Evidence for Bessus's existence is confused and uncertain: the name of Bessus is actually identified with two different, semi-legendary saints with the same name: one was a martyred
bishop of Ivrea who lived in the eighth century, the other was a
hermit with the same name who lived in an
Alpine sanctuary near
Campiglia in
Cogne Valley. In addition, there are two
feast days associated with Bessus that were celebrated at Ivrea: August 10 and December 1. The cult of Saint Bessus may actually represent the Christianization of the cult associated with the
Egyptian god
Bes, also invoked for fertility. Bessus and Bes, as Fabio Arduino points out, are both associated with an
ostrich feather in their
iconography. Numerous legends were connected with Bessus. A
breviary dating from 1473 states that Bessus was martyred in the following manner: he was invited to a banquet by some Piedmontese who had stolen the cattle that was now being served as a meal. When Bessus discovered this, he denounced the cattle thieves. Angered, the thieves chased him and forced him to jump the cliffs of
Monte Fantino. Bessus survived but was then killed by the
Roman legionnaires who had slaughtered the Theban Legion at
Agaunum. The cliff preserves an imprint associated with Bessus. According to local tradition, the sanctuary dedicated to the saint was constructed on the place of Bessus's martyrdom, which remains today a place of
pilgrimage. A different version of the tale states that Bessus hid himself in the Valley of Cogne before being killed by the Roman soldiers. In 1912,
Robert Hertz, a
French historian and anthropologist, collected at Cogne a different version of Bessus's death, which was part of an oral tradition passed down from generation to generation. This version states that Bessus was not a soldier of the Theban Legion at all, but a local
shepherd who was so pious that God rewarded him with a prosperous, fat, and healthy flock. Envious of his prosperity, some shepherds killed him by forcing him off a cliff. ==Veneration==