Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

RIETI (anc. Reate)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 325 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

RIETI (anc. Reate) , a See also:city and episcopal see of See also:Italy, in the See also:province of See also:Perugia, 251 M. by See also:rail and 15 M. See also:direct S.S.E. of See also:Terni, which is 70 M. by rail from See also:Rome. Pop. (1901) 14,145 (See also:town), 17,716 (See also:commune). It occupies a See also:fine position 1318 ft. above See also:sea-level on the right See also:bank of the Velino (a torrent sub-tributary to the See also:Tiber), which at this point issues from the See also:limestone See also:plateau; the old town occupies the declivity and the new town spreads out on the level. While with its See also:quaint red-roofed houses, its old town walls (restored about 1250), its See also:castle, its See also:cathedral (13th and 15th centuries), its episcopal See also:palace (1283), and its various churches and convents Rieti has no small amount of See also:medieval picturesqueness; it also displays a See also:good See also:deal of See also:modern activity in See also:vine and See also:olive growing and See also:cattle-breeding. The fertility of the neighbourhood is celebrated both by See also:Virgil and by See also:Cicero. A See also:Roman See also:bridge over the Turano, and the Palazzo Vincentini by Vignola deserve to be mentioned. Reate was reached from Rome by the Via See also:Salaria (q.v.), which may originally have ended there, and a See also:branch road ran from it to Interamna. While hardly mentioned in connexion with the Punic or See also:Civil See also:Wars, Reate is described by See also:Strabo as exhausted by these See also:long contests. Its inhabitants received the Roman See also:franchise at the same See also:time with the See also:rest of the Sabines (290 B.C.), but it appears as a praefectura and not as a See also:municipium down to the beginning of the See also:empire. It was never made a colonia, though veterans of the Praetorian guard and of the eighth (See also:Augusta) and ninth legions were settled there by See also:Vespasian, who belonged to a Reatine See also:family and was See also:born in the neighbourhood.

For the contests of the Reatines with the See also:

people of Interamna see TERNI. In 1148 the town was besieged and captured by See also:Roger I. of See also:Sicily. In the struggle between See also:church and empire it always held with the former; and it defied the forces of See also:Frederick II. and See also:Otho IV. See also:Pope See also:Nicholas IV. long resided at Rieti, and it was there he crowned See also:Charles II. of See also:Anjou See also:king of the Two Sicilies. In the 14th See also:century See also:Robert, and afterwards See also:Joanna, of See also:Naples managed to keep See also:possession of Rieti for many years, but it returned to the States of the Church under See also:Gregory IX. About the See also:year 1500, the liberties of the town, long defended against the encroachments of the popes, were entirely abolished. An See also:earthquake in 1785 was in 1799 followed by the much more disastrous pillage of Rieti by the papal troops for a space of fourteen days.

End of Article: RIETI (anc. Reate)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
RIESENGEBIRGE (Bohemian Krkonose) 		[next]
RIETSCHEL, ERNST

Site © 2006 - Net Industries