Mithraism

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

Mithraism was a mystery religion practiced throughout the Roman Empire.

Contents

[edit] Introduction

The term "Mithraism" is modern. In antiquity, texts refer to "the mysteries of Mithras", and to its adherents, as "the mysteries of the Persians."[1] This latter epithet is significant, not for whether the Mithraists considered the object of their devotion a Persian divinity, but for the fact that the devotees were convinced that their religion was founded by Zoroaster.[1]

The term 'mysteries' does not imply that the religion was mystical or mysterious, but rather, that members had been formally initiated into the order. As also for other mystery religions, the expression 'mystery' derives from Koine Greek 'μυστήρια' (mysteria) meaning "initiation", which distinguishes such religions from others where affiliation is a matter of inheritance.

It is not possible to state with certainty when "the mysteries of Mithras" developed. Plutarch[2] suggests that some prototypical form of the Mithraic initiation rites existed among the pirates of Cilicia in 1st century BC. Clauss asserts[3] "the mysteries" were not practiced until a century later. Mithraism reached the apogee of its popularity around the 3rd through 4th centuries, when it was particularly popular among the soldiers of the Roman Empire. Mithraism disappeared from overt practice after the Theodosian decree of 391 banned all pagan rites, and it apparently became extinct thereafter.

Although scholars are in agreement with the classical sources that state that the Romans borrowed the name of Mithras from Avestan[4] Mithra, the origins of the Roman religion itself remain unclear and there is yet no scholarly consensus concerning this issue (for a summary of the various theories, see history, below). Further compounding the problem is the non-academic understanding of what "Persian" means, which, in a classical context is not a specific reference to the Iranian province Pars, but to the Persian (i.e. Achaemenid) Empire and speakers of Iranian languages in general.

Mithraism is only documented in the form it had acquired in the Roman Empire, where it was evidently a syncretic development that drew from the practices of a number of different cultures. It was an initiatory order, passed from initiate to initiate, like the Eleusinian Mysteries. It was not based on a supernaturally-revealed body of scripture, and hence very little written documentary evidence survives. Soldiers and the lower nobility appeared to be the most plentiful followers of Mithraism, although it's possible higher nobility practiced in private. Women were not allowed to join.

[edit] Rituals and worship

[edit] The mithraeum

It is difficult for scholars to reconstruct the daily workings and beliefs of Mithraism, as the rituals were highly secret and limited to initiated men.

Religious practice was centered around the mithraeum (Latin, from Greek mithraion), either an adapted natural cave or cavern or an artificial building imitating a cavern. Mithraea were dark and windowless, even if they were not actually in a subterranean space or in a natural cave. When possible, the mithraeum was constructed within or below an existing building. The site of a mithraeum may also be identified by its separate entrance or vestibule, its "cave", called the spelaeum or spelunca, with raised benches along the side walls for the ritual meal, and its sanctuary at the far end, often in a recess, before which the pedestal-like altar stood. Many mithraea that follow this basic plan are scattered over much of the Empire's former area, particularly where the legions were stationed along the frontiers (such as Britain). Others may be recognized by their characteristic layout, even though converted as crypts beneath Christian churches.

In every Mithraic temple, the place of honor was occupied by a representation of Mithras killing a sacred bull which was associated with spring, called a tauroctony. In the depiction, Mithras, wearing a Phrygian cap and pants, slays the bull from above while looking away. A serpent that symbolizes the earth and dog seem to drink from the bull's open wound (which often spills blood but occasionally grain), and a scorpion (sign for autumn) attacks the bull's testicles sapping the bull for strength. Typically, a raven or crow is also present, and sometimes also a goblet and small lion. Cautes and Cautopates, the celestial twins of light and darkness, are torch-bearers, standing on either side with their legs crossed, Cautes with his brand pointing up and Cautopates with his turned down. Above Mithras, the symbols for Sol and Luna are present in the starry night sky.

The scene seems to be astrological in nature. It has been proposed by David Ulansey that the tauroctony is a symbolic representation of the constellations rather than an originally Iranian animal sacrifice scene with Iranian precedents.[5] The bull is Taurus, the snake Hydra, the dog Canis Major or Minor, the crow or raven Corvus, the goblet Crater, the lion Leo, and the wheat-blood for the star Spica. The torch-bearers may represent the two equinoxes, although this is less clear. Mithras himself could also be associated with Perseus, whose constellation is above that of the bull.

From the structure of the mithraea it is possible to surmise that worshippers would have gathered for a common meal along the reclining couches lining the walls. It is worth noting that most temples could hold only thirty or forty individuals.

The mithraeum itself was arranged as an 'image of the universe'. It is noticed by some researchers that this movement, especially in the context of mithraic soterism, seems to stem from the neoplatonic concept that the 'running' of the sun from solstice to solstice is a parallel for the movement of the soul through the universe, from pre-existence, into the body, and then beyond the physical body into an afterlife.

Reliefs on a cup found in Mainz,[6] appear to depict a Mithraic initiation. On the cup, the initiate is depicted as led into a location where a Pater (see Mithraic ranks below) 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.

