The development of the cult of Mithras in the western Roman Empire: a socio-archaeological perspective
Marquita Volken
The Electronic Journal of Mithraic Studies (2003)
Abstract
Ordinarily, we may think that a cult’s geographical origin belongs among those elementary facts which can be taken for granted by the relevant scholarship, and casually assumed by every discussion. The origins and early development of the cult of Mithras in the Roman Empire, however, have remained a perpetual subject of dispute. As everyone knows, the modern founder of Mithraic studies, Franz Cumont, believed that the cult was, in a strong sense, Iranian, transmitted by hellenised ‘mages’ whose teachings were slowly transformed through the centuries until the cult achieved its final form in the late Hellenistic period. Unfortunately, during the century since the publication of his major work, Textes et monuments figurés relatifs au mystères de Mithra (1896-1900), the archaeological proof required to confirm the role of the hellenised ‘magi’ and the transmission of their cult to the West has not been found. The tradition of scholarship that built upon Cumont’s work has found it difficult to respond to this discrepancy between his model and the empirical evidence. The latter indicates that mithraea appear suddenly towards the end of the first century AD , seemingly without antecedents, but all conforming to a similar architectural plan. The first mithraea and inscriptions appear at the same point in time, and clearly form part of the same cult even though they are found in geographically distant and culturally distinct areas. On any account of the origins of the cult, this geographic distribution is difficult to explain.
The usual solution of the issue of how the cult was introduced into the Roman world is to appeal to the army. This explanation works well when we are dealing with the areas where the army was stationed permanently, but fails to explain the existence of mithraea in areas not occupied by the army after the end of the first century, such as the three Gauls or Dalmatia. The aspects of the cult that might be thought to appeal to the military, such as loyalty, bonding through initiation rituals, and the formation of small close-knit male groups, do not seem likely to have had much appeal outside that social context. On the other hand, the fact that the cult was established in a commercial area such as Ostia suggests that they were perceived as attractive and useful by non-military personnel. Disregarding the heavy concentration of mithraea along the Rhine-Danube Limes, obviously in relation to the army, many other mithraea seem to owe their existence to their proximity to the Roman road system. One of the problems in discussing the development of the cult is that the foundation dates of mithraea do not fall into a clear chronological and geographical pattern: the chronological distribution does not display any coherent relation to geographic location. This problem is further complicated by the difficulty of dating many mithraea with any accuracy.
The development of the cult of Mithras in the western Roman Empire: a socio-archaeological perspective
Marquita Volken
The Electronic Journal of Mithraic Studies (2003)
Abstract
Ordinarily, we may think that a cult’s geographical origin belongs among those elementary facts which can be taken for granted by the relevant scholarship, and casually assumed by every discussion. The origins and early development of the cult of Mithras in the Roman Empire, however, have remained a perpetual subject of dispute. As everyone knows, the modern founder of Mithraic studies, Franz Cumont, believed that the cult was, in a strong sense, Iranian, transmitted by hellenised ‘mages’ whose teachings were slowly transformed through the centuries until the cult achieved its final form in the late Hellenistic period. Unfortunately, during the century since the publication of his major work, Textes et monuments figurés relatifs au mystères de Mithra (1896-1900), the archaeological proof required to confirm the role of the hellenised ‘magi’ and the transmission of their cult to the West has not been found. The tradition of scholarship that built upon Cumont’s work has found it difficult to respond to this discrepancy between his model and the empirical evidence. The latter indicates that mithraea appear suddenly towards the end of the first century AD , seemingly without antecedents, but all conforming to a similar architectural plan. The first mithraea and inscriptions appear at the same point in time, and clearly form part of the same cult even though they are found in geographically distant and culturally distinct areas. On any account of the origins of the cult, this geographic distribution is difficult to explain.
The usual solution of the issue of how the cult was introduced into the Roman world is to appeal to the army. This explanation works well when we are dealing with the areas where the army was stationed permanently, but fails to explain the existence of mithraea in areas not occupied by the army after the end of the first century, such as the three Gauls or Dalmatia. The aspects of the cult that might be thought to appeal to the military, such as loyalty, bonding through initiation rituals, and the formation of small close-knit male groups, do not seem likely to have had much appeal outside that social context. On the other hand, the fact that the cult was established in a commercial area such as Ostia suggests that they were perceived as attractive and useful by non-military personnel. Disregarding the heavy concentration of mithraea along the Rhine-Danube Limes, obviously in relation to the army, many other mithraea seem to owe their existence to their proximity to the Roman road system. One of the problems in discussing the development of the cult is that the foundation dates of mithraea do not fall into a clear chronological and geographical pattern: the chronological distribution does not display any coherent relation to geographic location. This problem is further complicated by the difficulty of dating many mithraea with any accuracy.
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