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Grade Symbols Planet/tutelary deity Corax, Corux or Corvex (raven or crow) beaker, caduceus Mercury Nymphus, Nymphobus (Bridesman) lamp, hand bell, veil, circlet or diadem Venus Miles (soldier) pouch, helmet, lance, drum, belt, breastplate Mars Leo (lion) batillum, sistrum, laurel wreath, thunderbolts Jupiter Perses (Persian) akinakes, Phrygian cap, sickle, sickle moon and stars, sling pouch Luna Heliodromus (sun-runner) torch, images of the sun god, Helios whip, robes Sol Pater (father) patera, Mitre, shepherd's staff, garnet or ruby ring, chasuble or cape, elaborate robes jewel encrusted with metallic threads Saturn Note: In the table above, the article or picture links to the religious titles or impedimenta are merely illustrative approximations because, being an orally transmitted mystery cult, few reliable historical references have survived. However, similar contemporary artefacts have been identified and at the Mithraeum of Felicissimus at Ostia Antica, a 2nd-century mosaic does depict several Mithraic implements and symbols. Spade, sistrum, lightning bolt Sword, crescent moon, star, sickle Torch, crown, whip Patera, rod, Phrygian cap, sickle Elsewhere, as at Dura-Europos Mithraic graffiti survive giving membership lists, in which initiates of a Mithraeum are named with their Mithraic grades. At Virunum, the membership list or album sacratorum was maintained as an inscribed plaque, updated year by year as new members were initiated. By cross-referencing these lists it is sometimes possible to track initiates from one Mithraeum to another; and also speculatively to identify Mithraic initiates with persons on other contemporary lists – such as military service rolls, of lists of devotees of non-Mithraic religious sanctuaries. Names of initiates are also found in the dedication inscriptions of altars and other cult objects. Clauss noted in 1990 that overall, only about 14% of Mithriac names inscribed before 250 identify the initiates grade – and hence questioned that the traditional view that all initiates belonged to one of the seven grades.[84] Clauss argues that the grades represented a distinct class of priests, sacerdotes. Gordon maintains the former theory of Merkelbach and others, especially noting such examples as Dura where all names are associated with a Mithraic grade. Some scholars maintain that practice may have differed over time, or from one Mithraeum to another. The highest grade, pater, is far the most common found on dedications and inscriptions – and it would appear not to have been unusual for a Mithraeum to have several persons with this grade. The form pater patrum (father of fathers) is often found, which appears to indicate the pater with primary status. There are several examples of persons, commonly those of higher social status, joining a Mithraeum with the status pater – especially in Rome during the 'pagan revival' of the 4th century. It has been suggested that some Mithraea may have awarded honorary pater status to sympathetic dignitaries.[85] The initiate into each grade appears to have required to undertake a specific ordeal or test,[86] involving exposure to heat, cold or threatened peril. An 'ordeal pit', dating to the early 3rd century, has been identified in the Mithraeum at Carrawburgh. Accounts of the cruelty of the emperor Commodus describes his amusing himself by enacting Mithriac initiation ordeals in homicidal form. By the later 3rd century, the enacted trials appear to have been abated in rigor, as 'ordeal pits' were floored over. Admission into the community was completed with a handshake with the pater, just as Mithras and Sol shook hands. The initiates were thus referred to as syndexioi, those "united by the handshake". The term is used in an inscription by Proficentius[6] and derided by Firmicus Maternus in De errore profanarum religionum,[87] a 4th-century Christian work attacking paganism.[88] In ancient Iran, taking the right hand was the traditional way of concluding a treaty or signifying some solemn understanding between two parties.[89] Ritual re-enactments Reconstruction of a mithraeum with a mosaic depicting the grades of initiation. Activities of the most prominent deities in Mithraic scenes, Sol and Mithras, were imitated in rituals by the two most senior officers in the cult's hierarchy, the Pater and the Heliodromus.[90] The initiates held a sacramental banquet, replicating the feast of Mithras and Sol.