[edit] Mithraic ranks

The members of a mithraeum were divided into seven ranks. All members were expected to progress through the first four ranks, while only a few would go on to the three higher ranks. The first four ranks represent spiritual progress—the new initiate became a Corax, while the Leo was an adept—the other three have been specialized offices. The seven ranks were:

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

The titles of the first four ranks suggest the possibility that advancement through the ranks was based on introspection and spiritual growth.

[edit] The iconography of Mithraism

In the absence of any Mithraist scripture, all we know about Mithras is what can be deduced from his images in the mithraea that have survived.

A statue of the tauroctony in the Vatican Museum. Note that Mithras is looking toward the bull instead of away, a stance rarely seen in the tauroctony.
A statue of the tauroctony in the Vatican Museum. Note that Mithras is looking toward the bull instead of away, a stance rarely seen in the tauroctony.

Depictions show Mithras wearing a cape, that in some examples, has the starry sky as its inside lining. A bronze image of Mithras emerging from an egg-shaped zodiac ring was found associated with a mithraeum along Hadrian's Wall (now at the University of Newcastle). An inscription from the city of Rome suggests that Mithras may have been seen as the Orphic creator-god Phanes who emerged from the world egg at the beginning of time, bringing the universe into existence. This view is reinforced by a bas-relief at the Estense Museum in Modena, Italy, which shows Phanes coming from an egg, surrounded by the twelve signs of the zodiac, in an image very similar to that at Newcastle.

He is sometimes depicted as a man being born or reborn from a rock (the petra genetrix[citation needed]), typically with the snake Oroboros wrapped around it. As described above, it is commonly believed that the cave in Mithraism imagery represents the cosmos, and the rock is the cosmos seen from the outside.

Some commentators surmise that the Mithraists worshipped Mithras as the mediator between Man and the supreme God of the upper and nether world. Other commentators, inspired by James Frazer's theories, have additionally labeled Mithraism as a mystery religion with a life-death-rebirth deity, comparable to Isis, the resurrected Jesus, or the Persephone/Demeter, the cult of the Eleusinian Mysteries.

Another more widely accepted interpretation takes its clue from the writer Porphyry,[citation needed] who recorded that the cave pictured in the tauroctony was intended to be "an image of the cosmos." According to this view, the cave depicted in that image may represent the "great cave" of the sky. This interpretation was supported by research by K. B. Stark in 1869, with astronomical support by Roger Beck (1984 and 1988), David Ulansey (1989) and Noel Swerdlow (1991). This interpretation is reinforced by the constant presence in Mithraic imagery of heavenly objects such as stars, the moon, and the sun and symbols for the signs of the Zodiac.

[edit] Tauroctony

One of the central motifs of Mithraism is the tauroctony, the myth of the slaying of a sacred bull. In the Graeco-Roman myth, Ahura Mazda sent a crow, which instructed Mithras to stab the animal for the sacrifice. As construed, details of this myth indicate that Graeco-Roman Mithras may not be solely from Zoroastrian Mithra; since in later Zoroastrianism texts (Vendidad 21; Rivayat 386) and in Persian mythology it is Angra Mainyu (Ahriman in later Persian) who slays Gavyokdat, the primeval bull created by Ahura Mazda (cf: bas-relief from the Apadana Hall, Persepolis). In the Graeco-Roman myth, from the body of the dying bull spring plants, animals, and all the beneficial things of the earth. In contrast, in the Persian myth, Mah (the moon) rescues the essence of the dying primeval bull, and from it springs all animal creation. See similar Enkidu tauroctony seal.

It is thought that the bull represents the constellation of Taurus. However, in the period we are considering, the sun at the Vernal Equinox had left Taurus two thousand years before, and was in the process of moving from Aries to Pisces. In light of this interpretation, it has been suggested in recent times that the Mithraic religion is somehow connected to the end of the astrological "age of Taurus," and the beginning of the "age of Aries," which took place about the year 2000 BCE. It has even been speculated that the religion may have originated at that time, although that is unlikely; there is no record of it until the second century BCE.

Main article: Precession of the equinoxes

The identification of an "age" with a particular zodiac constellation is based on the sun's position during the vernal equinox. Before 2000 BCE, the Sun could have been seen against the stars of the constellation of Taurus at the time of vernal equinox [had there been an eclipse]. Due to the precession of the equinoxes, on average every 2,160 years the Sun appears against the stars of a new constellation at vernal equinox. The current astrological age started when the equinox precessed into the constellation of Pisces, in about the year 150 BCE, with the "Age of Aquarius" starting in the year 2000.[citation needed] The exact date of the start of the ages is in question. Astrologer Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet holds that the Age of Pisces began in 234 BCE and the age of Aquarius started in 1926.[citation needed]

Indeed, the constellations common in the sky from about 4000 BCE to 2000 BCE were Taurus the Bull, Canis Minor the Dog, Hydra the Snake, Corvus the Raven, and Scorpio the Scorpion, all of which may be identified in the fresco from Marino, a standard Hellenistic iconography (illustration, above right). Further support for this theory is the presence of a lion and a cup in some depictions of the tauroctony: indeed Leo (a lion) and Aquarius ("the cup-bearer") were the constellations seen as the northernmost (summer solstice) and southernmost (winter solstice) positions in the sky during the age of Taurus.

