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1
As you walk about the streets of modern day Rome, you will see many
amazing things, things such as the ancient forum or the old temples of the gods,
many of which have been turned into Catholic churches. You may even see a statue
or two of forgotten Roman officials. However, one does not realize the secrets that
this ancient city holds. What may seem to be a tourist haven from above may hold
shocking surprises below its ancient rubble.
When one enters a church, such as the Church of Santa Prisca, one may find
something they did not expect within a Catholic church, or should I say “below” a
Catholic church. In such places as this, one needs only to ask to gain entrance to the
underground to see what was Ancient Rome. As you descend a staircase to reach
your destination, you come to an entrance‐way adorned by what seem to be two
figures: one holding what appears to be a torch up, the other holding his torch
downwards. As you enter, you notice that if not for artificial light, you would not see
anything within this dark “cave” of sorts. You look around and see stone benches on
each side, possibly primitive pews for a service, with what looks to be a stone altar
in the middle of the dark room. The walls have Latin inscriptions written upon them
and with what little knowledge you have from your undergraduate Latin courses,
you are able to make out some of the inscriptions. They seem to speak of someone
“shedding eternal blood”. You put the pieces together and figure that it is an ancient,
secret area of ritual for the ancient Christians. You look around more, but something
at the back of the room seems to catch your eye, creating some surprise and possibly
conflict with your original thoughts. Upon the back wall, you see paintings of a man
in different scenes. In one, he is causing water to gush from a rock, while in another
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he is being born from a rock. Finally, your eyes catch a strange scene in which the
man is sacrificing a bull surrounded by a dog, a snake, and a scorpion. This seems to
puzzle you. In all your Christian studies, there were never stories of Jesus being born
from a rock, or Jesus killing a bull. You look closer at the fresco of the sacrifice and
see the name “Mithras” with other titles along with it.
It is most certain that many people have encountered this scene at least once
when they have traversed through Rome, but not very many are given an
explanation or granted a better understanding of this strange deity who lives in
caves underneath Rome, Ostia and other areas of the Roman frontier. Through my
help and studies, I will help to explain this misunderstood god’s origins, Roman
popularity, religious rivalry’s, and subsequent downfall. Let me take you through a
“Mithraeum” that spans from about the late 1st century AD, to the late 4th century
AD.
Part I: Mithras, Savior Born from a Rock
We find Mithras’ origins far back before the Roman Empire was created.
Archaeological evidence shows us that the Persians had been worshipping this sun
god from around the time of 5th century BC, but he was praised under a slightly
different name. The Persians worshipped a supreme sun god whom they called
Mitra in their prayers.1 However, the Roman cult that gained its popularity in the 2nd
century AD up until about the 4th century seems to be strictly a western cult. We 1 Manfred Clauss, The Roman Cult of Mithras: The God and his Mysteries , trans. Richard Gordon (New York, New York: Routledge, 2001). Pg. 6
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only find the Mithraic “caves” in the Roman Empire provinces and not within areas
such as the Parthian Empire or Syria. Although, we do find “Persian” concepts within
Mithraism (one of the grades or ranks is called “Persian”; nama means “hail” in
Persian) and the myths from the east seem to have effected the main portion of the
Mithraic cult, the Tauroctony.2
However, this should not surprise anyone, because of how the eastern
religion reached the Italian peoples. Plutarch gives us some evidence to possibly the
earliest know reference to Mithraic contact with an Italian official. He states in his
account of Pompey, that when Pompey took his fleet against Mithradates VI in 67
BCE, he conquered the Cilician pirates who allied with Mithradates. He took many of
these pirates back as prisoners and it was in their captivity in Rome that they
planted the seeds of Mithraism. Plutarch states that these Cilician pirates
“celebrated secret rites and mysteries devoted to Mithras, which are still celebrated
today”.3 Plutarch lived in the years 46‐120 AD, so it is definitely probable that the
Mithraic mysteries that he speaks of relate to the Roman cult. We even find coins
minted in the mid‐third century in Tarsus the capitol of Cilicia that depict Mithras
killing the primordial bull (figure 1).4
From this main time onward, the Mithraist cult seemed to not be popular and
instead stood in the shadow of the imperial cult. However, soon this warrior of light
2 Mary Beard, John North and Simon Price, Religions of Rome: A History, Vol. 1, 2 vols. (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1998). Pg. 279. 3 Marvin W. Meyer, The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook (New York, New York: Harper and Row, 1987). Pg. 205. 4 Manfred Clauss, The Roman Cult of Mithras: The God and his Mysteries , trans. Richard Gordon (New York, New York: Routledge, 2001). Pg. 4‐5.
