Mithraism

For related deities see Mitra (disambiguation).

Double-faced Mithraic relief. Rome, second to third century AD. Louvre Museum.
Top: Mithras killing the bull, being looked over by the Sun god and the Moon goddess.
Bottom: Mithras banqueting with the Sun god.

The Mithraic Mysteries or Mysteries of Mithras (also Mithraism) was a mystery religion which became popular among the military in the Roman Empire, from the 1st to 4th centuries AD. Information on the cult is based mainly on interpretations of monuments. These depict Mithras as born from a rock and sacrificing a bull. His worshippers had a complex system of 7 grades of initiation, with ritual meals. They met in underground temples. Little else is known for certain.

Summary of the cult myth

Mithras is born from a rock. He is depicted in his temples slaying a bull in the tauroctony (see section below). Little is known about the beliefs associated with this. The ancient histories of the cult by Euboulos and Pallas have perished. The name of the god was certainly given as Mithras (with an 's') in Latin monuments, although Mithra may have been used in Greek.

History and development

Beginnings

In antiquity, texts refer to "the mysteries of Mithras", and to its adherents, as "the mysteries of the Persians." But there is great dispute about whether there is really any link with Persia, and its origins are quite obscure.

The mysteries of Mithras were not practiced until the 1st century A.D. The unique underground temples or Mithraea appear suddenly in the archaeology in the last quarter of the first century AD.

Earliest cult locations

The attested locations of the cult in the earliest phase (c. 80 - 120) are as follows:

Mithraea datable from pottery

• Nida/Heddemheim III (Germania Sup.)
• Mogontiacum (Germania Sup.)
• Pons Aeni (Noricum)
• Caesarea (Judaea)

Datable dedications

• Nida/Heddernheim I (Germania Sup.) (CIMRM 1091/2, 1098)
• Carnuntum III (Pannonia Sup.) (CIMRM 1718)
• Novae (Moesia Inf.) (CIMRM 2268/9)
• Oescus(Moesia Inf.)(CIMRM 2250)
• Rome(CIMRM 362, 593/4)
• Aezanitis (NW Phrygia) (CIMRM 23)

Datable literary reference

• Rome (Statius, Theb. 1.719-20)

Earliest archaeology

The earliest Mithraic monument showing Mithras slaying the bull is thought to be CIMRM 593. This is a depiction of Mithras killing the bull, found in Rome. There is no date, but the inscription tells us that it was dedicated by a certain Alcimus, steward of T. Claudius Livianus. Vermaseren and Gordon believe that this Livianus is a certain Livianus who was commander of the Praetorian guard in 101 AD, which would give an earliest date of 98-99 AD.

An altar or block from near SS. Pietro e Marcellino on the Esquiline in Rome was inscribed with a bilingual inscription by an Imperial freedman named T. Flavius Hyginus, probably between 80-100 AD. It is dedicated to Sol Invictus Mithras.

CIMRM 2268 is a broken base or altar from Novae/Steklen in Moesia Inferior, dated 100 AD, showing Cautes and Cautopates.

Other early archaeology includes the Greek inscription from Venosia by Sagaris actor probably from 100-150 AD; the Sidon cippus dedicated by Theodotus priest of Mithras to Asclepius, 140-141 AD; and the earliest military inscription, by C. Sacidius Barbarus, centurion of XV Apollinaris, from the bank of the Danube at Carnuntum, probably before 114 AD.

The last is the earliest archaeological evidence outside Rome for the Roman worship of Mithras, a record of Roman soldiers who came from the military garrison at Carnuntum. The earliest dateable Mithraeum outside Rome dates from 148 AD. The Mithraeum at Caesarea Maritima is the only one in Palestine and the date is inferred.

Vermaseren notes that no Mithraic monument can be certainly dated earlier than the end of the first century AD.

Earliest literary references

The first surviving ancient author to mention Mithras is Statius ca. 80 AD, who makes an enigmatic reference, possibly to the tauroctony.

Possible origins of the mysteries of Mithras

Mithras and the Bull: This fresco from the mithraeum at Marino, Italy (third century) shows the tauroctony and the celestial lining of Mithras' cape.

