Mitreo di Marino

Mr V. Zoffoli, enlarging his wine-cellars near the railway-station in 1963, discovered a grotto dedicated to the mighty and secret god. The plan of the Mithraeum is the usual one. Behind a wide entrance hall (L. 13.25 m, W. 8.00 m) we find the sanctuary itself, which is exceptionally long and much narrower (W. 3.10 m) than the ante-room. The longest Mithraeum of the Roman Imperium known hitherto was that at Sarmizegetusa [TNMM 57] is in Dacia (L. 26 m), the one at Marino however is 29.20 metres long, which is twice the normal length. The arrangement of benches on either side with a nave in between is quite normal…