Lake of Cutilia
Sacred Sabine lake with a floating island and oracle.
The Lake of Cutilia, known in antiquity as Lacus Cutiliensis and today as Lago di Paterno, is a lake in central Italy near the ancient Sabine city of Reate (modern Rieti). It was considered sacred to the Sabines and was called the 'navel of Italy' by the Roman scholar Varro, who came from the region. The lake is notable for its floating island and its association with early Italic peoples, oracles, and the origins of the Saturnalia festival.
Quick Facts
- Location
- Vasche, frazione of Castel Sant'Angelo (Province of Rieti, Lazio)
- Countries
- Italy
Facts from the source article.
Background
The lake took its name from the settlement of Cutiliae or Cutilium on its shores. Varro wrote that the lake was inhabited by nymphs called lymphae commotiles or commotiae, whose presence explained the floating island. Pliny the Elder made similar observations. The floating island was formed by overgrown plants, favored by the marsh's murkiness, and was compared to the island of Delos.
According to Macrobius, the Pelasgians, after being expelled from their territory, consulted the oracle at Dodona and were told to go to the Saturnian land of the Siculi and Aborigines, to Cutilia, where a floating island existed. They were to expel the locals and sacrifice a tenth of their booty, including human captives, to Phoebus and Hades. They occupied the island, expelled the Siculi, and built a shrine to Dis and an altar to Saturn, naming the feast Saturnalia after him. Human sacrifices continued until Hercules persuaded their descendants to replace human heads with masks and honor the altar with lamps, interpreting 'phota' as 'lamps' rather than 'lives'.
The place was a fenced sacred area with an oracle influential among the Sabines. The Sabine ver sacrum migrations sometimes began here; one instance involved seven thousand sacrales led by Comus (or Cominus) Castronius, who founded Bovianum and gave rise to the Samnite nation.
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