Busento
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The Busento River (Template:Lang-la[1]) is a left side tributary of the Crathis (Crati in Italian) river, which flows about 95 kilometers in Calabria, southern Italy, from the Apennines to the Ionian Sea. The Busento River joins the Crathis in the centre 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 death and burial of Alaric.
Legend
Its fame is due to a historic event in 410, when Alaric, king of the Goths, died during the 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
References
- ^ Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). . New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
External links
Media related to Busento at Wikimedia Commons
39°17′33″N 16°15′32″E / 39.2925°N 16.259°E
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