The precession of the equinoxes was discovered, or at least publicized, by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus in the second century BCE. (See Discovery of precession for more information.) Whether the phenomenon was known by Mithraists previously is unknown. In any case, Mithras was presumed to be very powerful if he was able to rotate the heavens, and thus 'kill the bull' or displacing Taurus as the reigning image in the heavens.

[edit] Archaeological remains

  • Italy: The Basilica of San Clemente in Rome has a preserved mithraeum with the altarpiece still intact in the excavations under the modern church.
  • Italy: The Castra Peregrinorum mithraeum in Rome, under the basilica of Santo Stefano Rotondo was excavated in the 20th century.
  • Italy: Ostia Antica, the port of Rome, where the remains of 17 mithraea have been found so far; one of them is substantial.
  • Germany: The museum of Dieburg displays finds from a mithraeum, including ceramics used in the service.
  • Germany: The museum of Hanau displays a reconstruction of a mithraeum.
  • England: The museum at the University of Newcastle displays findings from the three sites along Hadrian's Wall and recreates a mithraeum.
  • Switzerland: The city of Martigny (ancient Octodurus), in the Alps, displays a reconstructed Mithraeum [1]
  • Slovenia: The museum of Ptuj and town Hajdina near Ptuj.
  • United States: The Cincinnati Art Museum displays a relief from a mithraeum in Rome itself depicting Mithras slaying a bull.

[edit] History and development

[edit] Origin theories

[edit] Cumont's hypothesis

Mithras was little more than a name until the massive documentation of Franz Cumont's Texts and Illustrated Monuments Relating to the Mysteries of Mithra was published in 1894-1900, with the first English translation in 1903. Cumont's hypothesis, as the author summarizes it in the first 32 pages of his book, was that the Roman religion was a development of a Zoroastrian cult of Mithra (itself a development from an Indo-Iranian one of *mitra), that through state sponsorship and syncretic influences was disseminated throughout the Near- and Middle East, ultimately being absorbed by the Greeks, and through them eventually by the Romans.

Cumont's theory was a hit in its day, particularly since it was addressed to a general, non-academic readership that was at the time fascinated by the orient and its hitherto (relatively) uncharted culture. This was the age when great steps were being taken in Egyptology and Indology, preceded as it was by Max Müller's "Sacred Books of the East" series that for the first time demonstrated that civilization did not begin and end with Rome and Greece, or even with Assyria and Babylon, which until then were widely considered to be the cradle of humanity. Cumont's book was a product of its time, and influenced generations of academics such that the effect of Cumont's syncretism theories are felt even a century later.

Cumont's ideas, though in many respects valid, had however one serious problem with respect to the author's theory on the origins of Mithraism: If the Roman religion was an outgrowth of an Iranian one, there would have to be evidence of Mithraic-like practices attested in Greater Iran. However, that is not the case: No mithraea have been found there, and the Mithraic myth of the tauroctony does not conclusively match the Zoroastrian legend of the slaying of Gayomart, in which Mithra does not play any role at all. The historians of antiquity, otherwise expansive in their descriptions of Iranian religious practices, hardly mention Mithra at all (one notable exception is Herodotus i.131, which confuses Mithra with Aredvi Sura Anahita).

Further, no distinct religion of Mithra or *mitra had ever (and has not since) been established. As Boyce put it, "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."[7]

[edit] Other theories

Other theories propose that Mithraism originated in Asia Minor, which though once within the sphere of Zoroastrian influence, by the second century BCE were more influenced by Hellenism than by Zoroastrianism. It was there, at Pergamum on the Aegean Sea, in the second century BCE, that Greek sculptors started to produce the highly standardized bas-relief imagery of Mithra Tauroctonos "Mithra the bull-slayer."

The Greek historian Plutarch wrote[8] about pirates of Cilicia, the coastal province in the southeast of Anatolia, who practiced Mithraic "secret rites" around 67 BCE: "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". Plutarch was convinced that the Cilician pirates had originated the Mithraic rituals that were being practiced in Rome by his day.

Beck suggests a connection through the Hellenistic kingdoms (as Cumont had already intimated) was quite possible: "Mithras — moreover, a Mithras who was identified with the Greek Sun god, Helios, which 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 BCE."[1]

Another possible connection between a Mithra and Mithras, though one not proposed by Cumont, is from a Manichean context. According to Sundermann, the Manicheans adopted the name Mithra to designate one of their own deities. Sundermann determined that the Zoroastrian Mithra, which in middle Persian is Mihr, is not a variant of the Parthian and Sogdian Mytr or Mytrg; though a homonym of Mithra, those names denote Maitreya. In Parthian and Sogdian however Mihr was taken as the sun and consequently identified as the Third Messenger. This Third Messenger was the helper and redeemer of mankind, and identified with another Zoroastrian divinity Narisaf.[9] Citing Boyce,[10] Sundermann remarks, "It was among the Parthian Manicheans that Mithra as a sun god surpassed the importance of Narisaf as the common Iranian image of the Third Messenger; among the Parthians the dominance of Mithra was such that his identification with the Third Messenger led to cultic emphasis on the Mithraic traits in the Manichaean god."[11]

[edit] The early period

Double-faced Mithraic relief. Rome, second to third century CE. Louvre Museum. Front:Mithras killing the bull, being looked over by the Sun god and the Moon god. Back: Mithras banquetting with the Sun god, to celebrate his victory over the dark forces of the Universe.
Double-faced Mithraic relief. Rome, second to third century CE. Louvre Museum.
Front:Mithras killing the bull, being looked over by the Sun god and the Moon god.
Back: Mithras banquetting with the Sun god, to celebrate his victory over the dark forces of the Universe.