Plutarch

The Greek biographer Plutarch (46 - 127) was convinced that the pirates of Cilicia, the coastal province in the southeast of Anatolia, were the origin of the Mithraic rituals that were being practiced in the Rome of his day: "They likewise offered strange sacrifices; those of Olympus I mean; and they celebrated certain secret mysteries, among which those of Mithras continue to this day, being originally instituted by them." (Life of Pompey 24). The 4th century commentary on Vergil by Servius says that Pompey settled some of these pirates in Calabria. But whether any of this relates to the origins of the mysteries is unclear.

Porphyry

According to 3-4th century AD philosopher Porphyry, Mithraists considered that their cult was founded by Zoroaster. But Porphyry is writing close to the demise of the cult, and modern scholar Robert Turcan has challenged the idea that Porphyry's statements about Mithraism are accurate. His case is that far from representing what Mithraists believed, they are merely representations by the neo-platonists of what it suited them in the late 4th century to read into the mysteries. Merkelbach and Beck believe that Porphyry's work "is in fact thoroughly coloured with the doctrines of the Mysteries."

Cumont's hypothesis

Scholarship on Mithras begins with Franz Cumont, who published a two volume collection of source texts and images of monuments in French in 1894–1900. Cumont's hypothesis, as the author summarizes it in the first 32 pages of his book, was that the Roman religion was "the Roman form of Mazdaism" , the Persian state religion, disseminated from the East.

Cumont's theories were examined and largely rejected at the First International Congress of Mithraic Studies held in 1971. John Hinnells was unwilling to reject entirely the idea of Iranian origin, but wrote: "we must now conclude that his reconstruction simply will not stand. It receives no support from the Iranian material and is in fact in conflict with the ideas of that tradition as they are represented in the extant texts. Above all, it is a theoretical reconstruction which does not accord with the actual Roman iconography." He discussed Cumont's reconstruction of the bull-slaying scene and stated "that the portrayal of Mithras given by Cumont is not merely unsupported by Iranian texts but is actually in serious conflict with known Iranian theology." Another paper by R. L. Gordon showed that Cumont severely distorted the available evidence by forcing the material to conform to his predetermined model of Zoroastrian origins. Gordon suggested that the theory of Persian origins was completely invalid and that the Mithraic mysteries in the West was an entirely new creation.

Boyce states that "no satisfactory evidence has yet been adduced to show that, before Zoroaster, the concept of a supreme god existed among the Iranians, or that among them Mithra - or any other divinity - ever enjoyed a separate cult of his or her own outside either their ancient or their Zoroastrian pantheons."

Beck tells us that since the 1970s scholars have generally rejected Cumont, but adds that recent theories about how Zoroastrianism was during the period BC now makes some new form of Cumont's east-west transfer possible. "Apart from the name of the god himself, in other words, Mithraism seems to have developed largely in and is, therefore, best understood from the context of Roman culture."

Modern theories

Basrelief depicting Mithras.Mithras (as well as Elagabalus and Sol) was at times referred to as Sol Invictus.

Beck believes that the cult was created in Rome, by a single founder who had some knowledge of both Greek and Oriental religion, but suggests that some of the ideas used may have passed through the Hellenistic kingdoms: "Mithras — moreover, a Mithras who was identified with the Greek Sun god, Helios, ... was one of the deities of the syncretic Graeco-Iranian royal cult founded by Antiochus I, king of the small, but prosperous "buffer" state of Commagene, in the mid first century B.C."

Merkelbach suggests that its mysteries were essentially created by a single individual of genius and created in a specific place, the city of Rome, by someone from an eastern province or border state who knew the Iranian myths in detail, which he wove into his new grades of initiation; but that he must have been Greek and Greek-speaking because he incorporated elements of Greek platonism into it. The myths, he suggests, were probably created in the milieu of the imperial bureaucracy, and for its members. Clauss tends to agree. Beck calls this "the most likely scenario" and states "Till now, Mithraism has generally been treated as if it somehow evolved Topsy-like from its Iranian precursor -- a most implausible scenario once it is stated explicitly."