[90] Reliefs on a cup found in Mainz,[91][92] appear to depict a Mithraic initiation. On the cup, the initiate is depicted as led into a location where a Pater 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. Roger Beck has hypothesized a third processional Mithraic ritual, based on the Mainz cup and Porphyrys. This so-called Procession of the Sun-Runner features the Heliodromus, escorted by two figures representing Cautes and Cautopates (see below) and preceded by an initiate of the grade Miles leading a ritual enactment of the solar journey around the mithraeum, which was intended to represent the cosmos.[93] Consequently it has been argued that most Mithraic rituals involved a re-enactment by the initiates of episodes in the Mithras narrative,[94] a narrative whose main elements were; birth from the rock, striking water from stone with an arrow shot, the killing of the bull, Sol's submission to Mithras, Mithras and Sol feasting on the bull, the ascent of Mithras to heaven in a chariot. A noticeable feature of this narrative (and of its regular depiction in surviving sets of relief carvings) is the complete absence of female personages.[95] Membership Only male names appear in surviving inscribed membership lists. Historians including Cumont and Richard Gordon have concluded that the cult was for men only.[96][97] The ancient scholar Porphyry refers to female initiates in Mithraic rites.[5] However, the early 20th-century historian A.S. Geden writes that this may be due to a misunderstanding.[5] According to Geden, while the participation of women in the ritual was not unknown in the Eastern cults, the predominant military influence in Mithraism makes it unlikely in this instance.[5] It has recently been suggested by David Jonathan that "women were involved with Mithraic groups in at least some locations of the empire."[98] Soldiers were strongly represented amongst Mithraists; and also merchants, customs officials and minor bureaucrats. Few, if any, initiates came from leading aristocratic or senatorial families until the 'pagan revival' of the mid 4th century; but there were always considerable numbers of freedmen and slaves.[99] Ethics Clauss suggests that a statement by Porphyry, that people initiated into the Lion grade must keep their hands pure from everything that brings pain and harm and is impure, means that moral demands were made upon members of congregations.[100] A passage in the Caesares of Julian the Apostate refers to "commandments of Mithras".[101] Tertullian, in his treatise 'On the Military Crown' records that Mithraists in the army were officially excused from wearing celebratory coronets; on the basis that the Mithraic initiation ritual included refusing a proffered crown, because "their only crown was Mithras".[102] History and development Mithras before the Mysteries Mithras-Helios, in Phrygian cap with solar rays, with Antiochus I of Commagene. (Mt Nemrut, first century BC) According to the archaeologist Maarten Vermaseren, 1st century BC evidence from Commagene demonstrates the "reverence paid to Mithras" but does not refer to "the mysteries".[103] In the colossal statuary erected by King Antiochus I (69–34 BC) at Mount Nemrut, Mithras is shown beardless, wearing a Phrygian cap,[7][104] and was originally seated on a throne alongside other deities and the king himself.[105] On the back of the thrones there is an inscription in Greek, which includes the name Apollo Mithras Helios in the genitive case (Ἀπόλλωνος Μίθρου Ἡλίου).[106] Vermaseren also reports about a Mithras cult in 3rd century BC. Fayum.[107] R. D. Barnett has argued that the royal seal of King Saussatar of Mitanni from c. 1450 BC. depicts a tauroctonous Mithras.[108] Beginnings of Roman Mithraism The origins and spread of the Mysteries have been intensely debated among scholars and there are radically differing views on these issues.[109] According to Clauss mysteries of Mithras were not practiced until the 1st century AD.[110] According to Ulansey, the earliest evidence for the Mithraic mysteries places their appearance in the middle of the 1st century BC: the historian Plutarch says that in 67 BC the pirates of Cilicia (a province on the southeastern coast of Asia Minor) were practicing "secret rites" of Mithras.[111] However, according to Daniels, whether any of this relates to the origins of the mysteries is unclear.[112] The unique underground temples or Mithraea appear suddenly in the archaeology in the last quarter of the 1st century AD.[113] Earliest archaeology Inscriptions and monuments related to the Mithraic Mysteries are catalogued in a two volume work by Maarten J. Vermaseren, the Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae (or CIMRM).