In the Place of Mithras:
Leadership in the
Mithraic Mysteries
Israel Campos Méndez, Ph.D.
D
r. Campos is a Professor of Ancient
History in the Department
of Historical Sciences at the
University of Las Palmas of Gran Canaria
(Spain). His doctoral dissertation was a study
of the cult of the god Mithras in ancient
Persia, and he has published several books
about that subject. He has participated in
international congresses presenting several
papers about various aspects related to the cult
of this Deity. His research has focused on the
history of religions, particularly in the mystery
cults of the Roman Empire and the religions
of ancient India and Iran. He organizes an
annual seminar on ancient religions and
advises museums on issues related to the cult
of Mithras. He is a member of the Spanish
Society of Sciences of Religions and the Spanish
Society of Iranology, and tracks Neo-Mithraic
movements emerging on the Internet.
Introduction
The mystery of the practice of
Mithraism during the Roman Empire from
the first century ce onward is still an open
question today, for the most part, because
there are still many questions that remain
unanswered. These questions relate not
only to the origin of these Mysteries, but
also concern the nature of the organization,
practices, rituals, and initiations of this
path. Some of these unanswered questions
have arisen because of the Mithraic
Mysteries’ own mysterious characteristics
within the definition of this spiritual model
developed during the height of its activity.
This is because much of its theological and
liturgical praxis is founded in the Arcane
Secret.1 The fragmentary knowledge on
other questions is a result of an absence of
a wide literary corpus that has a direct link
with this religious practice, beyond the
references in Christian and classical authors
who mention aspects of the Mithraic cult
only sparingly. Therefore, in the process of
reconstruction of Mithraism, it has been
necessary to combine partial information
from literary sources, with what we can
discover from the archaeological aspects
of the places where the Mithraic cult was
practiced (Mithraea), including inscriptions
related to Mithras and iconographic and
statuary representations.
The Degrees in Mithraism
One of the specific points that attracted
the attention of classical authors very
early on, and still represents an interesting
point regarding Mithraism, is the internal
organization of the Mithraic followers,
defined as the Initiatic degrees. The point of
departure for this question is the statement
that appears in a letter from Saint Jerome,
in which he refers to an intervention from
a newly-converted Christian, who, while
serving as Roman prefect, took part in the
destruction of a Mithraeum:
Did not your own kinsman
Gracchus, whose name betokens
his patrician origin, when a few
years back he held the prefecture of
the City, overthrow, break in pieces,
and shake to pieces the grotto of
Mithras, and all the dreadful images
Page i
Mithraic Banquet Scene. Second to
third century ce. Found at Fiano
Romano, near Rome in 1926. This
(reverse) face of the monument
depicts a banquet scene. In the
middle, is a bull’s hide, of which the
head and one hind leg are visible.
Sol and Mithras recline on it side
by side. Mithras holds a torch in his
left hand and extends his right hand
behind Sol. Sol is dressed only in a
cape, fastened on his right shoulder
with a fibula. Around Sol’s head is
a crown of eleven rays. He holds a
whip in his left hand and extends
the right towards a torchbearer who
offers him a rhyton. In the lower
right is another torchbearer, with a
raised torch in his left hand. In his
right hand, a caduceus is held into
the water emerging from the ground.
In the middle, is an altar in the coils
of a crested snake. In the upper left
corner, Luna is in a cloud, looking away. Traces of red paint remain on the attire of Sol, Mithras, and the torchbearers. The
obverse face of this monument is a tauroctony scene. Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons.
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therein? Those I mean by which
the worshippers were initiated as
Raven, Bridegroom, Soldier, Lion,
Perseus, Sun, Crab, and Father?