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and virtue would rise in popularity among the Roman population, especially within
the military.
Part II: Mithras, the True Soldier of Rome
Of course, it may seem confusing that a Persian deity could possibly gain
appeal from the Roman population, seeing that the Persians were seen as one of the
main enemies of the ancient world. Yet, so many Roman citizens pledged their life to
Mithras. Why would ancient Romans do this? How did Mithras gain so much appeal
amongst the people, even so much as to rival with Christianity? The answer, as
always, is a very complex one and so we must first tackle the demographics of this
cult. Where was he worshipped in the Empire, and who worshipped him? To find
these answers, we must first look at the frontiers of the Empire.
Our earliest evidence of a mithraeum comes from the Danube river area
around the city of Carnuntum. It was here around 100 AD, that we find a mithraeum
created by a Marcus Aurelius Decimus, a legionnaire or centurion from the
Germanian troops.5 It is no surprise that our first group of Mithraists was found
within the military. However, we can judge from the amount of mithraea found
north of Rome, in comparison to the amount found in Syria or Parthia, that the cult
had the majority of its members from the Gallic and Germanian troops near the
Rhine and Danube rivers.6 At these legionary camps in the north, we find
inscriptions for prefects, troopers, centurions, and even legates, all Mithraists. 5 Robert Turcan, The Cults of the Roman Empire (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Wiley‐Blackwell, 1996). Pg. 241. 6 Manfred Clauss, The Roman Cult of Mithras: The God and his Mysteries , trans. Richard Gordon (New York, New York: Routledge, 2001). Pg. 26‐27.
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Turcan even states that some records show that a certain Marcus Valerius
Maximianus commanded legions that were comprised of mainly Mithraists.7
However, why would these soldiers give their praise to a “Persian” deity? What
about Mithras, would have appealed to them? In order to find these answers we
must look at Mithras himself and the stories about him.
Mithras was said to be the “great warrior of virtue and truth”, and was the
conqueror of evil. When he had slain the cosmic bull (a metaphor for chaos), he
restored order to the world and made it prosperous by its “eternal blood”. Every
Mithraist was to look to Mithras as an icon to follow in their lives. He was “the Light
of the World” and the “Prince of Peace”. For the soldiers, he was a sign of the warrior
you must be in order to be victorious in battle. To have him on your side would
ensure victory. When a Mithraist reached the rank of “Miles” or soldier, he was
literally inducted as a Legionnaire for Mithras. Each of the Mithraists swore to
defend against evil and lead a life of purity, a life of celibacy.8 These oaths were not
very difficult for a soldier to make since a soldier was supposed to be celibate while
on campaign, and of course, every soldier had to see themselves defending the
Empire against evil. In addition, it was found that being a Mithraist might even raise
your rank among the troops. The cult only allowed men to know their “mysteries”.
However there are some inscriptions for sacrifice found in mithraeums in Rome that
7 Robert Turcan, The Cults of the Roman Empire (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Wiley‐Blackwell, 1996). Pg. 243. 8 Mary Beard, John North and Simon Price, Religions of Rome: A History, Vol. 1, 2 vols. (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1998). Pg. 289.
