Franz Cumont - Mitrine misterije

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PREFACE TO THE FRENCH EDITION

THE present work, in which we purpose to treat of the origin and history of the Mithraicreligion, does not pretend to offer a picture of the downfall of paganism. We shall not

attempt, even in a general way, to seek for the causes which explain the establishment ofthe riental religions in !taly" nor shall we endeavor to show how their doctrines, which

were far more active as fermenting agents than the theories of the philosophers,decomposed the national beliefs on which the #oman state and the entire life of anti$uity

rested, and how the destruct on of the edifice which they had disintegrated was ultimately

accomplished by %hristianity. We shall not undertake to trace here the various phases ofthe battle waged between idolatry and the growing %hurch" this vast sub&ect, which we

hope some day to approach, lies beyond the scope of the present work. We are concerned

here with one epoch only of this decisive revolution, it being our purpose to show with allthe distinctness in our power how and why a certain Ma'dean sect failed under the

%(sars to become the dominant religion of the empire.

The civili'ation of the )reeks had never succeeded in establishing itself among the

*ersians, and the #omans were no more successful in sub&ecting the *arthians to theirsway. The significant fact which dominates the entire history of Hither +sia is that the

!ranian world and the )r(co-atin world

p. iv

remained forever unamenable to reciprocal assimilation, forever sundered as much by a

mutual repulsion, deep and instinctive, as by their hereditary hostility.

evertheless, the religion of the Magi, which was the highest blossom of the genius of

!ran, exercised a deep influence on ccidental culture at three different periods. !n thefirst place, *arseeism had made a very distinct impression on /udaism in its formative

stage, and several of its cardinal doctrines were disseminated by /ewish colonists

throughout the entire basin of the Mediterranean, and subse$uently even forced

themselves on orthodox %atholicism.

The influence of Ma'daism on European thought was still more direct, when +sia Minor

was con$uered by the #omans. Here, from time immemorial, colonies of Magi who had

migrated from 0abylon lived in obscurity, and, welding together their traditional beliefsand the doctrines of the )recian thinkers, had elaborated little by little in these barbaric

regions a religion original despite its complexity. +t the beginning of our era, we see this

religion suddenly emerging from the darkness, and pressing forward, rapidly andsimultaneously, into the valleys of the 1anube and the #hine, and even into the heart of!taly. The nations of the ccident felt vividly the superiority of the Ma'dean faith over

their ancient national creeds, and the populace thronged to the altars of the exotic god.

0ut the progress of the con$uering religion was checked when it came in contact with%hristianity. The two adversaries discovered with ama'ement, but with no inkling of their

origin, the similarities

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p. v

which united them" and they severally accused the 3pirit of 1eception of havingendeavored to caricature the sacredness of their religious rites. The conflict between the

two was inevitable,a ferocious and implacable duel4 for the stake was the dominion of

the world. o one has told the tale of its changing fortunes, and our imagination alone is

left to picture the forgotten dramas that agitated the souls of the multitudes when theywere called upon to choose between rmad' and the Trinity. We know the result of the

battle only4 Mithraism was van$uished, as without doubt it should have been. The defeat

which it suffered was not due entirely to the superiority of the evangelical ethics, nor tothat of the apostolic doctrine regarding the teaching of the Mysteries" it perished, not only

because it was encumbered with the onerous heritage of a superannuated past, but also

because its liturgy and its theology had retained too much of its +siatic coloring to beaccepted by the -atin spirit without repugnance. 5or a converse reason, the same battle,

waged in the same epoch in *ersia between these same two rivals, was without success, if

not without honor, for the %hristians" and in the realms of the 3assanids, 6oroastrianismnever once was in serious danger of being overthrown.

The defeat of Mithraism did not, however, utterly annihilate its power. !t had prepared the

minds of the ccident for the reception of a new faith, which, like itself, came also from

the banks of the Euphrates, and which resumed hostilities with entirely different tactics.Manich(ism appeared as its successor and continuator. This was the final assault made

by *ersia on the ccident,an assault

p. vi

more sanguinary than the preceding, but one which was ultimately destined to berepulsed by the powerful resistance offered to it by the %hristian empire.

7 7 7 7 7

The foregoing rapid sketch will, ! hope, give some idea of the great importance which the

history of Mithraism possesses. + branch torn from the ancient Ma'dean trunk, it haspreserved in many respects the characteristics of the ancient worship of the !ranian tribes"

and it will enable us by comparison to understand the extent, so much disputed, of the

+vestan reformation. +gain, if it has not inspired, it has at least contributed to giveprecise form to, certain doctrines of the %hurch, as the ideas relative to the powers of hell

and to the end of the world. +nd thus both its rise and its decadence combine in

explaining to us the formation of two great religions. !n the heyday of its vigor, it

exercised no less remarkable an influence on the society and government of #ome.ever, perhaps, not even in the epoch of the Mussulman invasion, was Europe in greater

danger of being +siatici'ed than in the third century of our era, and there was a moment

in this period when %(sarism was apparently on the point of being transformed into a%aliphate. The resemblances which the court of 1iocletian bore to that of %hosroes have

been fre$uently emphasi'ed. !t was the worship of the sun, and in particular the Ma'dean

theories, that disseminated the ideas upon which the deified sovereigns of the West

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endeavored to rear their monarchical absolutism. The rapid spread of the *ersian

Mysteries among all classes of the population served admirably the political ambitions

p. vii

of the emperors. + sudden inundation of !ranian and 3emitic conceptions swept over the

ccident, threatening to submerge everything that the genius of )reece and #ome had so

laboriously erected, and when the flood subsided it left behind in the conscience of thepeople a deep sediment of riental beliefs, which have never been completely

obliterated.

! believe ! have said sufficient to show that the sub&ect of which ! am about to treat is

deserving of exhaustive and profound study. +lthough my investigations have carried me,on many sides, much farther than ! had at the outset intended to go, ! still do not regret

the years of labor and of travel which they have caused me. The work which ! have

undertaken could not have been other than difficult. n the one hand, we do not know towhat precise degree the +vesta and the other sacred books of the *arsees represent the

ideas of the Ma'deans of the ccident" on the other, these books constitute the solematerial in our possession for interpreting the great mass of figured monuments which

have gradually been collected. The inscriptions by themselves are always a sure guide,but their contents are upon the whole very meager. ur predicament is somewhat similar

to that in which we should find ourselves if we were called upon to write the history of

the %hurch of the Middle +ges with no other sources at our command than the Hebrew0ible and the sculptured dbrisof #oman and )othic portals. 5or this reason, ourexplanations of the Mithraic imagery will fre$uently possess nothing more than a greater

or less degree of probability. ! make no pretension to having

p. viii

reached in all cases a rigorously exact decipherment of these hieroglyphics, and 2 am

anxious to ascribe to my opinions nothing but the value of the arguments which supportthem. 2 hope nevertheless to have established with certainty the general signification of

the sacred images which adorned the Mithraic crypts. n the details of their recondite

symbolism it is difficult to throw much light. We are fre$uently forced to take refuge here

in the ars nesciendi.

The following pages reproduce the 9%onclusions9 printed at the end of the first volume of

my large work, Textes et monuments figurs relatifs aux mystres de Mithra:0russels4 H.-amertin;. 23tripped of the notes and references which there served to establish them,

they are confined to epitomi'ing and coordinating the sumtotal of the knowledge wepossess concerning the origin and the characteristic features of the Mithraic religion.

They will furnish, in fact, all the material necessary for readers desirous of general

information on this sub&ect. To impart the same solidity to all the various portions of theedifice we have been reconstructing has been impossible. The uncertainties and

discontinuity of the tradition do not permit this. *ersons desirous of examining the

stability of the foundations upon which my expositions rest, should consult the criticaldiscussions of the 9!ntroduction9 to my larger work, the purpose of which is to ascertain


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p. ix

the meaning and value of the written documents, and especially of the figuredmonuments, there described.

1uring the long period in which this work has been in preparation ! have been fre$uently

obliged to resort to that community of interest and sentiment which unites men of science

throughout the world, and ! may say ! have rarely appealed to it in vain. The courtesy ofdevoted friends, several of whom are now no more, has often anticipated the expression

of my wishes, and has spontaneously placed at my disposal things which ! could scarcely

have dared to re$uest. ! have endeavored in my large work to make due acknowledgmentto each one of them. !t would not be fitting to give in this place a mere mechanical list of

the names of my collaborators, and by bestowing upon them commonplace thanks to

appear in the light of cancelling the indebtedness which ! owe them. 0ut it is with a

feeling of profound gratitude that ! recall to mind the services which have been lavishedupon me, and that, having now reached the end of my task, after more than ten years, !

still think of all who have aided me in completing it.

