Statue of Arimanes

Described in Eboracum as "Statue, of gritstone, 13ins by 24ins, the upper half free-standing, the lower in relief; the head and right hand missing. The subject is a male figure, winged and naked except for a fringed loin-cloth tied with a knotted snake; in his left hand he carries a pair of keys, and in his right hand he grasped a sceptre. A notch is cut between the feet.... VOL(VSIVS) IRE[NAEVS D(ONVM) [D(EDIT) ARIMANI V(OTVM) [S(OLVENS L(IBENS) M(ERITO) 'Volusius Irenaeus, paying his vow willingly and deservedly to Arimanes, gave (this) gift.' The dedication is to Arimanius, the Mithraic god of Evil. The missing head was most probably that of a lion, symbolic of all-devouring Death. The snake girdle represents the tortuous course of the sun though the sky; the wings signify the winds; while the keys are those of the heavens and the sceptre is the sign of dominion."

Cited in

Monuments

• Arimanius from York