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show women attended Mithraic rituals.9 Therefore, it was even more appealing
when you could join your brothers in arms and be brothers in Mithras as well.
This soon lead Mithraic popularity to rise and soon it attracted the attention
of the Emperor himself. We have several instances in which the emperor was
involved with some Mithraic happenings. Commodus, the son of Marcus Aurelius
and emperor of Rome from 180‐192 AD, was said to have been an unworthy
follower of Mithras since he committed a “real” murder rather than a “fake”
murder.10 It was also found that certain mithraeums around the empire carried
inscriptions dating to Marcus Aurelius and Commodus that ask Mithras to protect
the health of the emperor. The emperors loved the god Mithras for the main
reasoning that it helped the troops to be better troops in battle. It especially became
popular when the Severans and other militaristic emperors came to power in Rome.
When Septimius Severus brought his Gallic troops from Pannonia down to Rome to
take power from Julianus, there was a good chance he had already been initiated
into the “mysteries” of Mithras. Soon after he came to power in 193 AD, he allowed
the Roman military to own land where they were stationed. This would allow many
more soldiers to create mithraeums if they owned the land. One of the final times
when we see imperial popularity of Mithras comes in 307 AD when the emperors
Diocletian, Galerius, and Licinius restored a Mithraic cavern, granted the title “fantor
imperii sui” to the god Mithras. This title states, “protector of their imperial power” a
clear devotion, or even, a last chance for these emperors to restore the old pagan
9 Ibid. , 298. 10 Robert Turcan, The Cults of the Roman Empire (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Wiley‐Blackwell, 1996). Pg. 243.
7
ways.11 Several emperors like Aurelian and Licinius held worship for the god “Sol
Invictus”, whose personage was close (if not even the same deity) and the two sun
gods were seen as one in the same.12
Of course, with the emperors showing increased attention to cults such as
that of Mithras, many of the Roman citizens began to flock to worship these cults.
Within Italy, we find about one third of the Mithraic population and predominately
within Rome and its port city of Ostia.13 It can be understood why the soldiers and
emperors appreciated the worship of Mithras, but why did these Roman citizens
worship Mithras? What about the cult appealed to them?
Evidence that has been found within the mithraeums has shown several
reasons for an appeal to the normal Roman citizen. First, one of the Roman
mithraeums held several heads of other deities including Sarapis, Venus, Fortuna,
and Dionysus. It appears that Mithraists were allowed to worship other Roman
deities along with Mithras. Several inscriptions even evoke prayer upon deities such
as Pales⊗ and Helios as well.14 The fact that during Pales’ festival, the Parilia, in
which cattle were purified by running through a fire, may have something to do with
the cult of Mithras in which praise for the sacrifice of the “cosmic” bull was common
11 Ibid. , 244. 12 Ramsay MacMullen, Paganism in the Roman Empire (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983). Pg. 127. 13 Ibid. , 119. ⊗ Pales was the Roman god of shepherds and his festival was the Parilia 14 Marvin W. Meyer, The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook (New York, New York: Harper and Row, 1987). Pg. 207.
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within the mithraeums.15 There are even images from the Santa Prisca mithraeum
that show Mithras shaking hands with the sun god Helios and another scene in
which Mithras and Helios feast on the sacrificial bull (figures 2‐3). Clearly, the
Mithraic cult was appealing to the polytheistic Roman citizens.
The second appeal to the Roman citizens was that of the mithraeum, the
“cavern” of the Mithraists. Every one of the mithraeums was built deep underground
and was not made public, as other cults were. Many saw the secretive cult as
interesting and even more; the mithraeums of Rome were counted as some of the
most decorated mithraeums of Mithraism. Many people were drawn to the design of
a beautiful secret cult that promised salvation through its warrior of truth and good.
The other area of the mithraeum that impressed many of the Romans was the
Tauroctony. As I have said earlier, the Tauroctony (figure 4) was a main centerpiece
for the mystery cult. It showed the god Mithras sacrificing the cosmic bull of heaven.