Did he not, I repeat, destroy these
and then, sending them before
him as hostages, obtain for himself
Christian baptism? 2
In this passage, Jerome names the seven
degrees that are used by the Mithraists
themselves, ones that are corroborated by
the iconographic testimony in the mosaic
of the Mithraeum of Felicissimus in Ostia,
and by the following testimony of Celsus,
who connect each one of the degrees with
the protection or the patronage of a planet:
Celsus, too, agreeably to the opinion
of Plato, asserts that souls can make
their way to and from Earth through
the planets…These things are
obscurely hinted at in the accounts
of the Persians, and especially in
the Mysteries of Mithras, which are
celebrated amongst them. For in
the latter there is a representation
of the two heavenly revolutions,
of the movement, viz., of the fixed
Page ii
stars, and of that which takes
place among the planets, and of
the passage of the soul through
these. The representation is of the
following nature: There is a ladder
with lofty gates and on the top of it
an eighth gate.3
From lower to higher importance we
have: “Crow” (Corax) linked to Mercury;
“Groom” (Nymphus) with Venus as its
patron planet; “Soldier” (Miles) united to
Mars; “Lion” (Leo) under the patronage
of Jupiter; “Persian” (Perses) related to
the Moon; “Sun Runner” (Heliodromus)
identified as the Sun; and finally “Father”
(Pater) connected to Saturn.4
The origin of this Initiatic structure
around seven degrees seems to correspond
to a progressive evolution as the mysteries
arrived from Asia Minor. Some of the
degrees can bring us to even older concepts,
especially in the direct relationship that is
manifested in regards to the tauroctony
scene (for example, the crows and the
lions).5 Other degrees could correspond to
aspects of organization of the community
or to symbolic elements related to its own
myth or Mithraic theology.6 In this way,
it makes sense that the initial division is
usually established between the first group
of degrees dedicated primarily to the labor
of service (hyperetontes), and those that are
officially participants (metechontes).
If we have been able to discover from
the epigraphic information that along with
the general basic order around the initiatic
scale—which is the particular and specific
way that Mithraism overcomes the arena
of mere organizational religious categories
to represent connections of social and
economic character—a series of functions
were able to be created in relation to the
degree or titles that were bestowed, the
same that would determine the particular
moment of advancement. The use of terms
as sacrati, consacrati, cultores, cryphii, or frates
has been documented in reference to the
initiated,7 while special terms were used to
define the intermediate processes between
the degrees (petitor or melodeon).8
One of the most recent controversies
in Mithraic historiography emerged from
a thesis proposed by M. Clauss, who stated
in 1990 that the degrees were in fact ranks
within the priesthood and that the majority
of the members of the Mithraic Mysteries
were not part of the degrees.9 Clauss arrived
at his conclusion from an analysis of the
inscriptions, noticing that there was a high
percentage of members with no reference
to their initiatic degree. He therefore
concluded that these members never rose to
that estate in the Mysteries.
However, as R. Gordon, J. Alvar
and others have pointed out, as it can be
justifiably assumed that since the initiatic
scale was an ascending path of degrees,
it is possible that the participants in the
Mysteries felt no need to record their first
steps on the path of the initiatory scale.
Only when the higher and final degrees
were achieved would this be recorded, and
only if this had any recognizable value.10
In Jerome’s testimony and other classical
references, only the system of degrees is
mentioned, and not the existence of a
separate sacerdotal body in the Mithraic
Mysteries. Moreover, when the same
epigraphic information is brought together,
the sacerdotal function within the Mysteries
of one of the degrees appears, the one who
presides at the completion of the initiatic
ladder: the Father.
Fathers: Vicars of Mithras
Traditionally, the view of the Pater
figure in Mithraic studies differed little
from its part in the set of the seven
initiatic degrees. This was considered
no more than a sign of higher authority
within the organization and a purely
superficial indication of its functions
and attributes. However, from analysis
of new documents such as the Album
of Virunum11 or the Crater of Mainz12
more elements have now come to light,
so that we can provide a more complete
study of ancient epigraphic and pictorial
documents related to this degree. With
these, not only can we reaffirm the already
established idea that the Pater was the
highest possible level achievable on the
initiatic scale; we can also affirm that
this figure exercised functions that went
far beyond the liturgical aspect, and that
even transcended the spheres of the mere
organizational aspects of Mithraism.
The Mithraic Pater played an internal
role in relationship to the function and
development of each Mithraic cell. This
apparently represented the mundane level
of the Pater's tasks. Within the ritualistic
and liturgical context, we can confirm that
the Pater appeared to be at certain times an
earthly representative of the deity, acting as
a vicar of Mithras. Through his authority,
rank, and a series of symbolic elements that
we will analyze next, the Pater conferred
validity on the ceremonies and at the same
time strengthened the bonds between the
Page iii
members of a Mithraic community within
and without.
In a mosaic found at the Mithraeum
known as Felicissimus in Ostia, the initiatic
scale that we have discussed is depicted.