The first edition of the present work appeared in 2=>>, and a second was called for not

long afterwards. 5ew changes have been made. We have added a few notes, made a fewreferences to recent articles, and adorned the pages with a considerable number of

illustrations. 2The most important addition is the chapter on Mithraic sculpture, which,

p. x

in view of the extensive researches now being made as to the riental origins of #oman

art, cannot fail to be of interest.

We have also to thank the many critics who have so kindly reviewed our Mysteries ofMithra, and have generously acknowledged that our reconstruction of this vanished creedrests upon an ob&ective and complete interpretation of the sources. !n a matter which is

still so obscure, it was inevitable that certain divergences of opinion should have come to

light, and our conclusions, at times bold, may, in certain points, have appeared to someerroneous. We have had regard for these expressions of doubt in our revision. !f we have

not always felt obliged to modify our opinion, it is not because we have not weighed the

arguments of our critics, but because in so small a volume as the present, from which alldiscussions must be excluded, we had not the space to substantiate our conclusions. !t is a

delicate matter, we grant, to publish a text without the notes which support, explain, and

modify it" but we trust that the reader will not feel too keenly this inevitable omission.

5#+6 %?MT.

)HET,May 1st, 1902.

Footnotes

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viii42-arge octavo, =B illustrations and = photogravure plates. This work,

which is a monument of scholarship and industry, is a complete descriptive and critical

collection of all the Mithraic texts, inscriptions, references, and monuments that havebeen recovered from anti$uity.T. /. Mc%.

ix42The illustrations of the 5rench edition numbered twentytwo. The present Englishedition contains more than double that number.T. /. Mc%.

3acred Texts %lassics !ndex *reviousext

p. 2

THE MYSTERIES OF MITHRA

THE ORIGINS OF MITHRAISM

! TH+T unknown epoch when the ancestors of the *ersians were still united with those

of the Hindus, they were already worshippers of Mithra. The hymns of the Cedas

celebrated his name, as did those of the +vesta, and despite the differences obtainingbetween the two theological systems of which these books were the expression, the Cedic

Mitra and the !ranian Mithra have preserved so many traits of resemblance that it is

impossible to entertain any doubt concerning their common origin. 0oth religions saw inhim a god of light, invoked together with Heaven, bearing in the one case the name of

Caruna and in the other that of +hura" in ethics he was recogni'ed as the protector of

truth, the antagonist of falsehood and error. 0ut the sacred poetry of !ndia has preservedof him an obscured memory only. + single fragment, and even that partially effaced, is all

that has been specially dedicated to him. He appears mainly in incidental allusions,the

silent witnesses of his ancient grandeur. 3till, though his physiognomy is not so distinctly

p. 8

limned in the 3anskrit literature as it is in the 6end writings, the faintness of its outlines is

not sufficient to disguise the primitive identity of his character.

+ccording to a recent theory, this god, with whom the peoples of Europe were

unac$uainted, was not a member of the ancient +ryan pantheon. MitraCaruna, and thefive other +dityas celebrated by the Cedas, likewise Mithra+hura and the +mshaspands,

who, according to the +vestan conception surround the %reator, are on this theory nothingbut the sun, the moon, and the planets, the worship of which was adopted by the !ndo!ranians 9from a neighboring people, their superiors in the knowledge of the starry

firmament,9 who could be none other than the +ccadian or 3emitic inhabitants of

0abylonia. 20ut this hypothetical adoption, if it really took place, must have occurred ina prehistoric epoch, and, without attempting to dissipate the obscurity of these primitive

times, it will be sufficient for us to state that the tribes of !ran never ceased to worship

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Mithra from their first assumption of worldly power till the day of their conversion to

!slam.

!n the +vesta, Mithra is the genius of the celestial light. He appears before sunrise on therocky summits of the mountains" during the day he traverses the wide firmament in his

chariot drawn by four white horses, and when

p. .;

p. 2=

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did prepare for the intimate union which was soon to be effected in the West between the

Mysteries of Mithra and those of the )reat Mother.

5ig. +.1., the image of Mithra is found in company with those of other *ersian, )reek, and

Hindu gods. These coins have little direct connection with the Mysteries as they appeared in the ccident,but they merit our attention as being the only representations of Mithra which are found outside the

boundaries of the #oman world.

a. bverse4 +n image of King Kanerkes. #everse4 +n image of Mithra.

b. The obverse has a bust of King Hooerkes, and the reverse an image of Mithra as a goddess.

c. 0ust of Hooerkes with a lunar and a solar god :Mithra; on its reverse side.

d. 0ust of Hooerkes, with Mithra alone on its reverse.

e, f, g. 3imilar coins. :T" et M", p. 2D.;

p. 8>

When, as the outcome of the expedition of +lexander :


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religion of the con$uering strangers, they combined their cults with it. !n order to

harmoni'e their barbaric beliefs with the Hellenic ideas, recourse was had to the ancient

practice of identification. They strove to demonstrate that the Ma'dean heaven wasinhabited by the same deni'ens as lympus4 +huraMa'da as 3upreme 0eing was

confounded with 6eus" Cerethraghna, the victorious hero, with Heracles" +nhita, to

whom the bull was consecrated, became +rtemis Tauropolos, and the identification wentso far as to locali'e in her temples the fable of restes. Mithra, already regarded in

0abylon as the peer of 3hamash, was naturally

p. 82

5ig. @

T*!%+- #E*#E3ET+T! 5 M!TH#+.

:5amous 0orghesi basrelief in white marble, now in the -ouvre, *aris, but originally taken from themithr(um of the %apitol.;

Mithra is sacrificing the bull in the cave. The characteristic features of the Mithra monuments are all

represented here4 the youths with the upright and the inverted torch, the snake, the dog, the raven, Helios,

the god of the sun, and 3elene, the goddess of the moon. wing to the *hrygian cap, the resemblance of the

face to that of +lexander, and the imitation of the motifof the classical )reek group of ike sacrificing abull,all characteristics of the 1iadochian epoch,the original of all the works of this type has been

attributed to an artist of *ergamon. :T" et M", p. 2=@.;

p. 88

associated with Helios" but he was not subordinated to him, and his *ersian name was

never replaced in the liturgy by a translation, as had been the case with the other

divinities worshipped in the Mysteries.

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The synonomy thus speciously established

5ig. A.T+?#%T?3 M!TH#+.

+rtistic Type.

:0asrelief, formerly in domo +ndre( %in$uin(, now in 3t. *etersburg. T" et M", p. 88=.;

between appellations having no relationship did not remain the exclusive diversion of themythologists" it was attended with the grave conse$uence that the vague personifications

conceived by the riental imagination now

p. 8;

+ssyrian idols they were doubtless both grotes$ue and crude. !n thus imparting to the

Ma'dean heroes all the seductiveness of the Hellenic ideal, the conception of their

character was necessarily modified" and, pruned of their exotic features, they wererendered

p. 8@

more readily acceptable to the ccidental peoples. ne of the indispensable conditionsfor the success of this exotic religion in the #oman world was fulfilled when towards the

second century before our era a sculptor of the school of *ergamon composed the

pathetic

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5ig. B.

T+?#%T?3 M!TH#+.

Early +rtistic Type.

:0asrelief of white marble, #ome, now in the Museum of 5ine +rts, 0oston.;

group of Mithra Tauroctonos, to which universal custom thenceforward reserved the

place of honor in the apse of thes#el$a. 2

0ut not only did art employ its powers to soften the repulsive features which these rude

p. 8A

Mysteries might possess for minds formed in the schools of )reece" philosophy also

strove to reconcile their doctrines with its teachings, or rather the +siatic priestspretended to discover in their sacred traditions the theories of the philosophic sects. oneof these sects so readily lent itself to alliance with the popular devotion as that of the

3toa, and its influence on the formation of Mithraism was profound. +n ancient myth

sung by the Magi is $uoted by 1ion %hrysostomos 2on account of its allegoricalresemblance to the 3toic cosmology" and many other *ersian ideas were similarly

modified by the pantheistic conceptions of the disciples of 6eno. Thinkers accustomed

themselves more and more to discovering in the dogmas and liturgic usages of therientals the obscure reflections of an ancient wisdom, and these tendencies harmoni'ed

too much with the pretensions and the interest of the Ma'dean clergy not to be

encouraged by them with every means in their power.