Beneath the bull are three animals trying to help take down the bull: a dog, a snake,
and a scorpion. Each one of these images within the Tauroctony has a different
meaning behind them. Scholars believe that they correspond with a certain
astrological constellation: Canis Major for the dog, Hydra for the snake, Scorpio for
the scorpion, Taurus for the bull, and Perseus or Leo may represent Mithras.16 Many
of the Romans found astrology to be fascinating for centuries and may have been
disappointed when several of the emperors outlawed divination and astrology. With
15 Mary Beard, John North and Simon Price, Religions of Rome: A History, Vol. 1, 2 vols. (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1998). Pg. 175. 16 Mary Beard, John North and Simon Price, Religions of Rome: A History, Vol. 1, 2 vols. (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1998). Pg. 286.
9
this newfound learning of astronomy, Romans would have flocked to the secret
meetings and rituals.
The third and final appeal found in Mithraism for the Roman people would
be Mithras’ correlation to the “god of time” or Aion. Many of the ancients saw
several notions in which Mithras was timeless and could guarantee possible
everlasting life.17 The evidence for these notions comes from written ancient
sources and archaeological evidence as well. Many of the ancient writers saw the
calculation, numerically, for the Greek name Μείθρας, in which the final product
came out to 365, the amount of days within the Julian year. Mithras’ name in Greek
held the promise of being the god of the passing of years, and could control the
passing of time in this way.18 There also seems to be a correlation with zodiac and
the god of time as well. On a relief found in Rome (but now moved to Modena), there
is an image of what is believed to be the god of time. Upon this image, there stands a
winged man with cloven feet (almost like a cattle) and he bears a lion‐head on his
chest (Mithras was often called the “lion‐headed” god, and one of the ranks within
Mithraism was the “lion”). Surrounding him is the entire zodiac, a display of the
Julian year with astrological symbols (figure 5).19 There is a mithraeum in which a
relief was discovered that showed the Tauroctony, but with the zodiac surrounding
the sacrifice (figure 6).20 This clearly shows that many people, including Mithraists,
saw Mithras already as a god of time.
17 Manfred Clauss, The Roman Cult of Mithras: The God and his Mysteries , trans. Richard Gordon (New York, New York: Routledge, 2001). Pg. 165. 18 Ibid. , 165. 19 Ibid. , 166. 20 Ibid. , 89.
10
Through all these different means, many Roman citizens were drawn to the
Mithraic cult and its savior, Mithras.
Part III: Mithras vs. Christus
From all the different cults and religions within the Empire, no other
contended so well with the Mithraic cult as that of the Christians. Both cults rose in
popularity against each other, and some modern scholars, such as Ernest Renan,
claim “if Christianity had been arrested in its growth by some fatal malady, the
world would have become Mithraist”.21 However, it is clear from the Christian
apologists’ writings that Early Christians felt threatened by this mystery cult from
the caves. So many of their rituals, beliefs and even the deities, were so similar that
there could be a rivalry between the two cults.
First, Tertullian the Christian apologist, who wrote in the 3rd century, writes
that the “devil” imitates the same rituals as the Christians. Devil seemed to be a
correlation with Mithras.22 He wrote that the Mithraists performed their ritual meal
as a means of celebrating the resurrection. Apparently, Mithraists spoke about
eternal life, just as the Christians had done. They believed that they would be reborn
by the consumption of the food and wine.23 However, the ritual meal of bread and
wine was used throughout the ancient world. The Mithraists saw it as means of
celebrating Mithras’ victory over the “cosmic” bull. When Mithras had slain the great
bull, it was said that wheat came from its tail and wine came from its blood. Through 21 Manfred Clauss, The Roman Cult of Mithras: The God and his Mysteries , trans. Richard Gordon (New York, New York: Routledge, 2001). Pg. 168. 22 Ibid. , 108. 23 Ibid. , 109.
