Mithraism

Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman mystery religion centered on the god Mithras.

Although inspired by Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity (yazata) Mithra, the Roman Mithras is linked to a new and distinctive imagery, with the level of continuity between Persian and Greco-Roman practice debated.[a]

The mysteries were popular among the Imperial Roman army from about the 1st to the 4th century CE.[2]

Worshippers of Mithras had a complex system of seven grades of initiation and communal ritual meals.

Initiates called themselves syndexioi, those "united by the handshake".[b]

They met in underground temples, now named mithraea (singular mithraeum), which survive in large numbers.

The cult appears to have had its center in Rome,[3] and was popular throughout the western half of the empire, as far south as Roman Africa and Numidia, as far east as Roman Dacia, as far north as Roman Britain,[4](pp 26–27) and to a lesser extent in Roman Syria in the east.[3]

Mithraism is viewed as a rival of early Christianity.[5](p 147)

In the 4th century, Mithraists faced persecution from Christians, and the religion was subsequently suppressed and eliminated in the Roman Empire by the end of the century.[6]

Numerous archaeological finds, including meeting places, monuments, and artifacts, have contributed to modern knowledge about Mithraism throughout the Roman Empire.[c]

The iconic scenes of Mithras show him being born from a rock, slaughtering a bull, and sharing a banquet with the god Sol (the Sun).

About 420 sites have yielded materials related to the cult.

Among the items found are about 1000 inscriptions, 700 examples of the bull-killing scene (tauroctony), and about 400 other monuments.[4](p xxi)

It has been estimated that there would have been at least 680 mithraea in the city of Rome.[8]

No written narratives or theology from the religion survive; limited information can be derived from the inscriptions and brief or passing references in Greek and Latin literature.

Interpretation of the physical evidence remains problematic and contested.[d]