[114] The earliest monument showing Mithras slaying the bull is thought to be CIMRM 593, 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.[115] Votive altar from Alba Iulia in present-day Romania, dedicated to Invicto Mythrae in fulfillment of a vow (votum) Five small terracotta plaques of a figure holding a knife over a bull have been excavated near Kerch in the Crimea, dated by Beskow and Clauss to the second half of the 1st century BC,[116] and by Beck to 50 BC–50 AD. These may be the earliest tauroctonies, if they are accepted to be a depiction of Mithras.[117] The bull-slaying figure wears a Phrygian cap, but is described by Beck and Beskow as otherwise unlike standard depictions of the tauroctony. Another reason for not connecting these artifacts with the Mithraic Mysteries is that the first of these plaques was found in a woman's tomb.[118] 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.[119] 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.[120] According to C.M.Daniels, the Carnuntum inscription is the earliest Mithraic dedication from the Danube region, which along with Italy is one of the two regions where Mithraism first struck root.[121] The earliest dateable Mithraeum outside Rome dates from 148 AD.[122] The Mithraeum at Caesarea Maritima is the only one in Palestine and the date is inferred.[123] Earliest cult locations According to Roger Beck, the attested locations of the Roman cult in the earliest phase (c. 80–120 AD) are as follows:[124] Mithraea datable from pottery Nida/Heddemheim III (Germania Sup.) Mogontiacum (Germania Sup.) Pons Aeni (Noricum) Caesarea Maritima (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) Classical literature about Mithras and the Mysteries Mithras and the Bull: This fresco from the mithraeum at Marino, Italy (third century) shows the tauroctony and the celestial lining of Mithras' cape. According to Boyce, the earliest literary references to the mysteries are by the Latin poet Statius, about 80 AD, and Plutarch (c. 100 AD).[125] Statius The Thebaid (c. 80 AD[126]) an epic poem by Statius, pictures Mithras in a cave, wrestling with something that has horns.[127] The context is a prayer to the god Phoebus.[128] The cave is described as persei, which in this context is usually translated "Persian", however according to the translator J.H.Mozley it literally means "Persean", referring to Perses the son of Persius and Andromeda;[126] this Perses being the ancestor of the Persians according to Greek legend.[129] Plutarch The Greek biographer Plutarch (46–127 AD) says that "secret mysteries ... of Mithras" were practiced by the pirates of Cilicia, the coastal province in the southeast of Anatolia, who were active in the 1st century BC: "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."[130] He mentions that the pirates were especially active during the Mithridatic wars (between the Roman Republic and King Mithridates VI of Pontus) in which they supported the king.[130] The association between Mithridates and the pirates is also mentioned by the ancient historian Appian.[131] The 4th century commentary on Vergil by Servius says that Pompey settled some of these pirates in Calabria in southern Italy.[132] Dio Cassius The historian Dio Cassius (2nd to 3rd century AD) tells how the name of Mithras was spoken during the state visit to Rome of Tiridates I of Armenia, during the reign of Nero. (Tiridates was the son of Vonones II of Parthia, and his coronation by Nero in 66 AD confirmed the end of a war between Parthia and Rome.) Dio Cassius writes that Tiridates, as he was about to receive his crown, told the Roman emperor that he revered him "as Mithras".[133] Roger Beck thinks it possible that this episode contributed to the emergence of Mithraism as a popular religion in Rome.[134] Porphyry Mosaic (1st century AD) depicting Mithras emerging from his cave and flanked by Cautes and Cautopates (Walters Art Museum) The philosopher Porphyry (3rd–4th century AD) gives an account of the origins of the Mysteries in his work De antro nympharum (The Cave of the Nymphs).[135] Citing Eubulus as his source, Porphyry writes that the original temple of Mithras was a natural cave, containing fountains, which Zoroaster found in the mountains of Persia. To Zoroaster, this cave was an image of the whole world, so he consecrated it to Mithras, the creator of the world. Later in the same work, Porphyry links Mithras and the bull with planets and star-signs: Mithras himself is associated with the sign of Aries and the planet Mars, while the bull is associated with Venus.