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the bull’s flesh and blood, the world was saved and given prosperous nourishment.24
By eating the body and blood of Christ, Christians believed that they were saved
from the judgment day that they believed would be upon them. The Mithraists
would also speak their sacred texts over the ritual food, just as the Christians did.25
Tertullian also writes that the Mithraists use water as a means of purifying the
initiate, just as the early Christians did with their baptisms.
Finally, there is a strange similarity between the Christian’s sign of the cross
on the forehead and the Mithraic “mark” on some of the Mithraist’s foreheads.
Tertullian states the Christians made a sign of the cross upon their foreheads, but it
was made with a thumb and made no imprint upon the skin. One can only imagine
that this “cross” was a representation of the cross that Christ was crucified upon.
However, Tertullian goes on to say that Mithras marked his soldiers with his “mark”.
He does not explain what this “mark” was, but some archeological evidence may
point to the Mithraic “mark”. Upon the Grand Ludovisi sarcophagi (figures 7), it was
noted by an art historian that one of the soldiers (Most likely the commander of the
troops since he is defended by the other troops and the only one to not be wearing a
helmet) had a strange mark upon his forehead. Sure enough, there on the soldier’s
forehead was an “X” (figure 8).26 Turcan does not seem to be definite about this
mark being a Mithraic mark, but there are some pieces of information that this artist
may have wished to put within this work that we are not picking up that make this
24 Ibid. , 110. 25 Manfred Clauss, The Roman Cult of Mithras: The God and his Mysteries , trans. Richard Gordon (New York, New York: Routledge, 2001). Pg. 110. 26 Robert Turcan, The Cults of the Roman Empire (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Wiley‐Blackwell, 1996). Pg. 244.
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THE Mithraic “mark” Tertullian wrote about. First, the sarcophagi shows a battle
fought against what appear to be Gallic warriors or Germanian warriors, two groups
of enemies that militaristic Mithraic soldiers would have fought. Second, the
sarcophagi dates to about 249‐251 AD, during which the emperor Decius reigned
and issued his persecution of Christians in 250 AD. An edict was declared that stated
all peoples in the Empire needed to sacrifice to the Roman gods, with written proof
that they had done it. During this persecution, no citizens would wish to let anyone
know that they would be a Christian, let alone a soldier of the Empire.27 In addition,
you may find it very interesting that the bust of Decius has a “mallet mark” near the
top of his forehead, the same area where the sarcophagi soldier has his “mark”
(figure 9). Perhaps a Christian wished to hide something about this “mark”, or was
just very upset with this persecutor of Christians. The third and final reason is that
the mark is an “X”. The Christian cross strictly looked like a “T” and could mean
death for a soldier if it was found on his head. It stands to reason that the Mithraist
soldier would want their “mark” to be different from that of their rivals, the
Christians. Crosses in the shape of an “X” seem to be prevalent amongst the east
where the Persians first created crucifixion. Therefore, by all this reasoning, it
stands that this “mark” could be considered the Mithraic “mark” of Tertullian.
Now with these two cults, there must have been several differences between
the two, otherwise they could be considered one in the same. There are many
differences between the two found in their meeting areas, their demographics, and
their leadership and sacred texts. 27 Mary Beard, John North and Simon Price, Religions of Rome: A History, Vol. 1, 2 vols. (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1998). Pg. 239.