Archaeologist Lewis M. Hopfe notes that there are only three Mithraea in Roman Syria, in contrast to further west. He writes: "archaeology indicates that Roman Mithraism had its epicenter in Rome... the fully developed religion known as Mithraism seems to have begun in Rome and been carried to Syria by soldiers and merchants."

Taking a different view from most modern scholars, Ulansey argues that the Mithraic mysteries began in the Greco-Roman world as a religious response to the discovery by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus of the astronomical phenomenon of the precession of the equinoxes—a discovery that amounted to discovering that the entire cosmos was moving in a hitherto unknown way. This new cosmic motion, he suggests, was seen by the founders of Mithraism as indicating the existence of a powerful new god capable of shifting the cosmic spheres and thereby controlling the universe.

Ware asserted that the Romans who founded the cult borrowed the name "Mithras" from Avestan Mithra,.

Later History

The first important expansion of the mysteries in the Empire seems to have happened quite quickly, late in the reign of Antoninus Pius and under Marcus Aurelius. By this time all the key elements of the mysteries were in place.

Mithraism reached the apogee of its popularity during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, spreading at an "astonishing" rate at the same period when Sol Invictus became part of the state cult.. At this period a certain Pallas devoted a monograph to Mithras, and a little later Euboulus wrote a History of Mithras, although both works are now lost. According to the possibly spurious fourth century Historia Augusta, the emperor Commodus participated in its mysteries. But it never became one of the state cults.

Beck states that "Quite early in the [fourth] century the religion was as good as dead throughout the empire." . Cumont believed that Mithraism may have survived in certain remote cantons of the Alps and Vosges into the fifth century.

Rituals and worship

Little is known about the beliefs of the cult of Mithras. Modern accounts rely primarily on modern interpretation of the reliefs.

No Mithraic scripture or first-hand account of its highly secret rituals survives, with the possible exception of a liturgy recorded in a 4th century papyrus, which may not be Mithraic at all.

Mithraic beliefs were not internally consistent and monolithic,^cf. but rather, varied from location to location.

The mithraeum

See also Mithraeum.

A mithraeum found in the ruins of Ostia Antica, Italy.

Temples of Mithras were underground, and very distinctive. These are known as Mithraea, and are common in the empire.

Degrees of initiation

There were seven grades of initiation into the mysteries of Mithras, which are listed by St. Jerome. In ascending order of importance these were:

• Corax (raven)
• Nymphus (bridegroom)
• Miles (soldier)
• Leo (lion)
• Perses (Persian)
• Heliodromus (sun-courier)
• Pater (father)

A mosaic in the Ostia Mithraeum of Felicissimus depicts these grades, with foodstuffs which may be associated with ritual meals for each grade.

The cult was for men only. It has recently been suggested by one scholar that "women were involved with Mithraic groups in at least some locations of the empire."

Mithras and other gods

Syncretism was a feature of Roman paganism, and the cult of Mithras was part of this.

Mithras and Phanes

Orphic speculation influenced the cult of Mithras at times. In Orphism, Phanes emerged from the world egg at the beginning of time, bringing the universe into existence.

There is some literary evidence of the syncretism of Mithras and Phanes. A list of the eight elements of creation appears in Zenobius and Theon of Smyrna; most of the elements arethe same, but in Zenobius the seventh element is 'Mithras', in Theon it is 'Phanes'..

A Greek inscription on a statue base from a Mithraeum in Rome reads "to Deus Sol Mithras Phanes". A relief from Vercovium (Housesteads) on Hadrian's Wall shows Mithras emerging from the cosmic egg, which is represented both as such and by the shape of the zodiacal ring. Ulansey adds:

"The identification between Mithras and Phanes indicated by CIMRM 860 is also explicitly attested by an inscription found in Rome dedicated to 'Zeus-Helios-Mithras-Phanes' and another inscription dedicated to 'Helios-Mithras-Phanes'."

Another syncretistic relief is in Modena. This shows Phanes coming from an egg with flames shooting out around him, surrounded by the twelve signs of the zodiac, in an image very similar to that at Newcastle.. Further references also exist.

