The Mithraeum
The mithraeum was the sacred space where the Mithraic brotherhood gathered for ritual, initiation, and communal meals.
There is marvellous scenery indeed!
Zenrin-kushū
The temple
A mithraeum, also known as a speleum, antrum, or crypta, is a relatively small structure designed for the worship of Mithras. Many mithraea were installed within private houses or in subterranean spaces beneath them. Although ideally associated with the underground, a number of sanctuaries were built above ground while still reproducing the appearance and symbolism of a cave.
The cave occupies a central place in Mithraic mythology. Mithras is born from the rock, captures the Bull, transports it into the cave, and there performs the sacrifice, or tauroctony. The sanctuary therefore became a symbolic reflection of the mythical space in which the central events of the god’s story unfolded.
Before entering the sanctuary itself, initiates usually passed through a pronaos, which prevented a direct view into the mithraeum from outside. This space could also serve practical purposes: as a place where initiates prepared for worship, as a sacristy (apparatorium), or even as an area where food was prepared for the ritual banquet, as in the Mithraeum of Martigny.
The sacred chamber itself generally follows a rectangular plan divided by a central aisle flanked by two raised side benches, or podia, upon which the initiates reclined facing one another in the Roman manner. At the far end of the sanctuary, elevated on a small podium, stood the central image of the tauroctony presiding over the space.
La Stanza del Sole – Massimo Livadiotti
On a symbolic level, Mithras presides over the central aisle. Cautes, the dadophoros who raises the torch, is associated with the left side, traditionally considered favourable, while Cautopates, holding the torch downward, occupies the right side linked with darkness and decline. Barrel vaults and zodiacal or astrological decorations reinforce the identification of the sanctuary with a symbolic image of the cosmos.
Mithraea were frequently established near springs or water sources, reflecting the important role played by water in Mithraic ritual practice.
The dimensions of each mithraeum were adapted to the size and status of the community gathered within it. As communities expanded, new sanctuaries sometimes became necessary.
More information
- Israel Campos Méndez. Espacio y práctica cultural de los misterios mitraicos. Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, 2004.
- Ostia, harbour city of ancient Rome. Ostia, Mithraea. An introduction to the cult of Mithras and links to the Ostian shrines.