In this representation, the reference to the
degrees is made in symbolic form with
the depiction of every attribute with its
own degree. In the case of the Patres, four
elements are depicted to symbolize the
authority that they exercise within the
Mithraic community: the wooden scythe,
related to agriculture, also recognized as
Saturn’s scythe,13 a pedagogical stick, and
a ring that refers directly to the authority
of the one who displays such symbols, and
finally, one element full of symbolism, the
Phrygian cap, identical with the one the
god Mithras wears in all of his iconography.
Within the Eastern context, it is associated
with the power of the monarch.14 Another
external element that differentiates the
Patres from the rest of the initiated is a red
robe with yellow bindings. This information
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is extracted from some of the initiatic
representations found in certain Mithraea,
and so it is not possible to establish if this
was part of a habitual ritual garment or
just part of a particular ceremony. The
meaning of these objects was probably
to emphasize the Pater figure within the
Mithraic community, establishing this as
a leadership function, developing the role
model for the religious impulse in the
Mithraeum and as keepers or guardians of
the Mithraic cell. Each Pater was expected
to be truly a benefactor attending to all
the material needs for maintaining the
community and the temple sua pecunia, at
his own expense.15
Due to the rigid character of the
degree system, there is a possibility that the
connections that were made between the
Pater, the community leader, and the other
initiates were far deeper than the merely
religious Mystery School bonds. We can
simply compare the model of patronage
practiced in contemporary Roman society.
Mosaic Panel from the Mithraeum of Felicissimus with symbols of the Pater. Second century CE. Photo © 2008 by MarieLan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons.
Page iv
In fact, the intervention of the
Pater was fundamental when it was
time to determine the suitability
of a candidate. This is due to his
responsibility in relation to the
number of members that could
be part of the Mithraic cell, since
the Mithraeum generally was not
meant to have a great capacity.16
Scrutiny had to be made regarding
the formation, the capabilities,
and disposition of the candidate.17
Proceeding from this fact, it will not
seem strange to find the numerous
votive inscriptions that many
relief dedicated by two imperial slaves, with a tauroctony.
members dedicated to their Patres, Mithraic
Pio-Clementine Museum, Rome. Photo © 2009 by Marie-Lan
not only as a sign of recognition of Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons.
the authority of the Pater in the
Mithraic degrees, since we can find slaves
community, but particularly in
gratitude because their actual situation as and legionaries holding these positions.18
members was due to the intervention of This does not indicate, however, that
the Mithraea were simple meeting places
the Pater.
We can sketch some of the general for anyone, as Cumont affirmed at the
19
aspects of the types of individuals who were beginning of the twentieth century.
able to reach this ultimate initiatic degree.
On the contrary, it seems that the
Some of the inscriptions point out, since general tendency was to create communities
the Mithraic Mysteries were presumably of where the members were part of symmetrical
a sophisticated level, that each Pater had to social, economic, and cultural levels.20 The
be of at least a moderately high intellectual truth is that at least in those cases where the
ability. The Pater would at least need Pater manifested a high level of formation
to be able to read and comprehend the it was considered worthy of mention as
eschatological message of Mithraism, and it appears in the inscriptions that make
at the same time, Neo-Platonist philosophy reference to the Pater of a new community
and the astrological references with which as sophistes or as a student of astrology.21
the Mysteries were thoroughly impregnated. There are names related to the Patres that
It is possible that the simple aspiration of are worthy of our attention:
many initiates to advance in the knowledge Aristes:
of these secrets of divine wisdom was the
“The Best,” refers once again to
motivation that made it possible to achieve
a position of authority in the
this higher degree, since at least at one time
community.22
it appears that no barriers of an economic
or social character existed for the initiated. Sacerdos:
“Priest” underlines the liturgical
The epigraphic evidence demonstrates that
character of the position.23 The
up to the fourth century ce there was not
fact that in many inscriptions a
much interest from the Roman aristocratic
distinction is made between Pater
authorities in monopolizing the higher
Page v
and sacerdos, or that this title
appears linked only to some Patres,
suggests that we may assume that
not necessarily all the Patres were to
undertake the functions of a Mithraic
priest, although it seems that it was
necessary to belong to the highest
degree in order to be able to exercise
such tasks.
Hieroceryx:
“Sacred Herald.” It has not been
clearly
identified.