Mithraism began to attract attention in Rome around the end of the first century. Statius mentions the typical Mithraic relief in his Thebaid (Book i. 719,720), around 80 CE. The earliest material evidence for the Roman worship of Mithras dates from that period, in a record of Roman soldiers who came from the military garrison at Carnuntum in the Roman province of Upper Pannonia (near the Danube River in modern Austria, near the Hungarian border). Other legionaries fought the Parthians and were involved in the suppression of the revolts in Jerusalem from 60 CE to about 70 CE When they returned home, they made Mithraic dedications, probably in the year 71 or 72.

By the year 200, Mithraism had spread widely through the army, and also among traders and slaves. During festivals all initiates were equals including slaves. The German frontiers have yielded most of the archaeological evidence of its prosperity: small cult objects connected with Mithras turn up in archaeological digs from Romania to Hadrian's Wall.

[edit] Expansion throughout the empire

Sol Invictus on the reverse of this coin by usurper Victorinus. Mithras (as well as Elagabalus and Sol) was at times referred to as Sol Invictus.
Sol Invictus on the reverse of this coin by usurper Victorinus. Mithras (as well as Elagabalus and Sol) was at times referred to as Sol Invictus.

By the third century, Mithraism was officially sanctioned by the Roman emperors.[citation needed] According to the fourth century Historia Augusta, Commodus participated in its mysteries: Sacra Mithriaca homicidio vero polluit, cum illic aliquid ad speciem timoris vel dici vel fingi soleat "He desecrated the rites of Mithras with actual murder, although it was customary in them merely to say or pretend something that would produce an impression of terror".[12]

Concentrations of Mithraic temples are found on the outskirts of the Roman empire: along Hadrian's wall in northern England three mithraea have been identified, at Housesteads, Carrawburgh and Rudchester. The discoveries are in the University of Newcastle's Museum of Antiquities, where a mithraeum has been recreated. Recent excavations in London have uncovered the remains of a Mithraic temple near to the center of the once walled Roman settlement, on the bank of the Walbrook stream. Mithraea have also been found along the Danube and Rhine river frontier, in the province of Dacia (where in 2003 a temple was found in Alba-Iulia) and as far afield as Numidia in North Africa.

As would be expected, Mithraic ruins are also found in the port city of Ostia, and in Rome the capital, where as many as seven hundred mithraea may have existed (a dozen have been identified). Its importance at Rome may be judged from the abundance of monumental remains: more than 75 pieces of sculpture, 100 Mithraic inscriptions, and ruins of temples and shrines in all parts of the city and its suburbs. A well-preserved late second-century mithraeum, with its altar and built-in stone benches, originally built beneath a Roman house (as was a common practice), survives in the crypt over which has been built the Basilica of San Clemente, Rome.

[edit] Decline and demise

There is very little information about the decline of the religion. The edict of Theodosius I in 394 made paganism illegal. Official recognition of Mithras in the army stopped at this time, but we have no information on what other effect the edict had. Mithraism may have survived in certain remote cantons of the Alps and Vosges into the fifth century.[13]

[edit] Christianity and Mithraism

[edit] A debated legacy

Mithraism is most famous for suggestions that it was a rival of or resembled early Christianity.

There is much debate on whether Christianity is a re-branded version of many Mithraic beliefs. Ernest Renan, in The Origins of Christianity, promoted the idea that Mithraism was the prime competitor to Christianity in the second through the fourth centuries, although some scholars feel the written claims that the emperors Nero, Commodus, Septimius Severus, Caracalla, and the Tetrarchs were initiates are dubious as there is little evidence that Mithraic worship was accorded official status as a Roman cult.

A better determinant of borrowing, is to compare core doctrines between Christianity and Mithraism. The adoption of imagery or icons or festivals is fairly peripheral (such as the adoption by Christendom of winter solstice or Saturnalia festivals as Christmas) but seldom reflects basic religious tenets. A further example of this is the various Gnostic cults (such as the Marcionites and Valentinians) which adopted the personage of Jesus or the concept of a Savior, yet did not adopt the underlying doctrinal elements.