0ut if philosophical speculation transformed the character of the beliefs of the Magi,investing them with a scope which they did not originally possess, its influence was

nevertheless upon the whole conservative rather than revolutionary. The very fact that it

invested legends which were ofttimes puerile with a symbolical significance, that itfurnished

p. 8D

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rational explanations for usages which were apparently absurd, did much towards

insuring their perpetuity. !f the theological foundation of the religion was sensibly

modified, its liturgic framework remained relatively fixed, and the changes wrought inthe dogma were in accord with the reverence due to the ritual. The superstitious

formalism of which the minute prescriptions of the Cendidad were the expression is

certainly prior to the period of the 3assanids. The sacrifices which the Magi of%appadocia offered in the time of 3trabo :circaD< 0.%.82 +.1.; are reminiscent of allthe peculiarities of the +vestan liturgy. !t was the same psalmodic prayers before the altar

of fire" and the same bundle of sacred twigs :baresman;" the same oblations of milk, oil,and honey" the same precautions lest the breath of the officiating priest should

contaminate the divine flame. The inscription of +ntiochus of %ommagene :D=


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%ommagenean, -ucian of 3amosata, in a passage apparently inspired by practices he had

witnessed in his own country, could still deride the repeated purifications, the

interminable chants, and the long Medean robes of the

p. 8

sectarians of 6oroaster.25urthermore, he taunted them with being ignorant even of )reek

and with mumbling an incoherent and unintelligible gibberish. 8

The conservative spirit of the Magi of %appadocia, which bound them to the timewornusages that had been handed down from generation to generation, abated not one &ot of its

power after the triumph of %hristianity" and 3t. 0asil


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privileged few" and this mystic knowledge appeared to increase in excellence in

proportion as it became more occult.

+ll the original rites that characteri'ed the Mithraic cult of the #omans un$uestionablygo back to +siatic origins4 the animal disguises used in certain ceremonies are a survival

of a very widelydiffused prehistoric custom which still survives in our day" the practiceof consecrating mountain caves to the god is undoubtedly a heritage of the time when

temples were not yet constructed" the cruel tests imposed on the initiated recall thebloody mutilations that the servitors of M and of %ybele perpetrated. 3imilarly, the

legends of which Mithra is the hero cannot have been invented save in a pastoral epoch.

These anti$ue traditions of a primitive and crude civili'ation subsist in the Mysteries bythe side of a subtle theology and a lofty system of ethics.

+n analysis of the constituent elements of Mithraism, like a crosssection of a geological

formation, shows the stratifications of this composite mass in their regular order of

deposition. The basal layer of this religion, its lower and primordial stratum, is the faith

of ancient !ran, from which it took its origin.

p.


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5ig. =.

M!TH#+!% ME1+--! 5 0#6E 5#M T+#3?3, %!-!%!+.

bverse4 0ust of )ordianus !!!., clad in a paludamentum and wearing a rayed crown. #everse4 Mithra,

wearing a rayed crown and clad in a floating chlamys, a tunic covered by a breastplate, and anaxyrides:trousers;, sei'es with his left band the nostrils of the bull, which he has forced to its knees, while in his

right hand he holds aloft a knife with which he is about to slay the animal. :T" et M", p. 2=>.;

of )reece and !taly, and the -atin world rang for the first time with the name of thebarbaric divinity that was soon to impose upon it his adoration.

Footnotes

842ldenberg, 1ie #eligion des Ceda, 2=@, p. 2A.

@42%end&'(esta, asht, N., *assim.

B42)asht, N., 2>


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8@42%ompare the %hapter on PPMithraic +rt.9

8A421ion %hrys., r", 777V+., Q, o.


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of the 3eleucid(. !n these semiriental empires the powerful organi'ation of the

indigenous clergy and the ardent devotion of the people for their national idols appear to

have arrested the progress of the invader and to have paraly'ed his influence.

ne characteristic detail shows that the !ranianyazatanever made many converts in the

Hellenic or Helleni'ed countries. )reek onomatology, which furnishes a considerableseries of theophorous or godbearing names indicating the popularity which the *hrygian

and Egyptian divinities en&oyed, has noMithrion,Mithrocles,Mithrodorus, orMithro#hilus, to show as the counterparts of its Menophili, its Metrodoti, its !sidori, andits 3erapions. +ll the derivatives of Mithra are of barbaric formation. +lthough the

Thracian 0endis, the +sian %ybele, the 3erapis of the +lexandrians, and even the 3yrian0aals, were successively received with favor in the cities of )reece, that country never

extended the hand of hospitality to the tutelar deity of its ancient enemies.

His distance from the great centers of ancient civili'ation explains the belated arrival of

Mithra in the ccident. fficial worship was rendered at #ome to theMagna Materof

*essinus as early as 8>@ 0.%." !sis and 3erapis made their appearance there in the firstcentury before our era, and long before this they had counted their worshippers in !taly by

multitudes. The %arthaginian +starte

p.


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infantry and cavalry, and finally the permanent establishment of three legions along the

frontier of the Euphrates, provoked a perpetual interchange of men, products, and ideas

between these mountainous districts hitherto closed to the world, and the Europeanprovinces. Then came the great expeditions of Tra&an, of -ucius Cerus, of 3eptimius

3everus, the sub&ection of Mesopotamia, and the foundation of numerous colonies in

srhoene and as far as ineveh, which formed the links of a great chain binding !ranwith the Mediterranean. These successive annexations of the %(sars were the first cause

of the diffusion of the Mithraic religion in the -atin world. !t began to spread there under

the 5lavians and developed under the +ntonines and the 3everi, &ust as did another cultpractised alongside of it in %ommagene, namely that of /upiter 1olichenus,2which made

at the same time the tour of the #oman empire.

+ccording to *lutarch, 8Mithra was introduced

p.


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?nder the +ntonines, especially from the beginning of the reign of %ommodus, the

proofs of their presence abound in all countries. +t the end of the second century, the

Mysteries were celebrated at stia in at least four temples.

We cannot think of enumerating all the cities in which our +siatic cult was established,

nor of stating in each case the reasons

p. .

T+?#%T?3 M!TH#+.

:Marble group of the second century, 0ritish Museum.;

The remarkable feature of this group is that not blood, but three spikes of wheat, issue from the wound of

the bull. +ccording to the Mithraic theory, wheat and the vine sprang from the spinal cord and the blood of

the sacrificed animal :see the %hapter on 9The 1octrine of the Mithraic Mysteries9;. T" et M", p. 88.

the local history of Mithraism. !t is impossible for us to follow the detailed steps in its

advancement, to distinguish the concurrent influences exercised by the different

churches,

p. @>

to draw up a picture of the work of conversion, pursuing its course from city to city andprovince to province. +ll that we can do is to indicate in large outlines in what countries

the new faith was propagated and who were in general the champions that advocated it.

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The principal agent of its diffusion was undoubtedly the army. The Mithraic religion is

predominantly a religion of soldiers, and it was not without good reason that the name ofmiliteswas given to a certain grade of initiates. The influence of the army may appearless capable of affording an explanation when one reflects that under the emperors the

legions were $uartered in stationary encampments, and from the time of Hadrian at least

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years and more into countries which were totally strange to them, piously preserved the

memories of their national divinities, and whenever the opportunity offered, they did not

fail to assemble for the purpose of rendering them devotion. They had experienced theneed of conciliating the great lord :/aal;, whose anger as little children they had learnedto fear. Their worship also offered an occasion for reunion, and for recalling to memory

under the gloomy climates of the orth their distant country. 0ut their brotherhoods werenot exclusive" they gladly admitted to their rites

p. @B +.1. Tra&an annexed this barbarous kingdom to the #oman empire,

the country, exhausted by six years of obstinate warfare, was little more than a desert. To

repopulate it, the emperor transported to it, as Eutropius2tells us, multitudes of colonists9ex toto orbe 3omano,9 from all the territories of #ome. The population of this countrywas even more mixed in the second century than it is today, where all the races of

Europe are still bickering and battling with one another. 0esides the remnants of theancient 1acians, were found here !llyrians

8
http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/mom/mom05.htm#fn_22http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/mom/mom05.htm#fn_22http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/mom/mom05.htm#fn_22


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p. @A

and *annonians, )alatians, %arians, and +siatics, people from Edessa and *almyra, andstill others besides, all of whom continued to practise the religions of their native

countries. 0ut none of these cults prospered more than the Mysteries of Mithra, and one

is astounded at the prodigious development that this religion took during the 2A> years

that the #oman domination lasted in this region. !t flourished not only in the capital of theprovince, 3armi'egetusa, and in the cities that sprang up near the #oman camps, like

*otaLssa and notably +pulum, but along the entire extent of the territory occupied by the

#omans. Whereas one cannot find in 1acia, so far as ! know, the slightest vestige of a%hristian community, from the fortress 3'amos ?&var to the northern frontier and as far

as #omula in Wallachia, multitudes of inscriptions, of sculptures, and of altars which

have escaped the destruction of mithr(ums have been found. These dbrisespeciallyabound in the central portions of the country, along the great causeway that followed the

course of the valley of the Maros, the principal artery by which the civili'ation of #ome

spread into the mountains of the surrounding country. The single colony of +pulumcounted certainly four temples of the *ersian deity, and thes#el$umof 3armi'egetusa,recently excavated, still contains the fragments of a round fifty of basreliefs and other

p. @D

votive tablets which the piety of the faithful had there consecrated to their god.

