Mitreo del caseggiato di Diana

TNMM 5 ↔ CIMRM 216

A Mithraeum, built in the Casa di Diana (Reg. I, Is. III, 3). The house is early Antonine (± 140 A.D.).

The sanctuary has been constructed in two rooms, situated in the N. E. corner of the house, These rooms have cross-vaults and the floors were originally covered with mosaic. From room A one entered room B through a door on the right, while, moreover, in the middle of the partition-wall a window had been made. It is not clear to what purpose the inhabitants of the house had used these rooms, but when they were altered for a Mithraeum, many changes were introduced to meet the stereotyped division into central aisle and side-benches. The window in the partition wall was constructed into a passage (Br. 1.16) and the former door could now be used to pass from the r. bench of room A to that of room B. The 1. bench however, was divided in two by a remnant of the wall.

In room A (L. 3.74 Br. 6.10) in the central aisle (Br. 1.60) there was a small round basin a (D. 0.15 diam. 0.33) to the right of the entrance (Br. 1.05). The benches in this room are no longer there, but one can see that the r. bench was longer and widder (L. 3.74 Br. 2.30) than the 1. bench (L. 2.45 Br. 1.90). They consisted mainly of brick and sand and were ascended by one step; they slope towards the walls. In room B (L. 3.96Br. 5.81) the central aisle is larger (Br. 2.55) and here the benches (H. 0.50-0.54 Br. 1.60-1.66) are preserved. There is a small step (Br. 0.40) to ascend them. The central aisle leads towards a raised platform C (H. 1.45 Br. 1.68 D. 0.88), which is covered with white stucco and is ascended on the righthand side by three steps. The base supports a niche with on either side a bracket for a small column. The cult-image is lost. To the arch of the niche pieces of pumice were attached in order to give the impression of a grotto (traces of a blue colour).

De petite taille, sans luxe aucun, le sanctuaire, qui peut dater quant à lui de la fin du IIème ou du tout début du IIIème siècle, était destine à une communauté fort modeste, possible émanation du collège de boulangers (pistores) œuvrant à proximité immédiate, qui n’hésitait pas à remployer certains monuments pour ses propres services.

[…] Enfin, sur une paroi intérieure du mithréum, à gauche de la niche cultuelle, un graffiti livre, sur huit lignes, des noms latins et grecs, en colonne, suivis de mesures de vin, qui correspondent peut-être à des offrandes participatives pour un banquet (inaugural ?). On peut alors concevoir que la communauté du mithréum de las Casa di Diana, un bâtiment transformé à la fin du IIème siècle en un complexe professionnel directement lié à la production du pain, dirigée à un moment donné par des affranchis investis dans le commerce des céréales et la boulangerie, ait été en partie constituée par des employés de celle-ci, dont une huitaine aura laissé son nom graffité sur les murs du temple.

—Bricault; Roy (2022) Les cultes de Mithra dans l’Empire Romain