Aquae Cutiliae is an ancient Roman site situated on

mineral spring Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produces hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage underg ...

s known today as Terme di Cotilia or Terme di Vespasiano, near the modern

Cittaducale Cittaducale (locally ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rieti in the Italian region Lazio, located about northeast of Rome and about southeast of Rieti. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 6,799 and an area of . It wa ...

, 9 miles east of

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...

in the

Sabina Sabina may refer to: Places and jurisdictions * Sabina (region), region and place in Italy, and hence: * the now Suburbicarian Diocese of Sabina (-Poggio Mirteto), Italy * Magliano Sabina, city, Italy * Pozzaglia Sabina, city, Italy *Fara Sab ...

region. It took its name from the nearby village (''

vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus r ...

'') of Cutiliae or Cutilium whose exact location is unknown.

History

Cutiliae is mentioned by

Dionysius of Halicarnassus Dionysius of Halicarnassus ( grc, Διονύσιος Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἁλικαρνασσεύς, ; – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary sty ...

as an important centre of ancient peoples who inhabited Sabina before the arrival of the

Sabines The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divid ...

. The nearby

Lake of Cutilia Lacus Cutiliensis (Lake of Cutilia) is the ancient Roman name of the modern Lago di Paterno in the municipality of Castel Sant'Angelo, near the ancient Reate, now Rieti. In antiquity it was sacred to the Sabines. Varro, who came from Reate, call ...

was supposed by classical writers such as

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

and

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...

to be the centre of Italy, and was renowned for its floating islands, which, as in other cases, were formed from the partial petrification of plants by the mineral substances contained in the water. The lake itself was sacred to the Sabine goddess

Vacuna Vacuna was an ancient Sabine goddess, identified by ancient Roman sources and later scholars with numerous other goddesses, including Ceres, Diana, Nike, Minerva, Bellona, Venus and Victoria. She was mainly worshipped at a sanctuary near Hora ...

and for this reason made inaccessible with fences. The baths were built at the settlement to benefit from the perceived healing waters. According to Suetonius,

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Emperor

Vespasian Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Empi ...

had a villa at Cutiliae: "he left for Cutiliae and the fields of Reate, where he spent the summer every year", while of his son, emperor

Titus Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September 81 AD) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death. Before becoming emperor, Titus gained renown as a mili ...

, he said that: "he retired to the same villa as his father" and both died there. Vespasian suffered increasingly severe intestinal problems and died in 79 AD at Aquae Cutiliae perhaps due to excessive bathing in the cold waters. Its name appears on the

Peutinger Table ' (Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the ''cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire. The map is a 13th-cen ...

as ''Aqve cvtillie'' on the

Via Salaria The Via Salaria was an ancient Roman road in Italy. It eventually ran from Rome (from Porta Salaria of the Aurelian Walls) to ''Castrum Truentinum'' (Porto d'Ascoli) on the Adriatic coast, a distance of 242 km. The road also passed throug ...

Excavations

The first excavations of the baths were done after the discovery of remains in 1890. The excavations carried out in the years 1969-1984 brought to light more of the "Terme di Cotilia", as known in the archaeological literature (or the baths of Vespasian). Recent archaeological excavations (2007-2012) revealed a section of the ancient road at the first terrace level of the baths, just outside the enclosure walls.

The site

The well-preserved monumental buildings of the so-called Baths of Vespasian lie about 2 km from lake Cutilia and extend for 400 m and on four terraces. It was probably originally a sanctuary to the goddess Vacuna similar to many others built in Latium in the late Republican age. On the 2nd terrace, a large

natatio In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers throughou ...

(swimming pool) was excavated from the solid rock, measuring 60 by 24 m, and was accessed by swimmers by steps on the longer sides of the basin. It was extended in several periods and used up to the 4th c. AD, and was probably fed by an underground spring. There is also a series of niches and rooms around an apse on the north side that formed a monumental

nymphaeum A ''nymphaeum'' or ''nymphaion'' ( grc, νυμφαῖον), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs. These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...

. The west side lies beneath a later church and mill and dates to the

Flavian Flavian may refer to: * A member of the Flavian dynasty of Roman emperors, during the late 1st century AD, or their works * Flavian Zeija, a Ugandan lawyer, academic and judge. Principal Judge of Uganda, since December 2019. * A person named Flavian ...

era, showing rooms that heated the spring water for the baths. The baths were used until th 4th-5th century. On the 3rd terrace 5 pillars are visible, probably belonging to the portico near the corridor. It is possible that this part collapsed around the III/IV century AD, perhaps due to an earthquake or to the Lombard conquest, and was never rebuilt. A wide section of the ancient road a few hundred metres long has been revealed on the first terrace level of the baths, just outside the enclosure walls.The architectural majesty of the baths, unique for rural Sabina of the late republican and early imperial period, can be explained by their prominent position near the major road. On the other side of Lake Cutilia are the monumental remains of the so-called Baths of Titus, more likely to be a large villa and dating from the 1st c. BC to 1st c. AD. The massive retaining wall of 60 m length and 11 m high lies in front of several rectangular rooms.

Healing properties

Aquae Cutiliae has sulphurous and mineral springs, which was frequently enjoyed by the

Flavian emperors The Flavian dynasty ruled the Roman Empire between AD 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian (69–79), and his two sons Titus (79–81) and Domitian (81–96). The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known as ...

and was dedicated to the goddess

. These sources of intensely cold water were especially renowned for their healing properties, which

and

Celsus Celsus (; grc-x-hellen, Κέλσος, ''Kélsos''; ) was a 2nd-century Greek philosopher and opponent of early Christianity. His literary work, ''The True Word'' (also ''Account'', ''Doctrine'' or ''Discourse''; Greek: grc-x-hellen, Λόγ� ...

praised for their effectiveness in curing stomach disorders.

References

Springs of Italy Archaeological sites in Lazio {{Lazio-geo-stub