Alaric died on his way to Sicily, which he had thought to conquer
also. He felt his death coming and ordered his men to bury him in
the bed of the river Busento and to put into his grave the richest
treasures that he had taken from Rome.
This order was carried out. A large number of Roman slaves were
set to work to dig a channel and turn the water of the Busento into
it. They made the grave in the bed of the river, put Alaric's body
into and closed it up. Then the river was turned back to its old
channel. As soon as the grave was covered up, and the water flowed
over it, the slaves who had done the work were put to death by the
Visigoth chiefs.
Attila the Hun
King from 434-453 A.D.
I
The fierce and warlike tribe, called the Huns, who had driven the
Goths to seek new homes, came from Asia into Southeastern Europe
and took possession of a large territory lying north of the River
Danube.
During the first half of the fifth century the Huns had a famous
king named Attila. He was only twenty-one years old when he
became their king. But although he was young, he was very brave
and ambitious, and he wanted to be a great and powerful king.
Pages:
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51