-ikewise in *annonia, the !ranian religion implanted itself in the fortified cities that

formed the chain of #oman defences along the 1anube, in %usum, !ntercisa, +$uincum,

0rigetio, %arnuntum, Cindobona, and even in the hamlets of the interior. !t was especially

powerful in the two principal places of this double province, in +$uincum and in%arnuntum" and in both of these cities the causes of its greatness are easily discovered.

The firstnamed city, where in the third century the Mysteries were celebrated in at leastfive temples scattered over its entire area, was the head$uarters of the legio ++ ad +.1. by Cespasian from sailors of the fleet

stationed at #avenna. +mong the freedmen thus admitted into the regular army, the

proportion of +siatics was considerable, and it is probable that from the very beginningMithraism counted a number of adepts in this irregular legion. When towards the year

28> +.1. it was established by Hadrian in -ower *annonia, it undoubtedly brought with

it to this place the riental cult to which it appears to have remained loyal to the day ofits dissolution. The legio + ad


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which %orbulo was leading against the *arthians, it had taken part during the years DB to

B> +.1. in suppressing the uprisings of the /ews, and had subse$uently accompanied

Titus to +lexandria. The losses which this veteran legion had suffered in these sanguinarycampaigns were doubtless made good with recruits levied in +sia. These conscripts were

for the most part probably natives of %appadocia, and it was they that, after their

transportation to the 1anube with the old rank and file of the legion, there first offeredsacrifices to the !ranian god whose name had been hitherto unknown in the region north

of the +lps. There has been found at %arnuntum a votive Mithraic inscription due to a

soldier of the +pollinarian legion bearing the characteristic name of/arbarus. The firstworshippers of the .ol +n(ictusconsecrated to him on the banks of the river a

p. @

semicircular grotto, which had to be restored from its ruins in the third century by a

#oman knight, and whose high anti$uity is evidenced in all its details. When, some fortyyears after its arrival in the ccident, Tra&an again transported the fifteenth legion to the

Euphrates, the *ersian cult had already struck deep roots in the capital of ?pper

*annonia. ot only the fourteenth legion,gemina Martia, which replaced that which hadreturned to +sia, but also the sixteenth and the thirteenthgemin$, certain detachments ofwhich were, as it appears, connected with the firstmentioned legion, succumbed to the

allurements of the Mysteries and counted initiates in their own ranks. 3oon the firsttemple was no longer ade$uate, and a second was built, whichand this is an important

factimmediately ad&oined the temple of /upiter 1olichenus of %ommagene. +

municipality having developed alongside the camp and the conversions continuing to

multiply, a third mithr(um was erected, probably towards the beginning of the secondcentury, and its dimensions surpass those of all similar structures hitherto discovered. !t

was enlarged by 1iocletian and the princes associated with him in B +.1., when they

held their conference at %arnuntum. Thus these princes sought to give public testimony

of their devotion to Mithra in this holy city, which of all those in the orth probablycontained the

p. @=

most ancient sanctuaries of the Ma'dean sect.

This warlike post, the most important in the entire region, seems also to have been the

religious center from which the foreign cult radiated into the smaller towns of the

surrounding country. 3tixeusiedl, where it was certainly practised from the middle ofthe second century, was only a dependent village of this powerful city. 0ut farther to the

south the temple of 3carbantia was enriched by a decurio coloni$ arnunti. Towards theeast the territory of J$uinoctium has furnished a votive inscription to the-etr$=enetrici, and still farther off at Cindobona :Cienna; the soldiers of the tenth legion hadlikewise learned doubtless from the neighboring camp, to celebrate the Mysteries. Even

in +frica, traces are found of the influence which the great *annonian city exercised on

the development of Mithraism.


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3everal leagues from Cienna, passing across the frontier of oricum, we come upon the

hamlet of %ommagen(, the name of which is doubtless due to the fact that a s$uadron of

%ommageneans :an ala ommagenorum; was there $uartered. ne is not surprised,therefore, to learn that a basrelief of the tauroctonous god has been discovered here.

evertheless, in this province, as in #h(tia, the army does not seem to have taken, as it

did in *annonia, an active part in the propagation of the

p. A>

+siatic religion. + belated !nscription of as#eculator legionis + >oricorumis the onlyone in these countries that mentions a soldier" and generally the monuments of theMysteries are very sparsely scattered in the valley of the ?pper 1anube, where the

#oman troops were concentrated. They are not found in increased numbers until the other

slope of the +lps is reached, and the epigraphy of this lastnamed region forbids us to

assign to them a military origin.

5ig. 22.

3?)1.

:5ragment from the grand basrelief of Cirunum, in oricum. T" et M", p.


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5ig. 28.

M!TH#+!% 0+3#E-!E5 5 3TE#0?#KE.

:1iscovered in 2D2 near the ruins of a #oman fort, in the denwald, Hesse. T" et M", *late C!.;

3o general a diffusion prevents us from telling exactly from what side the foreign religion

entered this country, but it may be assumed without fear of error that, save possibly at a

certain few points, it was not imported directly from the rient, but was transmittedthrough the agency of the garrisons on the 1anube" and if we wish to assign

p. A8

absolutely the circumstances of its origin we may take it for granted, with everylikelihood of truth, that the eighth legion, which was transferred from MSsia to ?pper

)ermany in the year B> +.1., first practised there the religion which was soon destined to

become the preponderating one of this country.

f all countries )ermany is that in which the greatest number of mithr(ums, or places ofMithraic worship, has been discovered. )ermany has given us the basreliefs having the

greatest dimensions and furnishing the most complete representations" and certainly no

god of paganism ever found in this nation as many enthusiastic devotees as Mithra. The'gri *ecumates, a strip of land lying on the right bank of the #hine and forming themilitary confines of the empire, together with the advance posts of the #oman military

system between the river Main and the fortified walls of the limes, have beenmarvellously fertile in discoveries. orth of 5rankfort, near the village of Heddernheim,the ancient ci(itas Taunensium, three important temples have been successively exhumed:5igs. 2


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*-+ 5 + M!TH#J?M 1!3%CE#E1 +T HE11E#HE!M.

+. *ronaos with colonnade.0. Entrance to stairway.%%. 3acristy :apparatoriumV;1. Cestibule.E.

0enches ranged along the sides.5. 3pace reserved for celebrants.). +pse containing the sacred images.

:T. et M., p. .;

p. A@

of monuments have been found which show clearly the manner in which the new faith

spread like an epidemic, and was disseminated

5ig. 2@.

#ECE#3E 5 THE )#+1 M!TH#+!% 0+3#E-!E5 5 HE11E#HE!M, )E#M+.


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into the very heart of the barbarous tribes of the ?bians and 0atavians.

The influence of Mithraism among the troops massed along the #henish frontier

p. AA

5ig. 2A.

0+3#E-!E5 5 E?EHE!M, E+# HE!1E-0E#), )E#M+.

This monument, which escaped mutilation at the hands of the early fanatics, was discovered in 2


35/156

important rIle which this city played under the successors of %onstantine explain the

almost total disappearance of the monuments of paganism. 5inally, in the valley of the

Meuse, not far from the route that &oins %ologne with 0avay :/agacum;, some curiousremains of the Mysteries have been discovered.

5rom 0avay, this route leads to 0oulogne :=esoriacum;, the naval base of the classis/ritannicaor 0ritannic fleet. The statues of the two dadophors, or torchbearers, whichhave been found here and were certainly chiselled on the spot, were doubtless offered

p. AB

to the god by some foreign mariner or officer of the fleet. !t was the ob&ect of this

important naval station to keep in daily touch with the great island that lay opposite, andespecially with -ondon, which even at this epoch was visited by numerous merchants.