However,
considering its literal meaning, this
title refers to the character of the
Pater as a spokesperson within the
community and one capable of
transmitting the Mithraic religious
message to the rest of the initiated.24
Pater Sacrorum:
“Father of the Holy” seems to
correspond to the role played by
the Pater as a guardian of the sacred
character residing in the Mithraeum.25
Pater Patrum:
“Father of Fathers” is an original title
that is interpreted as a recognition
that some of the Patres held due to
the existence of more than one Pater,
or as an additional title outside one
Mithraic community that would tell
us about certain types of horizontal
relationships between the Mithraic
cells established in a city or region.
These elements describe, in summary,
the general characteristics of those who were
the Patres of Mithraism, and what functions
they were able to perform in relation to the
organization of the community.
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We will now attempt to briefly discover
what the role of the Pater was in the
liturgical and ritual activities performed
in the Mithraeum. In order to do this in
the absence of other kinds of sources that
would describe the meaning of the Mithraic
Page vi
Bust of Roman Mithras, from the Roman colony at Arles,
France, late second/early third century. Photo © 2009 by
Michel Wal / Wikimedia Commons.
ceremonies in a more complete way, it is
fundamental to examine the information
that we have been able to obtain from the
pictorial representations that were found
on the walls of many Mithraea such as
the ones in Santa Maria in Capua and
Santa Prisca in Rome, or on the previously
mentioned Crater of Mainz. These provide
living testimony to the leading role of the
Pater in many ceremonies.
Among the well known occasions,
one of them called the Ritual Banquet,
frequently represented in the Mithraea,
recalls the meal that Mithras and the Sun
enjoyed after the sacrifice of the bull. In
the relief with this theme found at the
Mithraeum in Konjica, Bosnia, we can
see how certain animals are represented by
initiates wearing masks, while the places
that should be occupied by Mithras and the
Sun are taken respectively by the Pater and
the Heliodromus.
Even more interesting is the data Conclusion
provided by the representations that we find
The attribution of Vicarship that
in certain rituals known as “humiliation and
we
have given to all the Mithraic Patres
abasement”26 identified from the Mithraic
brings us to ask the question that will
frescos in Capua. In these frescos, it appears
allow us to proceed to the conclusion of
that a figure plays a privileged role in the
this investigation. The sense of the term
ceremonies and due to the attributes that
that we have used and the interpretation
this figure bears, it has been identified as
that we have made from all the sources of
a Pater. The identification of the Pater in
documentation leads to the conclusion that
what appears to be an initiatic ceremony
all the functions of the highest Mithraic
is evident because the Pater performs
initiatic degree should be understood as
the function of Mystagogue (initiating
a representation of the Divine on the local
master). He is accompanied by the initiate
level. This is because there was no single
who is portrayed as completely naked.
authority recognized among Mithraists.
In other scenes, the Pater is presented
The external symbols held the potential
as a representative of the community,
to be an idea of divine mediation, together
performing the duty of receptor.
with the ritualistic ceremonies that we have
In consonance with the function as
referred to. However, we must ask ourselves
Vicar that we have established, it is obvious
what was the image that practitioners of the
that the Pater is also acting as an earthly
Mysteries had about their Patres as persons,
representation of Mithras himself, and by
because it is evident that it is impossible
this means, a manifestation of the reception
to actually impose divine attributes on
of the newly initiated into the bosom of
superior initiates. This is why the concept of
the god’s Mysteries. Much more evident
Vicar has been proposed for the role of the
is the description of a ceremony known
Mithraic Fathers. They were solely evoking
through analysis of a Crater from Mainz,
the deity, without becoming a substitute for
which R. Beck called the “drawn bow of
Mithras. By being a Vicar of Mithras, the
Mithras.”27 In this piece,
we can discern in the relief
a depiction of a person
dressed in the vesture of
Mithras, preparing to
shoot an arrow. Naturally,
the possibility that this
represents the god himself
has been considered,
and who would be his
representative in this
way but the Pater, in the
process of reenacting
a ritual scene which
commemorates an action
of Mithras. On the Crater,
all this is observed by two Mosaic with the inscription “Felicissimus ex voto f(ecit)” (Felicissimus made
this ex-voto) and a krater, second century CE. Mithraeum of Felicissimus, Ostia
figures watching the scene Antiqua, (harbor city of ancient Rome) second century CE. Photo © 2008 by
Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons.
from a second level.