[edit] Theories regarding the origin of similarities

The similarities (particularly the iconographical ones) that occur between Christianity and Mithraism are due to a number of different factors. Perhaps the best examination of the complexity of trying to identify these factors can be found in the article, “Christ and Mithra”, which was written by Samuel Laeuchli. Laeuchli offers four potential explanations as to the nature of these similarities. Laeuchli writes that it is important to distinguish that the four explanations must be constantly weighed against one another because more than one possible connection could be involved. It is therefore impossible to consider any of the following ideas as being one more ‘correct’ than another. However, each of the following explanation is valid reasons and suggests that any one or more of these factors could lead to the similarities between Mithraism and Christianity. Something else that one needs to take into consideration is the fact that there is a lack of information on Mithraism that scholars could access, compared to what is known about Christianity. It is also important to remember that Mithraism was neither static nor homogeneous. Therefore, Mithraism from the second century is quite different than Mithraism from the third century. Likewise, just as Christianity varied from one region of the Roman Empire to the other, so too did Mithraism. [14]


The first theory is that there was: “A direct influence of Mithraism upon Christianity. To anyone studying the material on Mithra, the possibility of Mithraic influence appears in many instances.” [14] Franz Cumont agrees with this view and writes that if any collusion of ideas did take place between the two groups, it occurred because the two groups were struggling against one another to become the moral leader within the Roman Empire. [15] This, however, would imply that Christian artists and architects conscientiously incorporated iconographical elements into their artwork intentionally. For instance, the Christian artists incorporated Mithraic themes to appeal to Mithraists so that they would convert to Christianity. Manfred Clauss, on the other hand, would disagree with this last argument. This issue, Clauss argues, is unhistorical for many reasons. Firstly, it exaggerates the missionary aspects of Mithraism as a mystery religion. Unlike Christianity, mystery religions, like Mithraism, did not intend to become the only religion of the Roman Empire. Their goals were to offer people the chance for a unique, individual and personal salvation. Clauss also recognizes the fact that there was undoubtedly an interaction between the two groups. [3] Scholar Martin H. Luther, for instance, also notes that in some instances, abandoned mithraeums (the places in which Mithraic cult ceremonies occurred) were taken over by Christians and turned into church houses. If there was any competition between Christians and Mithraists, Luther notes, it was merely for real estate, as the two groups both grew to the same level by about the year 300. [16] Therefore, any similarity, whether intentional or not, occurred because of an exchange of ideas and not because of a malicious plan on the part of Christians to try and destroy Mithraism or lure its believers over to Christianity. Furthermore, the close proximity of the two institutions to one another suggests that a transfusion of ideas likely occurred.


The second theory was that there was: “A direct influence of Christianity upon Mithraism”. [14] If one is to accept the first of Laeuchli’s points as valid, than it is not unreasonable to conclude that Mithraists also borrowed ideas from Christians. According to Clauss, as Mithraism grew and spread throughout the Empire, it was influenced by the political, social, and economic realities of the day. At times, the movement developed in reaction to what was occurring in the Empire. Moreover, those who belonged to the Mithraic movement came from all walks of life. Their experiences and relationships to other people and institutions within Roman society also impacted the practice of Mithraism. [3] Luther also examines this point and reaches the same conclusion. Luther’s paper examines recent archaeological discoveries and draws similar conclusions about Mithraism. Luther estimates that at the beginning of the fourth century, there were roughly as many Mithraists in Rome as there were Christians, approximately 50 000 people belonging to each group. Likewise, as a result of the excavations in the ancient Roman town or Ostia, archaeologists discovered that the privately-owned mithraeums, dated to the second century, were located near public spaces such as barracks and bath houses. [16] This means that Mithraism by this point was a public movement. Therefore, an interaction between Mithraists and Christians was probable.


The third theory that Laeuchli identifies is: “A common root for Christian and Mithraic phenomena”. [14] According to some scholars in this area of research, the iconographical similarities between Mithraism and Christianity can be explained by the fact that the two movements shared a common origin in the Hellenistic part of the Roman Empire. Franz Cumont writes: “The propagation of the two religions had been almost contemporaneously conducted, and their diffusion had taken place under analogous conditions. Both from the Orient, they had spread because of the same general reasons…” [15] Therefore, because the two movements started out from Asia Minor (what Cumont calls the Orient), it is reasonable to conclude that a lot of the iconographical similarities come from this shared root. The implication is that some of the similarities are nothing more than coincidences from the part of Christian and Mithraic artists. Clauss too agrees with Cumont in this regard, and writes that some parallels can be traced, “to the common currency of all mystery cults or can be traced back to common origins in the Graeco-oriental culture of the Hellenistic world.” [3]


Laeuchli’s fourth theory is a combination of the three arguments, listed above. He identifies that there may also be another factor that is important to consider. Laeuchli writes that the two could have developed:

A common contemporaneousness resulting directly from [the root] source. Two religions could have spoken to a Roman condition, a social need, and a theological question without having learned from each other or even without having known of each other’s existence. As in so many other instances…parallel thoughts and social patterns can appear independently of one another as “new” elements with the authentic consciousness of such newness…if a religion moved into the Roman sphere, the soil would have altered the content of different religions, thereby creating striking parallels. [14]

Clauss too believes in this theory because, as he writes, Mithraism was a relatively isolated movement in its infancy, with unique origins. It grew independently from the both the religious traditions of ancient Greece and independent from the other mystery religions in the Roman Empire. [3] This is the reason why, for instance, water imagery is important to both groups. Christian artists depicted Moses using his staff to get water from a rock and the reason why Mithras used his arrows to achieve the same goal. [3]

A fifth option would be to regard the similarities as largely due to what might be termed 'evolutionary convergence'. Samuel Sandmel famously warned scholars of Biblical studies about the dangers of 'parallelomania', or the assumption that every parallel requires explanation in terms of direct influence. It is possible that similar ideas arose because they address similar human concerns, or that similar ideas are found because they draw on a common wider heritage of symbols and cultural ideas.

