service, settling at the hilltop stronghold of Cozzo Mususino. The group grew so powerful and organized that the Sileraioi minted their own coinage.