Page vii
Pater was taking the deity’s place himself as
if Mithras was actually present, although
this did not necessarily mean that the
other initiates would view the Patres as
being the human incarnations of Mithras;
nevertheless this would endow the series
of manifestations of connections between
the initiated and the initiator with a much
more religious component.
Nevertheless, as we have already
addressed, the evidence related to the personal
bond manifested between the initiated and
the Patres, reflected the profane mechanism
of the model of patronage that was present in
contemporaneous Roman society.
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf206.v.CVII.
html. 3 Celsus, he True Word, 72, cited in Origen,
Contra Celsum, Chapter 21-22, http://www.clerus.
org/bibliaclerusonline/en/esv.htm.
4
Ugo Bianchi, “Prolegomena I. he ReligioHistorical Question of the Mysteries of Mithra,”
Ugo Bianchi, ed., Proceedings of the International
Seminar on the Religio-Historical Character of Roman
Mithraism, with Particular Reference to Roman and
Ostian Sources. Mysteria Mithrae (Leiden: Brill,
1979), 3-29.
5
Porphyry, De Abstinentia, 4, 16 speaks of the use
of a mask by the representatives of these degrees,
used in speciic initiatic ceremonies: http://www.
animalrightshistory.org/animal-rights-library/
porphyry/animal-food-bk4.htm. hese masks are
also observed in relief at Konjica, Bosnia: cf. Franz
Cumont, he Mysteries of Mithra (New York: Dover,
1956), 159.
6
ENDNOTEs
1
he Arcane Secret is the formula that Apuleius
uses to avoid describing the Mysteries in his
novel, he Golden Ass (he Metamorphoses), the
conglomerate of practices linked to initiation of the
Isis Mysteries: “Quaeras forsitan satis anxie, studiose
lector, quid deinde dictum, quid factum; dicerem,
si dicere liceret, cognosceres, si liceret audire. Sed
parem noxam contraherent et aures et lingua, <ista
impiae loquacitatis>, illae temerariae curiositatis.”
“Devoted Reader, perhaps you seek with great
urgency, what was said and done there; I would
tell you if it were lawful for me to do so, and you
would know if it were permitted that you to hear
it; however, both your ears, and my tongue, if such
despicable impious speech took place, would incur
the same punishment of rash curiosity.” (Apuleius,
Metamorphoses, 11, 23). Latin text available at http://
www.thelatinlibrary.com/apuleius/apuleius11.
shtml#23.
2
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Jerome, “Letter 107, 2,” Bruce Metzger, “St.
Jerome’s Testimony concerning the Second Grade of
Mithraic Initiation,” American Journal of Philology
66 No. 3 (1945): 225-233. Concerning the primary
diiculties surrounding the clariication of these
initiatic degrees, see William Phytian-Adams, “he
Problem of the Mithraic Grades,” Journal of Roman
Studies 2 (1912): 53-64. Text from: Jerome, “Letter
CVII, To Laeta,” Christian Classics Etherial Library,
Page viii
Robert Turcan, Mithra et le mithriacisme (Paris:
Les Belles Lettres, 1993), 82. Turcan leans towards
understanding the formation of this structure in seven
parts. Hideo Ogawa, “Mithraic Ladder Symbols,”
Martin De-Boer, ed., Hommages à M.J. Vermaseren
II (Leiden: Brill, 1978), 857. De-Boer theorizes
about the origin of the seven degrees, relating them
to the symbology of the celestial staircase, looking for
elements of Persian origin. As such, he concludes: “it is
possible that the Mithraic Platonists in Syria combined
Platonic psychology with Persian symbolism into a
Mithraic soteriology of the seven gates.”
7
Maarten Jozef Vermaseren, Corpus Inscriptionum
et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae (CIMRM)
2 vv. (he Hague: Martinus Nijhof, 1956-1960),
Vol 1, 876 (consacranei); 325, 367, 412, 501; 566567 (sacrati); 162 (cultores); 1722 (collegium); 510
(frates).
8
Richard Gordon, “Ritual and Hierarchy in the
Mysteries of Mithras,” Arys 4 (2001): 251.
9
Manfred Clauss, “Die sieben Grade des MithrasKultes,” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 82
(1990): 275-276.
