The Busento (
) is a left tributary of the
Crati river, which flows about in
Calabria
Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...
,
southern Italy, from the
Apennines to the
Ionian Sea. The Busento joins the Crati in the center of
Cosenza.
The legend of
Alaric and his burial in Busento inspired the poem by
August von Platen-Hallermünde ''Das Grab im Busento'' with a romantic representation of the King's death and burial.
Legend
The river's fame is due to a historic event in 410, when
Alaric, first king of the
Goths
The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...
, died during a siege of the town. According to the legend, his body was buried under the river bed, the stream being temporarily diverted from its course by complex hydraulic engineering while the grave was dug and restored again to its original bed after the funeral. The work was performed by Roman slaves who were killed after the work by Alaric's soldiers so that the exact location of the burial site would remain secret forever. The king's grave and its fabulous treasure have never been found.
The German poet
August von Platen-Hallermünde celebrated this event with his poem ''Das Grab im Busento'' (1820).
See also
*
Sack of Rome (410)
The sack of Rome on 24 August 410 AD was undertaken by the Visigoths led by their king, Alaric. At that time, Rome was no longer the administrative capital of the Western Roman Empire, having been replaced in that position first by Mediolanum ...
References
External links
*
Rivers of the Province of Cosenza
Rivers of Italy
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