[136] Porphyry is writing close to the demise of the cult, and 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 Neoplatonists of what it suited them in the late 4th century to read into the mysteries.[137] However, Merkelbach and Beck believe that Porphyry's work "is in fact thoroughly coloured with the doctrines of the Mysteries."[138] Beck holds that classical scholars have neglected Porphyry's evidence and have taken an unnecessarily skeptical view of Porphyry.[139] According to Beck, Porphyry's De antro is the only clear text from antiquity which tells us about the intent of the Mithriac Mysteries and how that intent was realized.[140] David Ulansey finds it important that Porphyry "confirms ... that astral conceptions played an important role in Mithraism."[141] Mithras Liturgy In later antiquity, the Greek name of Mithras (Μίθρας) occurs in the text known as the Mithras Liturgy, part of the Paris Great Magical Papyrus (Paris Bibliotheque Nationale Suppl. gr. 574); here Mithras is given the epithet "the great god", and is identified with the sun god Helios.[142][143] There have been different views among scholars as to whether this text is an expression of Mithraism as such. Franz Cumont argued that it isn't;[144] Marvin Meyer thinks it is;[145] while Hans Dieter Betz sees it as a synthesis of Greek, Egyptian, and Mithraic traditions.[146][147] Temples of Mithras are sunk below ground, windowless, and very distinctive. In cities, the basement of an apartment block might be converted; elsewhere they might be excavated and vaulted over, or converted from a natural cave. Mithraic temples are common in the empire; although unevenly distributed, with considerable numbers found in Rome, Ostia, Numidia, Dalmatia, Britain and along the Rhine/Danube frontier; while being somewhat less common in Greece, Egypt, and Syria.[73] According to Walter Burkert, the secret character of Mithriac rituals meant that Mithraism could only be practiced within a Mithraeum.[74] Some new finds at Tienen show evidence of large scale feasting and the mystery religion may not have been as secretive as was generally believed.[65] For the most part, Mithraea tend to be small, externally undistinguished, and cheaply constructed; the cult generally preferring to create a new centre rather than expand an existing one. The Mithraeum represented the cave in which Mithras carried and then killed the bull; and where stone vaulting could not be afforded, the effect would be imitated with lath and plaster. They are commonly located close to springs or streams; fresh water appears to have been required for some Mithraic rituals, and a basin is often incorporated into the structure.[75] There is usually a narthex or ante-chamber at the entrance, and often other ancillary rooms for storage and the preparation of food. The extant mithraea present us with actual physical remains of the architectural structures of the sacred spaces of the Mithraic cult. Mithraeum is a modern coinage and mithraists referred to their sacred structures as speleum or antrum (cave), crypta (underground hallway or corridor), fanum (sacred or holy place), or even templum (a temple or a sacred space).[76] In their basic form, Mithraea were entirely different from the temples and shrines of other cults. In standard pattern Roman religious precincts, the temple building functioned as a house for the god; who was intended to be able to view through the opened doors and columnar portico, sacrificial worship being offered on an altar set in an open courtyard; potentially accessible not only to initiates of the cult, but also to colitores or non-initiated worshippers.[77] Mithraea were the antithesis of this.[78] Degrees of initiation In the Suda under the entry "Mithras", it states that "no one was permitted to be initiated into them (the mysteries of Mithras), until he should show himself holy and steadfast by undergoing several graduated tests."[79] Gregory Nazianzen refers to the "tests in the mysteries of Mithras".[80] There were seven grades of initiation into the mysteries of Mithras, which are listed by St. Jerome.[81] Manfred Clauss states that the number of grades, seven, must be connected to the planets. A mosaic in the Ostia Mithraeum of Felicissimus depicts these grades, with symbolic emblems that are connected either to the grades or are just symbols of the planets. The grades also have an inscription besides them commending each grade into the protection of the different planetary gods.[82] In ascending order of importance the initiatory grades were:[83] |
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