10
Jaime Alvar, Romanising Oriental Gods: Myth,
Salvation and Ethics in the Cults of Cybele, Isis and
Mithras (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 134f.
11
Gernot Piccotine, Mithrastempel in Virunum
(Klagenfurt: R. Habelt, 1994); Richard Gordon,
“Two Mithraic Albums from Virunum, Noricum,”
Journal of Roman Archaeology 9 (1996): 424-426.
12
Heinz Horn, “Das Mainzer Mithrasgefäss,”
Mainzer archäologischen Zeitschrift 1 (1994): 21-66;
Roger Beck, “Ritual, Myth, Doctrine, and Initiation
in the Mysteries of Mithras: New Evidence from a
Cult Vessel,” Journal of Roman Studies 90 (2000):
145-180.
13
Richard Gordon, “Mithraism and Roman
Society,” Religion 2 (1972): 101.
14
John Young, “Commagenian Tiaras: Royal and
Divine,” American Journal of Archaeology 68, No. 1
(1964): 29-34.
15
here are frequent graphic inscriptions with
references to the construction of an altar in a
Mithraeum whose expenses were covered by
one of these Patres, i.e.,: M. Lollianus Callinicus
Pater aram deo do(no) de(dit); in honores
domus divinae deo invicto Marceleus Marianus
de suo posuit. (Father M. Lollianus Callinucus
gave this altar as a gift to the Deity; In honor
of the Divine house of the unconquered Deity,
Marceleus Marianus himself placed this here.) See
Maarten Jozef Vermaseren, Corpus Inscriptionum
et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae Vol 1
(CIMRM), 233, 626.
16
Marquita Volken, “he Development of the Cult
of Mithras in the Western Roman Empire: a SocioArchaeological Perspective,” Electronic Journal of
Mithraic Studies 4 (2004), http://www.uhu.es/ejms/
Papers/Volume4Papers/Volken.Mithras%20socioarchaeological.2004.doc.
17
Tertulian, Apology. 8,7, http://www.sacred-texts.
com/chr/ecf/003/index.htm; Adversus Gentiles (Ad
Nationes) 1, 7, 23, http://www/sacred-texts.com/
chr/ecf/003/index.htm.
18
Alyson Griith, “Mithraism in the Private and
Public Lives of 4th-c. Senators in Rome,” Electronic
Journal of Mithraic Studies 1 (2000), http://www.
uhu.es/ejms/Papers/Volume1Papers/ABGMS.
DOC.
19
Franz Cumont, Oriental Religions in Roman
Paganism (New York: Dover, 1956), 132.
20
Rebeca Rubio, “Jerarquías religiosas y jerarquía
social en el mitraísmo,” Jaime Alvar, ed, Jerarquías
religiosas y control social en el mundo antiguo (Valladolid:
University of Valladolid, Department of Publications
and Editorial Exchange, 2004), 294-312.
21
Sacerdos dei Solis invicti Mithrae studiosos
astrologiae. A Priest of the Deity Mithras, the
Unconquered Sun, devoted to astrology. See Maarten
Jozef Vermaseren, Corpus Inscriptionum et
Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae (CIMRM),
708, 315.
22
Maarten Jozef Vermaseren, Corpus Inscriptionum
et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae Vol 1
(CIMRM), 315.
23
Maarten Jozef Vermaseren, Corpus Inscriptionum
et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae Vol 1
(CIMRM), 511, 311, 313.
24 Maarten Jozef Vermaseren, Corpus Inscriptionum
et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae Vol 1
(CIMRM), 513, 514 no. 35, 515, 206. he fact
that many of these testimonies belong to late
dating, leads us to believe that this could be a
later introduction, perhaps proceeding from
other religious uses in other mystery religions.
25
Maarten Jozef Vermaseren, Corpus Inscriptionum
et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae Vol 1
(CIMRM), 215, 522, 523, 524, 815; Vol. 2: 1243,
1438, 2250.
26
Martin Jozef Vermaseren, Mithraica I: he
Mithraeum at S. Maria Capua Vetere (Leiden: Brill,
1971), 28-34, Plate 2, 22.
27
Roger Beck, “Ritual, Myth, Doctrine, and
Initiation in the Mysteries of Mithras: New Evidence
from a Cult Vessel,” Journal of Roman Studies 90
(2000): 145-180.
Page ix