Mithras and Helios/Sol

Sol or Helios is frequently depicted as an inferior associated deity in Mithraic reliefs.

Mithras Sol Invictus

Mithras is given the title "deus sol invictus" (unconquered sun god) in several inscriptions. The vagueness of the term invictus means that it was widely used. Mithras never became a state cult, however, unlike the official late Roman Sol Invictus cult. Sol and Mithras are depicted as separate persons in Mithras reliefs.

Iconography

Much about Mithraism is only known from reliefs and sculptures. There have been many attempts to interpret this material.

The tauroctony

See also Tauroctony.

Tauroctony of Mithras at the British Museum London

Tauroctony of Mithras at the Brukenthal National Museum

In every Mithraeum the centrepiece was a representation of Mithras killing a sacred bull; the so-called tauroctony. In the scene, Mithras is shown standing over the bull, striking a knife to its shoulder. The sun, the moon and the signs of the zodiac are often represented above. Mithras is frequently depicted attended by two torch-bearers, Cautes and Cautopates, one with his torch pointed up, one with his crook pointed down. Occasionally they carry shepherds' crooks instead.. Finally, several animals and symbols attend the scene: a dog laps up blood from the bull's wound, while wheat grows from the tail of the bull. Also present are a scorpion attacking the bull's testicles, a snake and a raven. The meaning of the scene is unclear, although many present-day scholars try to understand it through astral interpretations.

Franz Cumont hypothesized that the imagery of the tauroctony was a Greco-Roman representation of an event in Zoroastrian cosmogony described in a 9th century AD Zoroastrian text, the Bundahishn. In this text the evil spirit Ahriman (not Mithras) slays the primordial creature Gavaevodata which is represented as a bovine. Cumont speculated that a version of the myth must have existed in which Mithras, not Ahriman, killed the bovine. But Hinnells points out that no such variant of the myth is known, and that this is merely speculation: "In no known Iranian text [either Zoroastrian or otherwise] does Mithra slay a bull"

It has been proposed that rather than being derived from Iranian animal sacrifice scene with Iranian precedents, the tauroctony is a symbolic representation of the constellations. After Cumont's theory had been called into question, scholars began to examine an earlier hypothesis by K.B. Stark, who in 1869 proposed that the tauroctony in fact represented a starmap. He argued that the main symbols of the scene were found in constellations located in a narrow band of the night sky (see table below).

Symbol	Constellation
Bull	Taurus
Dog	Canis Minor
Snake	Hydra
Raven	Corvus
Scorpion	Scorpius

Cumont's theory largely overshadowed Stark's work until 1973, when Roger Beck noted that all of the constellations Stark identified are located in an area between Aldebaran in Taurus and Antares in Scorpio, along with the bright star Spica, whose counterpart in the tauroctony, according to Beck, is the methamorphosed tail of the dying bull. In 1977, Iranologist Stanley Insler arrived independently at a similar interpretation, unaware of Stark's and Beck's earlier theories.

Several celestial identities for the Tauroctonous Mithras (TM) himself have been proposed. Beck summarizes them in the table below "

Scholar	Identification
Bausani, A. (1979)	TM associated with Leo, in that the tauroctony is a type of the ancient lion-bull (Leo-Taurus) combat motif.
Beck, R.L. (1994)	TM = Sun in Leo
Insler, S. (1978)	bull-killing = heliacal setting of Taurus
Jacobs, B. (1999)	bull-killing = heliacal setting of Taurus
North, J.D. (1990)	TM = Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) setting, his knife = Triangulum setting, his mantle = Capella (Alpha Auriega) setting.
Rutgers, A.J. (1970)	TM = Sun, Bull = Moon
Sandelin, K.-G. (1988)	TM = Auriga
Speidel, M.P. (1980)	TM = Orion
Ulansey, D. (1989)	TM = Perseus
Weiss, M. (1994, 1998)	TM = the Night Sky

David Ulansey has proposed that Mithras seems to have been derived from the constellation of Perseus, which is positioned just above Taurus in the nigth sky. Ulansey finds further astronomical evidence from the mithraeum itself. He reminds us that the Platonic writer Porphyry wrote in the 3rd century AD that the cave-like temple Mithraea depicted "an image of the world" and that Zoroaster consecrated a cave resembling the world fabricated by Mithras The ceiling of the Caesarea Maritima Mithraeum retains traces of blue paint, which may mean the ceiling was painted to depict the sky and the stars..