The existence of a mithr(um in this principal commercial and military depot of 0ritain

should not surprise us. )enerally speaking, the !ranian cult was in no country socompletely restricted to fortified places as in 0ritain. utside of ork :buracum;, wherethe head$uarters of the troops of the province were situated, it was disseminated only inthe west of the country, at %arleon :+sca; and at %hester :*e(a;, where camps had beenestablished to repel the inroads of the )allic tribes of the 3ilures and the rdovices" andfinally in the northern outskirts of the country along the wall of Hadrian, which protected

the territory of the empire from the incursions of the *icts and the %aledonians. +ll the

stations of this line of ramparts appear to have had their Mithraic temple, where thecommander of the place :#r$fectus; furnished an example of devotion for hissubordinates. !t is evident, therefore, that the +siatic god had penetrated in the train of the

army to these northern regions, but it is impossible to determine precisely the period atwhich he reached this place or the troops by whom he was carried there. 0ut there is

reason for

p. A

believing that Mithra was worshipped in these countries from the middle of the second

century, and that )ermany 2served as the intermediary agent between the far rient

9t #enitus toto di(isos orbe /ritannos.9

+t the other extremity of the #oman world the Mysteries were likewise celebrated by

soldiers. They had their adepts in the third legion encamped at -amb(se and in the poststhat guarded the defiles of the +urasian Mountains or that dotted the frontiers of the

3ahara 1esert. evertheless, they do not appear to have been as popular to the south ofthe Mediterranean as in the countries to the north, and their propagation has assumed herea special character. Their monuments, nearly all of which date from later epochs, are due

to the officers, or at least to the centurions, many of whom were of foreign origin, rather

than to the simple soldiers, nearly all of whom were levied in the country which theywere charged to defend. The legionaries of umidia remained faithful to their indigenous

gods, who were either *unic or 0erber in origin, and only rarely adopted the beliefs of the

companions with whom their vocation of arms had thrown them in contact. +pparently,


36/156

therefore, the *ersian religion was practised in +frica almost exclusively by those whom

military service had called to these countries

p. A=

from abroad" and the bands of the faithful were composed for the most part, if not of

+siatics, at least of recruits drawn from the 1anubian provinces.

5inally, in 3pain, the country of the ccident which is poorest in Mithraic monuments,

the connection of their presence with that of the garrisons is no less manifest. Throughoutthe entire extent of this vast peninsula, in which so many populous cities were crowded

together, they are almost totally lacking, even in the largest centers of urban population.

3carcely the faintest vestige of an inscription is found in Emerita and Tarraco, the capitalsof -usitania and Tarraconensis. 0ut in the uncivili'ed valleys of +sturias and )all(cia

the !ranian god had an organi'ed cult. This fact will be immediately connected with the

prolonged so&ourn of a #oman legion in this country, which remained so longunsub&ugated. *erhaps the conventicles of the initiated also included veterans of the

3panish cohorts who, after having served as auxiliaries on the #hine and the 1anube,returned to their native hearths converted to the Ma'dean faith.

The army thus united in the same fold citi'ens and emigrants from all parts of the world"kept up an incessant interchange of officers and centurions and even of entire armycorps

from one province to another, according to the varying needs of the day" in

p. D>

fine, threw out to the remotest frontiers of the #oman world a net of perpetual

communications. et this was not the only way in which the military system contributed

to the dissemination of riental religions. +fter the expiration of their term of service, thesoldiers continued in their places of retirement the practices to which they had becomeaccustomed under the standards of the army" and they soon evoked in their new

environment numerous imitators. 5re$uently they settled in the neighborhood of their

latest station, in the little towns which had gradually replaced in the neighborhood of themilitary camps the shops of the sutlers. +t times, too, they would choose their homes in

some large city of the country where they had served, to pass there with their old

comrades in arms the remainder of their days. -yons always sheltered within its walls alarge number of these veteran legionaries of the )erman army, and the only Mithraic

inscription that -ondon has furnished us was written by a soldier emeritus of the troops

of 0ritain. !t was customary also for the emperor to send discharged soldiers to some

region where a colony was to be founded" Elusa in +$uitania was probably madeac$uainted with the +siatic cult by #henish veterans whom 3eptimius 3everus :2=


37/156

confines of the empire retained at heart their love for their native country, with which

they never ceased to sustain relations" but when, after twenty or twentyfive years of

struggle and combat, they returned to their native country, they preferred to the gods oftheir own city or tribe, the foreign deity whose mysterious worship some military

comrade had taught them in distant lands.

evertheless, the propagation of Mithraism in the towns and country districts of the

provinces in which no armies were stationed was due in great measure to other agencies.0y her continued con$uests in +sia, #ome had sub&ected to her domination numerous

3emitic provinces. +fter the founding of the empire had assured peace to the entire

#oman world and permanently insured the safety of commerce, these new sub&ects,profiting by the special aptitudes of their race, could be seen gradually concentrating in

their hands the entire traffic of the -evant. +s the *hSnicians and %arthaginians formerly,

so now the 3yrians populated with their colonies all the shores of the Mediterranean. !nthe Hellenic epoch they had established themselves in the commercial centers of )reece,

and notably at 1elos. + number of these merchants now flocked to the vicinity of #ome,

settling at *o''uoli and at stia. They appear to have carried on business in all themaritime cities of the ccident. They are found

p. D8

in !taly at #avenna, +$uileia, and Tergeste" at 3alon( in 1almatia, and as far distant as

Malaga in 3pain. Their mercantile activity even led them into the distant interior of thesecountries at every point where there was the least prospect of profit. !n the valley of the

1anube they penetrated as far as 3armi'egetusa and +pulum in 1acia, and as far as

3irmium in *annonia. !n )aul, this riental population was particularly dense. Theyreached 0ordeaux by the )ironde and ascended the #hone as far as -yons. +fter

occupying the banks of this river, they flocked into the interior of the province, and

Treves, the great capital of the north, attracted them in hordes. They literally filled the#oman world. Even the later invasions of the barbarians were impotent to dampen their

spirit of enterprise. ?nder the Merovingians they still spoke their 3emitic idiom at

rleans. Their emigration was only checked when the 3aracens destroyed the navigation

of the Mediterranean.

The 3yrians were distinguished in all epochs by their ardent 'eal. o people, not even the

Egyptians, defended their idols with such great pertinacity against the %hristians. 3o,

when they founded a colony, their first care was to organi'e their national cults, and the

mother country fre$uently allowed them generous subsidies towards the performance ofthis pious duty. !t was in this manner that

p. D

considerable. 5arther up the river, its presence has been proved at )eneva on the one

hand and at 0esanon and Mandeure on the 1oubs, a branch of the 3aone, on the other.

+n unbroken series of sanctuaries which were without doubt in constant communicationwith one another thus bound together the shores of the great inland sea and the camps of

)ermany.

3allying forth from the flourishing cities of the valley of the #hone, the foreign cult crept

even into the depths of the mountains of 1auphiny, 3avoy, and 0ugey. -abtie near )ap,-ucey not far from 0elley, and CieuenCal #omey have preserved for us inscriptions,

temples, and statues dedicated by the faithful. +s we have said, the riental merchants

did not restrict their activity to establishing agencies in the maritime and river ports" theprospect of more lucrative trade attracted them to the villages of the interior, where

competition was less active. The dispersion of the +siatic slaves was even morecomplete. 3carcely had they disembarked from their ships, when they were scattered

hapha'ard in every direction by the auctioneers, and we find them in all the differentcountries discharging the most diverse functions.

!n !taly, a country of great estates and ancient municipalities, either they went to swell the

armies of slaves who were tilling the vast domains of the #oman aristocracy, or

p. B2

they were afterwards promoted to the rank of superintendents :actor, (illicus; and

became the masters of those whose miserable lot they had formerly shared. 3ometimesthey were ac$uired by some municipality, and as public servants :ser(i #ublici; theycarried out the orders of the magistrates or entered the bureaus of the administrations. !t is

difficult to reali'e the rapidity with which the riental religions were in this way able to

penetrate to regions which it would appear they could never possibly have attained. +double inscription at ers(, in the heart of the +pennines, informs us that in the year 2B8

of our era a slave, the treasurer of the town, had restored a mithr(um that had fallen into

ruins. +t Cenusia, a )reek inscription XYZY[\was dedicated by the steward ofsome wealthy burgher, and his name 3agaris at once proves his servile rank and +siaticorigin. The examples could be multiplied. There is not a shadow of a doubt that these

obscure servitors of the foreign god were the most active agents in the propagation of the

Mysteries, not only within the limits of the city of #ome itself, and in the other greatcities of the country, but throughout the entire extent of !taly, from %alabria to the +lps.

