Reate is the principal town of the Sabine Country. Founded in ancient times by the Sabines, Reate is located on the Via Salaria at the point where it crosses the river Avens. The town is situated to overlook the plain at the base of Mount Tetricus, southernmost of the Montes Gurgures.*
Read the article on Sabinium in the Roman Era.
Reate has been a part of Rome since 290 B.C. when it was brought under Roman administration after the consul Manius Curius Dentatus defeated a rebellion in the Sabine hill country. The entire area of Sabinium was thereafter included in the ager Romanus. The towns of upper Sabinium – Reate, Amiternum, and Nursia – were given status as Roman municipia, and their residents were given citizenship without the right to vote, i.e. civitas sine suffragio. Reate’s residents obtained Roman citizenship in 268, when the full franchise was extended to all of upper Sabinium. The citizens of upper Sabinium were enrolled in the Quirina tribe after 241.
Including the confluence of the Avens and Himella rivers east of Reate, and the downstream confluence of the Avens and Tolenus west of Reate, the area of the ager Reatinus is exceptionally well-watered. The countryside surrounding Reate is highly regarded for its fertile farm and grazing lands. Natural mineral springs at Aquae Cutiliae and Septem Aquae are popular recreational areas because of the healthful properties of their waters. Another famous local landmark is the magnificent waterfall created by Curius Dentatus. [This project has been the source of persistent legal disputes between Reate and Interamna Nahars, our neighbor to the north along the river Nar.]
Reate gained additional notoriety after 69 A.D. when Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus claimed the imperial title and established the Flavian dynasty. The emperor was born in 9 A.D. in the village of Falacrinus, near Interocrea, about 15 miles east of Reate. His father and grandfather had both been from Reate, and other members of the family owned estates in the upper Sabine region. Vespasian traded mules in Reate as a young man. As emperor, he often visited the baths at Aquae Cutiliae in the summer. During a visit to the springs in 79, he fell ill and died. In 81, Vespasian’s son and successor as emperor Titus also fell ill on his way to visit the springs and died there.
Reate is open and ready to receive residents interested in sharing our history and culture!
The territory of Reate is divided into three districts: the municipium [town] of Reate, the agricultural countryside of the ager Reatinus, and the resort area around the village of Aquae Cutiliae.
Good ideas for settlers in these districts include properties based on agricultural estates, livestock production, Sabine culture and religious sites, spas and resorts, parks and natural features, trade and transport, and Roman authors and celebrities with connections to the area.
For those interested in developing properties in the districts of Reate, the following sources are helpful in getting started:
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, Book I.14-15 (based on Varro’s writings).
William Hazlitt, The Classical Gazeteer, 1851; search by town.
George Long and Robley Dunglinson, An Introduction to the Study of Grecian and Roman Geography, (F. Carr and Co., 1829), pp. 214-215.
Also, please read the article by Mauricius Fabius describing his trip to modern Terni and Rieti: “Travels through Sabine Lands”.
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Explore the wonders of Reate and the ager Reatinus. There’s so much to see and do, you’ll keep coming back for more!
* Mount Tetricus is now known as Monte Terminillo. The Avens is the modern Velino river.
(City-builders: M. Fabius Furius and Mauricius Fabius)
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