Michael Speidel associates these depictions of Mithras with the constellation of Orion because of the proximity to Taurus, and the consistent nature of the depiction of the figure as having wide shoulders, a garment flared at the hem, and narrowed at the waist with a belt, thus taking on the form of the constellation.

Beck has criticized Speidel and Ulansey of adherence to a literal cartographic logic, describing their theories as a "will-o'-the-whisp" which "lured them down a false trail." He argues that a literal reading of the tauroctony as a star chart raises two major problems: it is difficult to find a constellation counterpart for Mithras himself (despite efforts by Speidel and Ulansey) and that unlike in a star chart, each feature of the tauroctony might have more than a single counterpart. Rather than seeing Mithras as a constellation, Beck argues that Mithras is the prime traveller on the celestial stage (represtend by the other symbols of the scene), the Unconquered Sun moving through the constellations.

Other iconography

Mithras riding bull

Depictions show Mithras (or someone thought to represent Mithras) wearing a cape, which in some examples, has the starry sky as its inside lining.

Reliefs on a cup found in Mainz, appear to depict a Mithraic initiation. On the cup, the initiate is depicted as led into a location where a Pater (see Mithraic ranks) would be seated in the guise of Mithras with a drawn bow. Accompanying the initiate is a mystagogue, who explains the symbolism and theology to the initiate. The Rite is thought to re-enact what has come to be called the 'Water Miracle', in which Mithras fires a bolt into a rock, and from the rock now spouts water.

Mithraism and Christianity

The idea of a relationship between early Christianity and Mithraism is based on a passing remark in the 2nd century Christian writer Justin Martyr, who accused the Mithraists of diabolically imitating the Christian communion rite. Based upon this, Ernest Renan in 1882 set forth a vivid depiction of two rival religions: "if the growth of Christianity had been arrested by some mortal malady, the world would have been Mithraic," Edwin M. Yamauchi comments on Renan's work which, "published nearly 150 years ago, has no value as a source. He [Renan] knew very little about Mithraism..."

Mithras and the Virgin Birth

Joseph Campbell, who was not a Mithras scholar, described the birth of Mithras as a virgin birth, like that of Jesus. He gives no ancient source for his claim.

Mithras was not thought of as virgin born in any ancient source. Rather, he arose spontaneously from a rock in a cave.. In Mithraic Studies it is stated that Mithras was born as an adult from solid rock, "wearing his Phrygian cap, issues forth from the rocky mass. As yet only his bare torso is visible. In each hand he raises aloft a lighted torch and, as an unusual detail, red flames shoot out all around him from the petra genetrix."

David Ulansey speculates that this was a belief derived from the Perseus' myths which held he was born from an underground cavern.

Mithras and 25th December

It is often stated that Mithras was supposely born on December 25. Beck calls this assertion "that hoariest of 'facts'". He continues: "In truth, the only evidence for it is the celebration of the birthday of "Invictus" on that date in Calendar of Philocalus. 'Invictus' is of course Sol Invictus, Aurelian's sun god. It does not follow that a different, earlier, and unofficial sun god, Sol Invictus Mithras, was necessarily or even probably, born on that day too."

Clauss states that there were no public ceremonies of the mysteries of Mithras: "the Mithraic Mysteries had no public ceremonies of its own. The festival of natalis Invicti [Birth of the Unconquerable (Sun)], held on 25 December, was a general festival of the Sun, and by no means specific to the Mysteries of Mithras."

Steven Hijmans has discussed in detail the question of whether the general "natalis Invicti" festival was related to Christmas but does not give Mithras as a possible source.