[edit] Some iconographical similarities

There are many iconographical similarities between Mithraism and Christianity. This statement, in comparison to the theories described in the previous section, is actually quite easy to prove and is not in dispute. In the course of research for this topic, not one scholar has denied the fact that a wide range of Mithraic iconographical elements made their way into Christian art and architecture. In fact, it is amazing to note just how many iconographical images that are considered today to be ‘Christian’ can be traced back to an origin in Mithraic art and architecture.


Franz Cumont was the first scholar to identify the similarities between Christianity and Mithraism. Cumont argues that the two religions shared an attraction to nature that made it quite easy for Christian artists to borrow iconographical references from Mithraism. So, when one looks at Christian sarcophagi, mosaics, and miniatures from the third to the fifth centuries, one can see images of the Heavens, the Earth, the Ocean, the Sun, the Moon, the Planets, signs of the Zodiac, the Winds, the Seasons, and the Elements. However, Cumont continues by arguing that even though the church was opposed to the pagan practice of worshipping the cosmic cycle, these images nonetheless made onto Christian artistic impressions. This occurred, he continues, because the Christian artists made “a few alterations in costume and attitude transformed a pagan scene into a Christian picture”. Cumont cites the images of Moses as an example of this phenomenon. For instance, when early Christian artists depicted their rendition of Moses striking Mount Horeb (Sinai) with his staff to release drinking water from the mountain, their inspiration was an earlier Mithraic reference to Mithras shooting arrows at rocks to cause the waters to shoot up. [15]


Another example of Mithraic iconography that was incorporated into Christian art is the scene of Mithras ascending into the heavens. This allusion is identified by M.J. Vermaseren. He writes that in Mithraism, it was believed that when Mithras had accomplished a series of miraculous deeds, he was carried into the heavens by a chariot. In various Mithraic depictions, the chariot is being drawn by horses being controlled by Helios-Sol, the pagan sun god. In other instances, a chariot of fire belonging to Helios is not being led into the water and is surrounded by the pagan god Oceanus and sea nymphs. Vermaseren then argues that when Christian artists wanted to use imagery to portray the soul’s ascension into heaven on sarcophagi, they used the biblical scene of Elijah being led into heaven by chariots and horses that were on fire. The inspiration for this image, however, came from the representations of Mithras ascent into the heavens by Helios’ chariot. The sun god provided inspiration for the flames on Elijah’s chariot and the Jordan River is personified by a figure resembling the god Oceanus. [17]


Scholar A. Deman offers a different interpretation on the relationship between similarities of Christian and Mithraic iconography. Deman writes that rather than looking at Christian art and trying to find individual references from Mithraic art, as Cumont does when looking merely at the presence of the Sun or the Moon, for instance, it is better to look for larger patterns of comparison. Thus, he writes, “with this method, pure coincidences can no longer be used and so the recognition of Mithras as the privileged pagan inspirer of medieval Christian iconography is forced upon us.” This approach is certainly different than what had been used by Cumont or Vermaseren, but it seems that it is useful, particularly because it allows one to compare artistic themes, rather than looking at specific pieces and trying to make connections that that may or may not be accurate. But, by examining themes on the whole, it is evident that similarities can be easily identified by using these overall themes as templates and then applying them to specific pieces. To illustrate this, an examination of what Deman calls, the 'creative sacrifice' of Mithras and the creative sacrifice of Christ ‘iconographically’, is in order. In both scenes, the vernal sacrifice appears at the centre of the image. Above it, the sun and the moon appear symmetrically disposed from one another. Under the sacrifice, there are another two figures that appear symmetrically apart from one another. In the Mithraic scenes, the attendants of Mithras, Cautes and Cautopates, appear. One has a raised torch, while the other holds a lowered torch. In the Christian crucifixion scenes, which were created from the fourth century onward, the two figures underneath Jesus are typically Mary and John. In other instances, two characters will carry a raised and lowered object that is reminiscent of Cautes and Cautopates. This can manifest itself either as two Roman soldiers armed with lances, or Longinus holding a spear and Stephaton offering Jesus sour wine off of a sponge. Sometimes, the two characters depicted will are wearing similar clothes to what Cautes and Cautopates are wearing in the earlier Mithraic depictions. Other features that are typical of the depictions of Mithras’ death that can be found in Christian crucifixion scenes include references to the twelve apostles being represented by the signs of the zodiac, serpents, bear and leafy trees that surround central figure, and characters with their legs crossed. [18]


[edit] Other supposed similarities

Bull and cave themes are found in Christian shrines dedicated to the archangel Michael, who, after the legalization of Christianity, became the patron Saint of soldiers. Many of those shrines were converted Mithraea, for instance the sacred cavern at Monte Gargano in Apulia, refounded in 493. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Mithraism was transferred to the previously unvenerated archangel.