13
When it comes to the meeting places of the Christians and that of the
Mithraists, there was a definite difference between the two. The Christians seemed
to worship publically and only went into secret when Diocletian set the great
persecutions in place. Some of the Christian apologists wrote that it was suspicious
for the Mithraists to hold their rituals in secret underground. Many of the Mithraists
were accused of human sacrifice, an accusation to prove why they held their rituals
in secret. However, this was a fictitious rumor spread by the Christians to try and
defame Mithraism.28
Another difference was within their initiations and rituals. As I have said
before, women were not initiated into Mithraism, but were allowed to make
dedications to the god Mithras. Women were seen as an anti‐thesis of civilized
values, which may have also tied in with the pledge of celibacy as well.29 Women
were allowed to worship Christ and some were also allowed to be church leaders or
deaconesses. However, celibacy was also found within Christianity, but it was for
the reasoning that one should not hold onto earthly ties with the judgment day
coming, rather than a moral conviction, which dealt with Mithraism. Finally, as far as
we know, there are no surviving pieces of evidence that show that Mithraism had
sacred texts. A surviving papyrus from Paris gives possible evidence to a Mithraic
“liturgy” but other than this, we do not have any other forms of sacred texts.30
28 Robert Turcan, The Cults of the Roman Empire (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Wiley‐Blackwell, 1996). Pg. 239. 29 Mary Beard, John North and Simon Price, Religions of Rome: A History, Vol. 1, 2 vols. (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1998). Pg. 298. 30 Marvin W. Meyer, The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook (New York, New York: Harper and Row, 1987). Pg. 211.
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Whereas the Christians survived and their sacred texts were praised and copied
many times over.
This all leads to of course sadly, the fall of one of these rivals, because one
cannot survive while the other survives unfortunately. This being said, we have
reached the final part of this “Mithraic” saga.
Part IV: Mithras, the Forgotten Sun
With the decline of Christianity by many of the emperors’ persecutions,
Mithraism was able to rise. However, it would not be able to survive due to internal
issues and external issues. The internal issues as I have stated earlier, were mainly
that women were not allowed within the cult and thus would have dwindled their
numbers drastically, especially in the end. The other main internal reason was its
low‐scale focus on the future. With small ranges of demographics for their cult,
Mithras was really only popular in areas such as Rome, Gallia, and Germania.
Christianity was able to spread all over from Syria in the east to areas of Spain in the
Iberian lands. When Constantine came to power, Mithraism was already dwindling
from the rise of Christianity and the move of the capital to Constantinople rather
than Rome. However, our decline of Mithraism begins before Constantine and brings
us to what we call the “Third Century Crisis”.
Within this period of the Empire, many emperors, such as Decius, persecuted
the Christians and soon Mithraism saw a slight rise with traditional cults being
promoted. Even when Valerian exiled many of the Christians for not sacrificing, and
15
threatened them with death for practicing their rituals in 257 AD, Mithraism could
see a light of hope in survival.31 That light however was soon dimmed when a
humiliating tragedy befell the Empire. In 260 AD, Valerian engaged the Persian king
of the Sassanid Empire in battle in what used to be Parthian lands. It was in this
battle that Valerian was defeated and his armies decimated. Valerian was captured
by the Sassanids and was executed after humiliation by their king. The early
Christians were quick to blame the Mithraists for the defeat, seeing that their god
came from the “Persian” lands, and soon many of the Mithraists began to see their
future slowly dissipating.32 Thankfully, the Mithraists found another ray of hope in
the future emperors.
Emperors such as Aurelian brought a new deity from the east and the people
saw that this new deity was involved with all of Aurelian’s victories in the east and
the north. This new deity was called “Sol Invictus” or “Unconquered Sun”. Many
people soon began to correspond the sun god Mithras with this new deity, and it
was not long before the two of them were fused together. This lasted until about the
time of the Tetrarchy in which four men ran the Empire: Diocletian as head
emperor, Maxentius, Licinius, and Constantine.
After Constantine had defeated Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge in 312 AD,
Constantine began to institute that a new divinity had aided him in the battle. He
claimed that the god of the Christians had helped him win the battle, and he slowly
became the Christians new patron. In 313 AD, Constantine and Licinius legalized 31 Mary Beard, John North and Simon Price, Religions of Rome: A History, Vol. 1, 2 vols. (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1998). Pg. 241. 32 Robert Turcan, The Cults of the Roman Empire (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Wiley‐Blackwell, 1996). Pg. 245.