We find the !ranian cult practised at )rumentum, in the heart of -ucania" then, as we

have already said, at Cenusia in +pulia, and at ers( in the country of the J$ui, also at

+veia in the land of the

p. B8

@8


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Cestini" then in ?mbria, along the 5laminian road, at !nteramna, at 3poletum, where one

can visit a spel(um decorated with paintings, and at 3entinum, where there has been

discovered a list of the patrons of a collegiumof Mithraists" likewise, in Etruria thisreligion followed the %assian way and established itself at 3utrium, at 0olsena, and

perhaps at +rretium and at 5lorence. !ts traces are no less well marked and significant to

the north of the +pennines. They appear only sporadically in Emilia, where the provincesof 0ologna and Modena alone have preserved some interesting dbris, as they do also inthe fertile valley of the *o. Here Milan, which rapidly grew to prosperity under the

empire, appears to be the only locality in which the exotic religion en&oyed great favorand official protection. 3ome fragments of inscriptions exhumed at Tortona, !ndustria,

and ovara are insufficient to prove that it attained in the remainder of the country any

widespread diffusion.

!t is certainly remarkable that we have unearthed far richer booty in the wild defiles of the+lps than in the opulent plains of upper !taly. +t !ntrobbio, in the Cal 3assina to the east

of -ake %omo, in the Cal %amonica, watered by the river glio, altars were dedicated to

the invincible god. 0ut the monuments which were consecrated to him especially aboundalong the river +dige :Etsch;

p. B

conditions so eminently favorable to the success of his religion. #ome always had a large

garrison made up of soldiers drawn from all parts of the empire, and the veterans of the

army, after having been honorably discharged, flocked thither in great numbers to spend

the remainder of their days. +n opulent aristocracy resided here, and their palaces, likethose of the emperor, were filled with thousands of riental slaves. !t was the seat of the

central imperial administration, the official slaves of which thronged its bureaus. 5inally,all whom the spirit of adventure, or disaster, had driven hither in search of fame and

fortune flocked to this 9caravansary of the universe,9 and carried thither their customs

and their religions. %ollaterally, the presence in #ome of numbers of +siatic princelings,

who lived there, either as hostages or fugitives, with their families and retinues, alsoabetted the propagation of the Ma'dean faith.

-ike the ma&ority of the foreign gods, Mithra undoubtedly had his first temples outside of

the#omoerium, or religious limits. Many of his monuments have been discovered beyond

these boundaries, especially in the vicinity of the pr(torian camp" but before the year 22+.1. he had overleaped the sacred barriers and established himself in the heart of the city.

!t is unfortunately impossible to follow step by step his progress in the vast metropolis.

#ecords of exact date and indubitable

p. 2

@D


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origin are too scarce to &ustify us in reconstructing the local history of the *ersian religion

in #ome. We can only determine in a general way the high degree of splendor which it

attained there. !ts vogue is attested by a hundred or more inscriptions, by more thanseventyfive fragments of sculpture, and by a series of temples and chapels situated in all

parts of the city and its environs. The most &ustly celebrated of theses#el$ais the one

that still existed during the #enaissance in a cave of the %apitol, and from which thegrand 0orghesi basrelief now in the -ouvre was taken. :3ee 5ig. @.; To all appearances,

this monument dates from the end of the second century.

!t was at this period that Mithra emerged from the partial obscurity in which he had

hitherto lived, to become one of the favorite gods of the #oman aristocracy and theimperial court. We have seen him arrive from the rient a despised deity of the deported

or emigrant +siatics. !t is certain that he achieved his first con$uests among the lower

classes of society, and it is an important fact that Mithraism long remained the religion ofthe lowly. The most ancient inscriptions are elo$uent evidence of the truth of this

assertion, for they emanated without exception from slaves or freedmen, from soldiers

active or retired. 0ut the high destinies to which freedmen were permitted to aspire underthe

p. 8

empire are well known" while the sons of veterans or of centurions not infre$uently

became citi'ens of wealth and influence. Thus, by a natural evolution the religiontransplanted to -atin soil was bound to wax great in wealth as well as in influence, and

soon to count among its sectaries influential functionaries at the capital, and church and

town dignitaries in the municipalities. ?nder the +ntonines :2 +.1.;, literary menand philosophers began to grow interested in the dogmas and rites of this riental cult.

The wit -ucian parodied their ceremonies 2" and in 2BB +.1. %elsus in his True

*iscourseundoubtedly pits its doctrines against those of %hristianity.8+t about the sameperiod a certain *allas devoted to Mithraism a special work, and *orphyry cites a certain

Eubulus who had publishedMithraic 3esearches


48/156

society of the second century a powerful fascination, of which today we can only

imperfectly ascertain the causes.

0ut to the natural allurements which drew crowds to the feet of the tauroctonous god wasadded an extrinsic element of the highest efficacy4 the imperial favor. -ampridius 2

informs us that %ommodus :2>2=8 +.1.; was initiated into the Mysteries and took partin the bloody ceremonies of its liturgy, and the inscriptions prove that this condescension

of the monarch toward the priests of Mithra created an immense stir in the #oman world,and told enormously in favor of the *ersian religion. 5rom this moment the exalted

dignitaries

p. @

of the empire are seen to follow the example of their sovereign and to become 'ealous

cultivators of the !ranian cult. Tribunes, prefects, legates, and later#erfectissimiandclarissimi, are fre$uently mentioned as authors of the votive inscriptions" and until thedownfall of paganism the aristocracy remained attached to the solar god that had so long

en&oyed the favor of princes. 0ut to understand the political and moral motives of thekindly reception which these dignitaries accorded to the new faith, it will be necessary to

expound the Mithraic doctrines concerning the sovereign power and their connectionwith the theocratic claims of the %(sars.

Footnotes


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B42-amprid.,'lex" .e(", c. D2" cf"%apitol.,Maximin", c. 22.

842-ucian,Meni##. c. D et se"%f.*eor" concil", c. ="8u#" trag", c. , 2< :T" et M", Col.!!, p. 88;.

848rigen, ontra" els", !. = :T" et M", Col. !!, p. ;.

84


50/156

the 3tate, they ac$uired at the outset the right of owning property and of transacting

business. !n any event, it is $uite unlikely that a religion that had always counted so many

adherents in the administration and the army should have been left by the sovereign forany length of time in an anomalous condition. *erhaps, in order to ac$uire legal standing,

these religious societies were organi'ed as burial associations, and ac$uired thus the

privileges accorded to this species of corporations. !t would appear, however, that theyhad resorted to a still more efficacious expedient. 5rom the moment of the discovery of

traces of the *ersian cult in !taly, we find it intimately associated with that of theMagnaMater:or )reat Mother; of *essinus, which had been solemnly adopted by the #omanpeople three centuries before. 5urther, the sanguinary ceremony of the taurobolium, orbaptism in the blood of a bull, which had, under the influence of the old Ma'dean belief,

been adopted into the liturgy of the *hrygian goddess, was encouraged, probably

p. B

from the period of Marcus +urelius :2D22> +.1.;, by grants of civil immunities.2True,

we are still in doubt whether this association of the two deities was officially confirmed

by the senate or the prince. Had this been done, the foreign god would at once haveac$uired the rights of !talian citi'enship and would have been accorded the same

privileges with %ybele or the 0ellona of %omana. 0ut even lacking all formal declaration

on the part of the public powers, there is every reason to believe that Mithra, like +ttis,whom he had been made to resemble, was linked in worship with the )reat Mother and

participated to the full in the official protection which the latter en&oyed. et the clergy

appear never to have received a regular donation from the treasury, although the imperialfiscusand the municipal coffers were in exceptional cases opened for their benefit.

Toward the end of the second century, the more or less circumspect complaisance with

which the %(sars had looked upon the !ranian Mysteries was suddenly transformed into

effective support. %ommodus :2>2=8 +.1.; was admitted among their adepts andparticipated in their secret ceremonies, and the discovery of numerous votive inscriptions,

either for the welfare of this prince or bearing the date of his reign, gives us some inkling

of the impetus which this imperial conversion imparted to the

p.

Mithraic propaganda. +fter the last of the +ntonine emperors had thus broken with the

ancient pre&udice, the protection of his successors appears to have been definitely assured

to

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5ig. 2=.

*E1E3T+- 5?1 +T %+#?T?M.

The gift of 1iocletian, Calerius, and -icinius. :T" et M", p. @=2.;

the new religion. 5rom the first years of the third century onward it had its chaplain in the

palace of the +ugusti, and its votaries are seen to offer vows and sacrifices for the

protection of 3everus and *hilippus. +urelian :8B>8BA +.1.;,

p. =

who instituted the official cult of the .ol in(ictus, could have had only sentiments ofsympathy with the god that was regarded as identical with the one whom he caused hispontiffs to worship. !n the year B +.1., 1iocletian, )alerius, and -icinius, at their

conference in %arnuntum, dedicated with one accord a temple to Mithrafautori im#eriisui:5igure 2=;, and the last pagan that occupied the throne of the %(sars, /ulian the+postate, was an ardent votary of this tutelar god, whom he caused to be worshipped in%onstantinople.

