Mitreo di Carsulae

TNMM 485

Carsulae was a settlement on the Via Famina. It became a municipio in the Augustan period. It was a flourishing town for a long time, as evidenced by its ruins, but was hit hard by several earthquakes, including a major one around 250. The city was abandoned, probably in the second half of the 3rd century, and has never been rebuilt since.

Unfortunately, location of the Mithraeum remains totally unknown, maybe Casuentum or Carsulae; the former town has not yet been located and the latter has notoriously been hit by significant underground instability also due to major seismic activity. Anyway, whatever the location, Sextus Egnatius Primitivus had the spelaeum rebuilt there, at his own expense and not without the permission of the local authority, the sanctissimus ordo decurionum, which authorized its reconstruction.