Bull and crypt are linked in the Catholic saint Saturnin (frequently "Sernin" or "Saturninus") of Toulouse, France. The Mithraeum is retained as a crypt under his earliest church, evocatively named "Notre-Dame du Taur."


"The resemblances between the two hostile churches were so striking as to impress even the minds of antiquity."[19] Like Origen (an early Christian writer and in this respect a peculiarity among the other patristic writers), Mithraism held that all souls pre-existed in the ethereal regions with God, and inhabited a body upon birth. Similar to Pythagorean, Jewish, and Pauline theology, life then becomes the great struggle between good and evil, spirit and body, ending in judgment, with the elect being saved. "They both admitted to the existence of a heaven inhabited by beautiful ones ... and a hell peopled by demons situate in the bowels of earth."[19].

Both religions used the rite of baptism, and each participated in an outwardly similar type of sacrament, bread and wine. Both Mithra and Christ were supposedly visited by shepherds and Magi. It has been claimed that both Mithraism and Christianity considered Sunday their holy day, though for different reasons, although the evidence that Mithraists practiced weekly worship, any more than any other pagan religion of the time, is lacking. Many have noted that the title of "Pope" (father) is found in Mithraic doctrine and seemingly prohibited in Christian doctrine. The words "Peter" (rock) and "mass" (sacrament) have significance in Mithraism.

Mithraism and early Christianity considered abstinence, celibacy, and self-control to be among their highest virtues. Both had similar beliefs about the world, destiny, heaven and hell, and the immortality of the soul. Their conceptions of the battles between good and evil were similar (though Mithraism was more dualistic[20]), including a great and final battle at the end of times, similar to Zoroastrianism. Mithraism's flood at the beginning of history was deemed necessary because what began in water would end in fire, according to Mithraic eschatology. Both religions believed in revelation as key to their doctrine. Both awaited the last judgment and resurrection of the dead.

"When inducted into the degree of Leo, he was purified with honey, and baptised, not with water, but with fire, as John the Baptist declared that his successor would baptise. After this second baptism, initiates were considered 'participants,' and they received the sacrament of bread and wine commemorating Mithra's banquet at the conclusion of his labors."[21]

Although Christianity eventually rivaled the four-century-old cult of Mithras in Rome, the two religions were practiced by adherents of different social classes. Mithras was popular among soldiers, fostered elitism, barred women, and (as a mystery religion) promised knowledge that was hidden from outsiders. Christianity's message was more public, although the record shows that it, too, gained a huge following in military ranks. It gave a prominent role to a holy mother, Mary. Slaves, women, and the poor were welcome. Christianity enjoyed a degree of populism. While the words of the Gospels did not exactly 'foster elitism' as much as stand against it, Christian followers began to refer to themselves as milites ("soldiers"), in reference to the disciplined life they felt called to, while those less disciplined outside the faith were called pagani, borrowing the Roman military slang for "civilians".

Under emperors like Julian and Commodus, Mithra became the patron of Roman armies.[citation needed]

Mithras had no mother, but was miraculously born of a rock, or the petra genetix.[22] His worshipers partook of a sacramental meal of bread marked with a cross.[citation needed] This was one of seven Mithraic ritual meals.[citation needed]

Some writers have said that a mithraeum on the Vatican Hill was seized by Christians in 376 AD. Among them polemicist John Holland Smith wrote that "Gracchus suppressed the worship of Mithras at the cave on the Vatican hill,"[23] but cites no sources in support. However no Mithraeum is known on the Vatican hill[24] and the actions of Furius Maenius Gracchus are described only by Jerome,[25] who does not mention the location, this instead suggesting a private shrine instead.

The Mithraic festival of Epiphany, marking the arrival of sun-priests ("Magi") at the Savior's birthplace, was adopted by the Christian church only as late as 813 CE.[26]

Christianity may have emphasized common features that attracted Mithras followers. Perhaps the crucifix appealed to those Mithras followers who had crosses already branded on their foreheads.[citation needed] In art, Mithras, a sun god, was normally depicted with a halo representing the sun.[citation needed]

Justin Martyr (100-165), in a discussion with the Jewish apologist Trypho, wrote: "'And when those who record the mysteries of Mithras say that he was begotten of a rock, and call the place where those who believe in him are initiated a cave, do I not perceive here that the utterance of Daniel, that a stone without hands was cut out of a great mountain, has been imitated by them, and that they have attempted likewise to imitate the whole of Isaiah's words? For they contrived that the words of righteousness be quoted also by them. ... And when I hear, Trypho,' said I, 'that Perseus was begotten of a virgin, I understand that the deceiving serpent counterfeited also this.'" (Dialogue with Trypho, LXXVIII). Tertullian gives a similar account.

According to Martin A. Larson, in The Story of Christian Origins (1977), the first example of the mythological concept of the savior god which is present in many faiths including Christianity and Mithraism is Osiris. Larson concluded that the general concept of savior must have originated from the savior cult of Osiris. He also believed that the Essenes were Jewish Pythagoreans, whose members not only gave birth to Christianity as Essenes, but were directly influenced by Zoroastrian doctrine as Pythagoreans.[27] Mithraism, in Larson's view, was an established but exclusive sect devoted to social justice, and was assimilated by state-sponsored Christianity before being disposed of in name.

