Rieti (Latin: Reate) is a town in Latium, Italy, with a population of 41,394. It is the capital of Rieti Province and the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rieti. The city is placed on a small hilltop commanding a wide plain, at the southern edge of an ancient lake, and by the side of a river (to be known as Mellinus and later Velino). Today only the small lakes of Ripasottile and Cantalice remain of the original basin.