3uch unremitting favor on the part of monarchs of so divergent types and casts of mind

cannot have been the result of a passing vogue or of individual fancies, !t must have had

deeper causes. !f for two hundred years the rulers of the empire show so great apredilection for this foreign religion, born among the enemies whom the #omans never

ceased to combat, they were evidently constrained to do so by some reason of state. !n

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point of fact, they found in its doctrines a support for their personal policy and a staunch

advocacy of the autocratic pretensions which they were so energetically endeavoring to

establish.

We know the slow evolution which gradually transformed the principate that +ugustus

had founded into a monarchy existing by the grace of )od. The emperor, whose authoritywas theoretically derived from the nation, was at the outset simply the first magistrate of

#ome.

p. =>

+s the heir of the tribunes and as supreme pontiff, he was, by very virtue of his office,

already inviolable and invested with a sacred character" but, &ust as his power, which wasoriginally limited by law, ended after a succession of usurpations in complete absolutism,

so also by a parallel development the prince, the plenipotentiary of the nation, became the

representative of )od on earth, nay, even )od himself :dominus et deus;. !mmediatelyafter the battle of +ctium :


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the administrative reforms of the empire, was also in a position to furnish it with a

consummate model of a theocratic government. +ccording to the ancient beliefs of that

country, not only did the royal race derive its origin from the

p. =8

sungod #, but the soul of each sovereign was a double detached from the sungod

Horus. +ll the *haraohs were thus successive incarnations of the great daystar. Theywere not only the representatives of divinities, but living gods worshipped on the same

footing with those that traversed the skies, and their insignia resembled those of this

divinity.

The +ch(menides, who became masters of the valley of the ile, and after them also the*tolemies, inherited the homage which had been paid to the ancient Egyptian kings, and

it is certain that +ugustus and his successors, who scrupulously respected all the religious

usages of the country as well as its political constitution, there suffered themselves to bemade the recipients of the same character that a tradition of thirty centuries had accorded

to the potentates of Egypt.

5rom +lexandria, where even the )reeks themselves accepted it, this theocratic doctrine

was propagated to the farthest confines of the empire. The priests of !sis were its mostpopular missionaries in !taly. The proselytes whom they had made in the highest classes

of society became imbued with it" the emperors, whose secret or avowed ambitions this

attribute flattered, soon encouraged it openly. et, although their policy would have beenfavored by a diffusion of the Egyptian doctrine, they were still impotent to impose its

tenets at once and unrestrictedly. 5rom the

p. =2

3un had the emperor under his protection and that supernatural effluvia descended from

the one to the other, gradually led to the notion of their consubstantiality.

ow, the psychology taught in the Mysteries furnished a rational explanation of thisconsubstantiality and supplied it almost with a scientific foundation. +ccording to these

doctrines the souls preexisted in the empyrean, and when they descended to earth to

animate the bodies in which they were henceforward to be confined, they traversed thespheres of the planets and received from each some of its planetary $ualities. 5or all the

astrologers, the 3un, as before remarked, was the royal star, and it was conse$uently hethat gave to his chosen ones the virtues of sovereignty and called them to kingly

dominion.

!t will be seen immediately how these theories favored the pretensions of the %(sars.

They were lords of the world by right of birth :deus et dominus natus;, because they hadbeen destined to the throne by the stars from their very advent into the world. They weredivine, for there were in them some of the elements of the 3un, of which they were in a

sense the passing incarnation. 1escended from the starry heavens, they returned there

after their death to pass eternity in the company of the gods, their e$uals. The common

mortal pictured the emperor after his death, like Mithra at the end of his career, as borne

p. 2>8

heavenward by Helios in his resplendent chariot.

Thus, the dogmatology of the *ersian Mysteries combined two theories of different

origin, both of which tended to lift princes above the level of humankind. n the oneside, the ancient Ma'dean conception of HvarenI had become the 95ortune of the King,9

illuminating him with celestial grace and bringing him victory. n the other hand, the

idea that the soul of the monarch, at the moment when destiny caused its descent to theterrestrial spheres, received from the 3un its dominating power, gave rise to the

contention that its recipient shared in the divinity of that star, and was its representativeon earth.

These beliefs may appear to us today as absurd, or even monstrous, but they controllednevertheless for centuries millions of men of the most different types and nationalities,

and united them under the banner of the same monarchical faith. !f the educated classes,

who through literary tradition always preserved some remnant of the ancient republicanspirit, cherished a measure of skepticism in this regard, the popular sentiment certainly

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accepted these theocratical chimeras, and suffered themselves to be governed by them as

long as paganism lasted. !t may even be said that these conceptions survived the breaking

of the idols, and that the veneration of the masses as well as the ceremonial of the court

p. 2>8BA +.1.; had essayed to establish an official religion broad enough to

embrace all the cults of his dominions and which would have served, as it had among the*ersians, both as the &ustification and the prop of imperial absolutism. His hopes,

however, were blasted, mostly by the recalcitrance of the %hristians. 0ut the alliance of

the throne with the altar, of which the %(sars of the third century had dreamed, wasreali'ed under another form" and by a strange mutation of fortune the %hurch itself was

called upon to support the edifice whose foundations it had shattered. The work for which

the priests of 3erapis, of 0aal, and of Mithra had paved the way was achieved withoutthem and in opposition to them. evertheless, they had been the first to preach in

ccidental parts the doctrine of the divine right of kings, and had thus become theinitiators of a movement of which the echoes were destined to resound even 9to the last

syllable of recorded time.9

Footnotes

B423ee the %hapter 9Mithra and the #eligions of the Empire.9

ext4 The 1octrine of the Mithraic Mysteries

3acred Texts %lassics !ndex *reviousext

p. 2>@

THE DOCTRINE OF THE MITHRAIC

MYSTERIES

5# more than three centuries Mithraism was practised in the remotest provinces of the#oman empire and under the most diverse conditions. !t is not to be supposed for amoment that during this long period its sacred traditions remained unchanged, or that the

philosophies which one after another swayed the minds of anti$uity, or for that matter the

political and social conditions of the empire, did not exercise upon them some influence.0ut undoubted though it be that the *ersian Mysteries underwent some modification in

the ccident, the inade$uacy of the data at our disposal prevents us from following this

evolution in its various phases and from distinctly defining the local differences which it

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may have presented. +ll that we can do is to sketch in large outlines the character of the

doctrines which were taught by it, indicating the additions and revisions which they

apparently underwent. 0esides, the alterations that it suffered were largely superficial.The identity of the images and hieratical formulas of the most remote periods and places,

proves that before the time of its introduction into the -atin countries reformed

Ma'daism had

p. 2>A

already consolidated its theology. %ontrary to the ancient )r(co#oman paganism, which

M!TH#+!% K#3 :J # 6E#C+ +K+#++; #E*#E3ET!) 0?1-E33 T!ME.

The statue here reproduced was found in the, mithr(um of stia before mentioned, where %. Calerius

Heracles and his sons dedicated it in the year 2=> +.1. This leontocephalous figure is entirely nude, the

body being entwined six times by a serpent, the head of which rests on the skull of the god. 5our wingsdecorated with the symbols of the seasons issue from the back. Each hand holds a key, and the right in

addition a long scepter, the symbol of authority, + thunderbolt is engraved on the breast. n the base of the

statue may be seen the hammer and tongs of Culcan, the cock and the pinecone consecrated to Jsculapius

:or possibly to the 3un and to +ttis;, and the wand of Mercuryall characteristic ad&uncts of the Mithraic3aturn, and symboli'ing the embodiment in him of the powers of all the gods. :T" et M", p. 8D

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5ig. 82.M!TH#+!% K#3 5 5-#E%E.

:T" et M", p. 8A=.;

theology, a dogmatic system, which borrowed from science its fundamental principles.The belief appears generally to prevail that

p. 2>B

Mithra was the only !ranian god that was introduced into the ccident, and that

everything in his religion that does not relate directly to him was adventitious and recent.This is a gratuitous and erroneous supposition. Mithra was accompanied in his migrations

by a large representation from the Ma'dean *antheon, and if he was in the eyes of hisdevotees the principal hero of the religion to which he gave his name, he was

nevertheless not its 3upreme )od.