Further similarities include how Mithras was born from a virgin on December 25, how his followers identified with him by eating a sacred meal of bread and wine, and how his devotees were baptized in water.[28]

J. R. R. Tolkien tried to explain the fact that there are some Mithraistic beliefs which predate similar/identical Christian ones by arguing that the similarities between the Christ story and pagan myths, such as Mithraism, can be explained by portraying the myths as imperfect reflections of divine truth.[29]

[edit] Mithraic studies

The First International Congress of Mithraic Studies was held in 1971 at Manchester, England.

Franz Cumont (1868 - 1947) was the main proponent of the theory that Mithraism was an offshoot of Zoroastrianism as it had been practiced throughout Greater Iran ("Persia" in 19th century vocabulary). Cumont's student, Maarten J. Vermaseren, author of Mithras, the Secret God (1963), was very active in translating Mithraic inscriptions.

Walter Burkert, Ancient Mystery Cults, Harvard University Press, 1987. A book, based on his Jackson Lectures at Harvard University in 1982, dispels some misconceptions and stereotypes.

[edit] Famous Mithraists

[edit] Bibliography

  1. ^ a b c Beck, Roger. (2002). "Mithraism". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Cosa Mesa: Mazda Pub.
  2. ^ Plutarch, Life of Pompey 24
  3. ^ a b c d e f Clauss, Manfred (2001). in Gordon, Richard (trans.): The Roman cult of Mithras. Routledge. 
  4. ^ Ware, James R.; Kent, Roland G. (1924). "The Old Persian Cuneiform Inscriptions of Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III". Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 55.  pp. 52-61.
  5. ^ Ulansey, David (1989). The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries. Oxford University Press.  (1991 revised edition)
  6. ^ Beck, Roger (2000). "Ritual, Myth, Doctrine, and Initiation in the Mysteries of Mithras: New Evidence from a Cult Vessel". The Journal of Roman Studies (90): 145-180. 
  7. ^ Boyce, Mary (2001). "Mithra the King and Varuna the Master". Festschrift für Helmut Humbach zum 80.  pp. 243,n.18
  8. ^ Plutarch, Life of Pompey.
  9. ^ Sundermann, Werner. (1979). "The Five Sons of the Manichaean God Mithra". Mysteria Mithrae: Proceedings of the International Seminar on the Religio-Historical Character of Roman Mithraism. Ed. Bianchi, Ugo. Leiden: Brill.
  10. ^ Boyce, Mary. (1962) On Mithra in the Manichaean Pantheon. In Henning, Walter B. and Yarshater, Ehsan (eds.). A Locust's Leg: Studies in Honour of S. H. Taqizadeh. 
  11. ^ Sundermann, Werner. (2002). "Mithra in Manicheism". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Cosa Mesa: Mazda Pub.
  12. ^ Loeb (1932). Scriptores Historiae Augustae: Commodus.  pp. IX.6.
  13. ^ Cumont, Franz (1903). in McCormack, Thomas J. (trans.): The Mysteries of Mithra. Chicago: Open Court.  pp. 206.
  14. ^ a b c d e Laeuchli, Samuel (1967). in Laeuchli, Samuel: “Christ and Mithra”, in Mithraism in Ostia: Mystery Religion and Christianity in the Ancient Port of Rome. Northwestern University Press.  pp. 88.
  15. ^ a b c Cumont, Franz (1956). in McCormack, Thomas K. (trans.): The Mysteries of Mithras. Dover Publications.  pp. 188.
  16. ^ a b Luther, Martin H. (1989). “Roman Mithraism and Christianity”, in Numen, 36 no. 1 (June, 1989). Numen.  pp. 3-5.
  17. ^ Vermaseren, M.J (1963). Mithras: The Secret God. Chatto & Windus.  pp. 104-6.
  18. ^ Derman, A. (1971). in Hinnells, John R.: “Mithras and Christ: Some Iconographical Similarities,” in Mithraic Studies, vol. 2. Manchester University Press.  pp. 510-7.
  19. ^ a b Cumont, Franz (1911). Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism.  pp. 191, 193
  20. ^ http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/Topics/Religion/Mithraism/David_Fingrut**.html
  21. ^ Larson, Martin A. (1977). The Story of Christian Origins.  pp. 190.
  22. ^ de Riencourt, Amaury (1974). Sex and Power in History.  pp. 135.
  23. ^ Smith, John Holland (1976). The Death of Classical Paganism.  pp. 146.
  24. ^ Platner (1929). Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. 
  25. ^ Jerome, Letter 107 (To Laeta) -- see discussion at Internet Infidels
  26. ^ Brewster, H. Pomeroy (1904). Saints and Festivals of the Christian Church.  pp. 55.
  27. ^ Taylor, J.. Pythagoreans and Essenes: Structural Parallels (Collection de la Revue des Études Juives, 32). Leuven: Peeters. ISBN 90-429-1482-3. 
  28. ^ Leahey, T-H (2004). A History of Psychology: Main Currents in Psychological Thought, 6th, Pearson Prentice Hall.  pp. 77
  29. ^ Wood, Ralph C.. Biography of J. R. R. Tolkien. 

[edit] External links

[edit] External links

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