Mithras and Salvation

A painted text on the wall of the St. Prisca Mithraeum in Rome contains the words: et nos servasti . . . sanguine fuso (and you have saved us ... in the shed blood). The meaning of this is unclear, although presumably refers to the bull killed by Mithras, as no other source refers to a Mithraic salvation. According to Robert Turcan, Mithraic salvation had little to do with the other-worldly destiny of individual souls, but was on the Zoroastrian pattern of man's participation in the cosmic struggle of the good creation against the forces of evil

Mithras and the Taurobolium

No ancient source associates Mithras with the Taurobolium. The only monument to do so, CIL VI, 736, is a forgery.

Mithras and the Sign of the Cross

Tertullian states that followers of Mithras were marked on their forehead in an unspecified manner. There is no indication that this is a cross, or a branding, or a tattoo, or a permanent mark of any kind.

Mithraic art-motifs in medieval Christian art?

From the end of the 18th century some authors have suggested that some elements in medieval Christian art reflect images found in Mithraic reliefs. Franz Cumont was among these, although he studied each motif in isolation rather than the combination of several elements and whether they were combined in Christian art in the same way. Cumont said that after the triumph of the church over paganism, artists continued to make use of stock images originally devised for Mithras in order to depict the new and unfamiliar stories of the bible. The "stranglehold of the workshop" meant that the first Christian artworks were heavily based on pagan art, and "a few alterations in costume and attitude transformed a pagan scene into a Christian picture".

A series of scholars have since discussed possible similarities with Mithraic reliefs in medieval Romanesque art. Vermaseren stated that the only certain example of such influence was an image of Elijah drawn up to heaven in a chariot drawn by fiery horses. Deman stated that to compare isolated elements was not useful, and that combinations should be studied. He also pointed out that a similarity of image does not tell us whether this implies an ideological influence, or merely a tradition of craftmanship. He then gave a list of medieval reliefs that parallel Mithraic images, but refused to draw conclusions from this, as these would be subjective.

Further reading

• Beck, Roger, "The Mysteries of Mithras: A New Account of Their Genesis," Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 88, 1998 (1998) , pp. 115–128.
• Beck, Roger, "Mithraism since Franz Cumont," Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt, II.17.4, 1984, pp. 2002-115. Important summary of the changes to Mithras scholarship.
• Clauss, Manfred, The Roman cult of Mithras: the god and his mysteries, Translated by Richard Gordon. New York: Routledge, 2000. Pp. 198. ISBN 0-415-92977-6 here. An excellent concise view of the current consensus.
• Cumont, Franz, Textes et monuments figurés relatifs aux Mystères de Mithra : pub. avec une introduction critique, 2 vols. 1894-6. Vol. 1 is an introduction, now obsolete. Vol. 2 is a collection of primary data, online at Archive.org here, and still of some value.
• Gordon, Richard, Frequently asked questions about the cult of Mithras. Some common misconceptions, and the comments of a professional Mithras scholar.
• Hinnells, John (ed.), Proceedings of The First International Congress of Mithraic Studies, Manchester University Press (1975).
• Turcan, Robert, Mithra et le mithriacisme, Paris, 2000. Academic study.
• Ulansey, David, The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries: Cosmology and Salvation in the Ancient World, Oxford University Press, 1989. An influential but non-mainstream account.
• Vermaseren, M.J., Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae, The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff, 1956, 2 vols. The standard collection of Mithraic reliefs.
• Christ and the Taurobolium - Lord Mithras in the genesis of Christianity , D.K. Malloch, Lochan, 2006, ISBN 978-0-9540786-1-4.

External links

• The Electronic Journal of Mithraic Studies Academic site.
• Mithraeum A website with a collection of monuments and bibliography about Mithraism.
• L'Ecole Initiative: Alison Griffith, 1996. "Mithraism" A brief overview with bibliography.
• Cumont, "The Mysteries Of Mithra" Old English translation of obsolete intro to his book.
• Mithras: literary references Collection of primary source references to Mithras in ancient texts.
• David Ulansey's article "The Cosmic Mysteries of Mithras" from Biblical Archaeology Review, summarizing his book The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries (Oxford Univ. Press, 1989)
• Google Maps: Map of the locations of Mithraea