Tauroctony relief from Ozd

TNMM 2588

Mithras, shown in Oriental dress and a flowing chlamys, plunges a dagger into the neck of the bull while restraining the animal beneath him. A raven appears on the god’s cloak, while a dog and a serpent move towards the wound and a scorpion attacks the bull’s genitals. The composition was originally framed by the torchbearers Cautes and Cautopates and by the busts of Sol and Luna.

Particularly notable are the reversed positions of the torchbearers and the unusual representation of each carrying two torches, features characteristic of certain Mithraic monuments from Roman Dacia. The relief bears a fragmentary votive inscription mentioning a dedicant named Victorinus.