+t the pinnacle of the divine hierarchy and at the origin of things, the Mithraic theology,

the heir of that of the 6ervanitic Magi, placed boundless Time. 3ometimes they wouldcall it or 3(culum, \ or 3aturnus" but these appellations were conventionaland contingent, for he was considered ineffable, bereft alike of name, sex, and passions.

!n imitation of his riental prototype, he was represented in the likeness of a human

monster with the head of a lion and his body enveloped by a serpent. The multiplicity ofattributes with which his statues are loaded is in keeping with the kaleidoscopic nature of

his character. He bears the scepter and the bolts of divine sovereignty and holds in each

hand a key as the monarch of the heavens whose portals he opens. His wings aresymbolic of the rapidity of his flight. The reptile whose sinuous folds enwrap him,

typifies the tortuous course of the 3un on the ecliptic" the signs of

p. 2>

D>


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5ig. 88.

M!TH#+!% K#3 :J, # !5!!TE T!ME;.

ude leontocephalous figure standing upright on a globe" in each hand a key" four wings" thrice entwined

by a serpent, the head of which passes over the skull and is about to enter the mouth. 3ketched by 0artoli

from a description found in a mithr(um discovered in the 2Dth century in #ome, between the uirinal andthe Ciminal. :T" et" M", 5ig. 82, p. 2=D.;

p. 2>=

the 'odiac engraved on his body and the emblems of the seasons that accompany them,

are meant to represent the celestial and terrestrial phenomena that signali'e the eternal

flight of the years. He creates and destroys all things" he is the -ord and master of thefour elements that compose the universe, he virtually unites in his person the power of all

the gods, whom he alone has begotten. 3ometimes he is identified with 1estiny, at others

with the primitive light or the primitive fire" while both conceptions rendered it possible

for him to be compared with the 3upreme %ause of the 3toics,the heat which pervadesall things, which has shaped all things, and which under another aspect was 5atality

:q^\j;. 3ee 5igs. 8>8


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which it had sprung, was not clearly defined" and the starry Heavens of which the

revolutions determined, as was believed, the course

p. 22>

5ig. 8


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The sovereign couple further gave birth not only to eptune who became their peer, but

to a long line of other immortals4 +rtagnes or Hercules, whose heroic deeds the sacred

p. 228

hymns celebrated" 3hahrGvar or Mars, who was the god of the metals and succored the

pious warrior in his combats" Culcan or +tar, the genius of fire" Mercury, the messenger

of 6eus" 0acchus or Haoma, the personification of the plant that furnished the sacreddrink" 3ilvanus or 1rvspa, protector of horses and agriculture" then +naLtis, the goddess

of the fecundating waters, who has been likened to Cenus and %ybele and who, presiding

over war, was also invoked under the name of Minerva" 1iana or -una, who made thehoney which was used in the purifications" CanaiFiti or ike, who gave victory to kings"

+sha or +rete, perfect virtue" and others besides. This innumerable multitude of divinities

was enthroned with /upiter or 6eus on the suntipped summits of Mt. lympus and

composed the celestial court.

%ontrasted with this luminous abode, where dwelt the Most High gods in resplendent

radiance, was a dark and dismal domain in the bowels of the earth. Here +hriman or*luto, born like /upiter of !nfinite Time, reigned with Hecate over the maleficent

monsters that had issued from their impure embraces.

These demoniac confederates of the King of Hell then ascended to the assault of Heaven

and attempted to dethrone the successor of Kronos" but, shattered like the )reek giants by

the ruler of the gods, these rebel monsters were hurled backward into the abyss from

p. 22

the same truth, the clergy reserved for the liteexclusively the revelation of the originalMa'dean doctrines concerning the origin and destiny of man and the world, whilst themultitude were forced to remain content with the brilliant and superficial symbolism

inspired by the speculations of the %hald(ans. The astronomical allegories concealed

from the curiosity of the vulgar the real scope of the hieratic representations, and the

promise of complete illumination, long withheld, fed the ardor of faith with thefascinating allurements of mystery.

The most potent of these sidereal deities, those which were most often invoked and for

which were reserved the richest offerings, were the *lanets. %onformably to astrologicaltheories, the planets were endowed with virtues and $ualities for which it is fre$uently

difficult for us to discover ade$uate reasons. Each of the planetary bodies presided over a

day of the week, to each some one metal was consecrated, each was associated with someone degree in the initiation, and their number has caused a special religious potency to be

attributed to the number seven. !n descending from the empyrean to the earth, the souls, it

was thought, successively received from them their passions and $ualities. These

planetary bodies were fre$uently represented on the monuments, now by symbolsrecalling the elements of which they were formed or the sacrifices which were offered to

them, and now

p. 282

under the aspect of the immortal gods throned on the )reek lympus4 Helios, 3elene,

+res, Hermes, 6eus, +phrodite, Kronos. 0ut these images have here an entirely different

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signification from what they possess when they stand for +huraMa'da, 6ervan, or the

other gods of Ma'daism. Then the personifications of the Heavens or of !nfinite Time are

not seen in them, but only the luminous stars whose wandering course can be followedamid the constellations. This double system of interpretation was particularly applied to

the 3un, conceived now as identical with Mithra and now as distinct from him. !n reality

there were two solar divinities in the Mysteries, one !ranian and the heir of the *ersianHvare, the other 3emitic, the substitute of the 0abylonian 3hamash, identified with

Mithra.

0y the side of the planetary gods who have still a double character, purely sidereal

divinities received their tribute of homage. The twelve signs of the 6odiac, which in theirdaily revolution sub&ect creatures to their adverse influences, were represented in all of

the mithr(ums under their traditional aspect :5ig. 8D;. Each of them was without doubt

the ob&ect of particular veneration during the month over which it presided, and they werecustomarily grouped by threes according to the 3easons to which they conformed and

with the worship of which theirs was associated. :3ee also 5ig. @=.;

p. 288

0ut the signs of the 6odiac were not the only constellations that were incorporated by thepriests in their theology. The astronomical method of interpretation, having been

5ig. 8D.

M+#0-E 0+3#E-!E5 5?1 ! -1.

!n the center the tauroctonous Mithra with the torchbearers surrounded by the twelve signs of the 6odiac.!n the lower corners busts of the Winds" in the upper corners the 3un on his $uadriga and the Moon on achariot drawn by bulls. The inscription reads4 ?lpius 3ilvanus emeritus leg:ionis; !! +ug:ust(; votum

solvit. :that is, honorably discharged at range;. :T" et M", p.


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p. 288.;

prior to their receiving the revelation of the esoteric doctrines that constituted the ancient

!ranian legend of Mithra. The story of this legend is lost, but the basreliefs recountcertain episodes of it, and its contents appear to have been somewhat as follows4

The light bursting from the heavens, which

p. 2


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5ig.


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The most extraordinary of these epic adventures was MithraPs combat with the bull, the

first living creature created by rma'd. This

p. 2


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5ig.


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carry to his ally the command to slay the fugitive. Mithra received this cruel mission

much against his will, but submitting to the decree of Heaven he pursued the truant beast

with his agile dog, succeeded in overtaking it &ust at the moment when it was takingrefuge in the cave which it had $uitted, and sei'ing it

p. 2


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5ig.

0ut from the heights of Heaven he never ceased to protect the faithful ones that piouslyserved him.

This mythical recital of the origin of the world enables us to understand the importance

which the tauroctonous god en&oyed in his religion, and to comprehend better what the

pagan theologians endeavored to express by the title 9mediator.9 Mithra is the creator towhom /upiterrma'd committed the task of establishing and of maintaining order in

nature. He is, to speak in the philosophical language of the times, the -ogos that

emanated from )od and shared His omnipotence" who, after having fashioned the worldas demiurge, continued to watch faithfully over it. The primal defeat of +hriman had not

reduced him to absolute impotence" the struggle between the good and the evil was still

conducted on earth between the emissaries of the sovereign of lympus and those of the*rince of 1arkness" it raged in the celestial spheres in the opposition of propitious and

adverse stars, and it reverberated in the hearts of men,the epitomes of the universe.

-ife is a battle, and to issue forth from it victorious the law must be faithfully fulfilled

that the divinity himself revealed to the ancient Magi. What were the obligations thatMithraism imposed upon its followersV What were those 9commandments9 to which its

adepts had to bow in order to be rewarded in

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p. 2@2

the world to comeV ur incertitude on these points is extreme, for we have not theshadow of a right to identify the precepts revealed in the Mysteries with those formulated

in the +vesta. evertheless, it would appear certain that the ethics of the Magi of the

ccident had made no concession to the license of the 0abylonian cults and that it had

still preserved the lofty character of

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