16
Christianity, but also legalized all other religions as well. There was now religious
tolerance in the Empire. However, this would soon change when Constantine
wished to rise above the other rulers. Diocletian had died, and he saw his
opportunity against Licinius. They engaged in battle, Licinius running his banners
with Mithras and Constantine running his banners with the symbol for the Christian
god.33 Constantine won the battle, and the Mithraic cult now saw its decline coming
to a sharp ending. Under Constantine’s sons, pagan cults soon all felt a tightening
noose upon their life.
There was however, one last peak of hope for all the pagan cults. When Julian
II came to power in 361 AD, he sought to revive the traditional pagan ways of Rome.
He limited the church’s power within Rome and tried to strengthen the power of the
pagan cults. However, in 363 AD, he was killed in battle and all hope for the pagan
traditions was gone.
After Julian’s reign, the Christians attacked mithraeums all over and
destroyed statues of Mithras. An iconoclasm took place against the Mithraists and
they would not survive this persecution. Within a decade, the cult seemed to have
disappeared by means of the Christians, and their use of Roman power. By the edict
of Theodosius around 380 AD, all religions except Christianity and Judaism were
outlawed, and Christianity made the religion of the empire.
Mithraism was a forgotten religion spoken of by the Christian apologists such
as Tertullian and Justin Martyr, and by the pagan apologists who defended the
already “dead” religions. Many of these pagan apologists asked Christian leaders 33 Manfred Clauss, The Roman Cult of Mithras: The God and his Mysteries , trans. Richard Gordon (New York, New York: Routledge, 2001). Pg. 170.
17
how their religion differed from the pagan religions when they had a similar “savior
religion”. The Christian apologists stated that the Devil created these other
“messiahs” in order to stray the world until the true Messiah came. It seems that the
early Christians made up this excuse to merely refute the possibility of error.
Christians used tales of Jesus to show their domination over pagan religions. For
instance, one will definitely look at the “three kings” very differently after reading
these words. Early depictions of the “three kings” or “magi” coming to give praise to
Jesus show the “three kings” with the stereotypical “Phrygian” cap, found on mostly
all depictions of Mithras (figure 10).34 The “magi” were considered the priests of
Mithraism from the east in Persia. The Christians used this as a means of
propaganda showing the “true” sun god, Christus.
Well, we have reached the final area of our tour. Mithraism was officially
ended, along with the other ancient religions in 380 AD, and the early Christians
desecrated Mithras’ sacred places. However, many apologists seemed to still go
against the Christians, whether it was a sculptor from the 3rd century, or even the
Christians with their depictions of the Magi. One cannot help but wonder though
and play “what if?” history: what would this world be like if Constantine had lost
against Licinius? What if Julian II had not been killed in battle? What if Valerian had
defeated the Sassanids? What if the Roman Empire chose the wrong “Messiah”?
With all the evidence in place, it is very hard to keep one’s beliefs straight. However,
34 Manfred Clauss, The Roman Cult of Mithras: The God and his Mysteries , trans. Richard Gordon (New York, New York: Routledge, 2001). Pg. 169.
18
a great man once told me that “history is about fact, not truth…if you want truth,
philosophy is right down the hall”, and with archaeology, fact is all you can find.
Illustrations Found Within
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
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Figure 5
Figure 4
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Figure 7
Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10
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Bibliography Beard, Mary, John North, and Simon Price. Religions of Rome: A History. Vol. 1. 2 vols. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1998. Clauss, Manfred. The Roman Cult of Mithras: The God and his Mysteries . Translated by Richard Gordon. New York, New York: Routledge, 2001. MacMullen, Ramsay. Paganism in the Roman Empire. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983. Meyer, Marvin W. The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook. New York, New York: Harper and Row, 1987. Turcan, Robert. The Cults of the Roman Empire. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Wiley‐Blackwell, 1996.