TEMPLE OF MITHRAS The Roman army first encountered the cult of Mithras in Persia (modern Iran) during the

reign of the emperor Nero although its origins in India have been traced back to 1400 BC. One of the many mystery cults that the Romans introduced from the east, Mithraism first appealed to slaves and freedmen but with Mithras's title Invictus, the cult's emphasis on truth, honour and courage, and its demand for discipline soon led to Mithras becoming a god of soldiers and traders. Various stories survive to account for Mithras's birth. Often he is depicted springing from the living rock or from a tree; at Housesteads on Hadrian's Wall, however, there was a tradition that he was born from the Cosmic Egg. This sculpture shows Mithras bursting from the Egg whilst holding in his upraised hands the Sword of Truth and Torch of Light. Around him in an egg-shaped frame is the Cosmos containing the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac. This is an unique representation in Britain and is thought to be the earliest surviving representation of the Signs of the Zodiac in the north-west provinces of the Roman Empire. (Acc.No. 1822.41)

Mithras's early life was one of hardship and painful triumph. Finally,he captured the primaeval bull and, after dragging it back to his cave, killed the animal in order to release its life force for the benefit of humanity: from the bull's body grew useful plants and herbs, from its blood came the vine, and from its semen all useful animals. This bull slaying scene known as a tauroctony -was to be found in relief or as a wall painting in all Mithraea. The scene includes the Sun god and the Moon goddess as well as the Raven, the Sun god's messenger. Mithras is assisted by a dog, a snake and a scorpion, and is attended by the twin Torchbearers, Cautes and Cautopates. Cautes and Cautopates were originally equals of Mithras but soon became minor characters representing the rising and setting sun as well as hope and sorrow. Cautes always holds an uplifted torch whilst Cautopates has a down-turned torch. They are clothed in the costume of ancient Persia, including the Phrygian cap. Floor mosaic showing emblems of the grades, in the mithraeum of Felicissimus,Ostia. The worshippers of Mithras were divided into seven grades, each marking a stage of knowledge in the cult's mysteries. An initiate started as Corax (the Raven), then moved progressively through the stages of Nymphus (bridegroom), Miles (soldier), Leo (lion), Perses (Persian), Heliodromus (Runner of the Sun) before reaching the ultimate grade of Pater (Father). Each grade wore a costume and headmask to symbolize his grade.

Initiation into each grade involved severe tests and training. At Carrawburgh an 'ordeal pit' was found as well as a bench very close to a large fire - these would have been used in the ordeals of heat, cold and fasting. Three temples to Mithras have been found on Hadrian's Wall at Housesteads, Carrawburgh and Rudchester. The excavated material from all three is now in the Museum of Antiquities where there is also a reconstruction of a Mithraeum based on the first temple at Carrawburgh. Mithraea were rectangular stone and timber buildings with wooden roofs. Internally, each had an antechamber, a nave with raised benches along the walls, and a sanctuary with altars and the tauroctony. Some mithraea are sunk below ground and there were no windows as each mithraeum was intended to be as dark as the original cave of Mithras. Carrawburgh Mithraeum lies 27.4m south-west of the Roman fort at Carrawburgh (Brocolitia). The site of the temple was first discovered in 1949 when a dry summer caused the surrounding peat to shrink away from the stones. It was excavated in 1950 by Sir Ian Richmond and Mr J.P.Gillam. The first mithraeum to be built on the site was erected in the early 3rd century AD but soon proved too small for its purpose and the two successive buildings were very much larger: 5.79 x 12.8m Worshippers entered the Mithraeum through a door in the south-west wall. This led to the antechamber in which a large fireplace was placed next to a stone bench. During one period of its history the antechamber housed the 'ordeal pit'. A statuette of a mother-goddess with a small pot for offerings was also found in this area. A wickerwork screen divided the antechamber from the nave. Against the nave walls there were clay benches faced with wickerwork and covered with a thick rendering of plaster. It was on these benches that the worshippers reclined when taking part in the ritual meals which marked the initiation ceremonies. Along the front of the benches were four small

