About
the contentious "navel," or geographic center, of Italy.
Varro claimed that his home region was Italy’s navel, and the site was believed to be the nearby Lake of Paterno, sacred to the ancient Sabine people. However, Pliny also cites Varro in his Natural History, stating that “in the region of Rieti, the lake of Cotilia [another name for the same lake], where an island floats, is the center of Italy, as Varro states.”