altars with the statues of Cautes and Cautopates at one end. In the sanctuary were found three large altars and some fragments of the tauroctony, the latter apparently having been smashed and removed after the Theodosian Edict of 391AD banned the worship of pagan gods. A ritual deposit of two pots with the skull of a cockerel and two lumps of charcoal made from pinecones was found under the altars. 'To the Invincible God Mithras, Marcus Simplicius Simplex, prefect, willingly and deservedly fulfilled his vow' Deo Invicto Mitrae M(arcus) Sim/plicius Simplex / pr(a)ef(ecus) v(otum) s(oluit) l(ibens) m(erito) The front of the capital has a frieze of leaves and there is no focus. On the front of the shaft is the relief of the torso of Mithras rising from the Living Rock. He wears a cloak and a radiate crown, the rays of which are cut through to a hollow niche at the back of the altar in which an oil lamp would have been placed; when lit the light of the lamp would have shone through the openings into the gloom of the Mithraeum. Mithras's link with the sun is further emphasized by the Sun God's Whip which he holds in his right hand. When found, traces of red paint survived on the cloak, hair and letters, green and red paint were found on the decorated columns and Mithras's face was plastered white and then painted. It is thought that the dedicator, Marcus Simplicius Simplex, came from Lower Germany, and was the prefect of the First Cohort of Batavians. Acc.No. 1956.10.30; RIB 1546; CSIR I.6.122 'To the invincible God Mithras, Lucius Antonius Proculus, prefect of the First Cohort of Batavians Antoniniana, willingly and deservedly fulfilled his vow.' Deo Inv(icto) M(ithrae) / L(ucius) Antonius / Proculus / praef(ectus) coh(ortis) I Bat(avorum) Antoninianae / v(otum) s(oluit) l(ibens) m(erito) The unit's honorary title 'Antoninus's Own' dates this altar to the reign of either Caracalla (211-217) or Elagabalus (218222). The capital has a very dominant focus and bolsters with a central pediment. The letters have been carefully arranged - the marking out lines are still visible as are the compass points in the circular letters. Acc.No. 1956.10.31; RIB 1544; CSIR I.6.121 'Sacred to the Invincible God Mithras, Aulus Cluentius Habitus, prefect of the First Cohort of Batavians, of the Ultinian voting tribe, from Colonia Septima Aurelia Larinum, willingly and derservedly fulfilled his vow.' D(eo) In(victo) M(ithrae) S(acrum) / Aul(us) Cluentius / Habitus pra(e)f(ectus) / coh(ortis) I /Batavorum / domu Ulti/n(i)a Colon(ia) / Sept(imia) Aure(elia) L(arino) / v(otum) s(oluit)l(ibens) m(erito) The dedicator of this altar came from the family of the Aulus Cluentius Habitus who was defended by Cicero in 66BC on a charge of murdering his step-father. By giving full details of his birthplace - Larinum in the foothills of the Appenines Habitus was ensuring that anyone knowing the works of Cicero, as all well-educated Romans would have done, would know that he was a descendant of an infamous equestrian family. Larinum had already been promoted from a municipium to a colonia by the time this altar was erected in AD 208-11. Acc.No. 1956.10.32; RIB 1545; CSIR I.6.123 Visitors to Carrawburgh site today can see the stone temple in its final 4th century phase. The wooden roof posts, benches, sculpture and altars have been replaced by concrete copies. All the original material is now in the Museum of Antiquities. <../index.html> The reconstruction in the Museum of Antiquities is based on the first Mithraic temple at Carrawburgh. It has been possible to recreate the colours on the walls, benches and altars because traces of the original colours were found during the excavation of Carawburgh and other mithraea. All the details shown in the reconstrucution, such as the heather carpeting, have been deduced from the information gathered from the excavation. Although we know the walls had scenes painted on them - fragments of painted wall plaster were found - the precise images are unknown; the reconstruction, therefore, has drawn heavily on the scenes found in

mithraea elsewhere in the Roman world. FURTHER READING Mithras and his Temples on the Wall by C.M.Daniels, 3rd ed. 1989, Newcastle upon Tyne (available through the Museum of Antiquities) 'The Temple of Mithras at Carrawburgh', by I.A.Richmond and J.P.Gillam, in Archaeologia Aeliana 4th series, XXIX (1951) 1-92 'The cult of Mithras and its temples at Carrawburgh' by I.A.Richmond, in R.L.S.Bruce-Mitford (ed) Recent Archaeological Excavations in Britain (1956) 136-42 'The genius of Mithraism, by A.D.Nock, in Journal of Roman Studies XXVII (1937) 108-12 Oriental Cults in Britain by E and J.R.Harris (1956) Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae by M.J.Vermaseren (2 vols., 1956 and 1960) Mithras, the Secret God, by M.J.Vermaseren (1963)