Base with inscription of Priscus Eucheta to Navarze

TNMM 653 ↔ CIMRM 501

Basis triquetra reperta a. 1727 in extremitate montis Aventini (in S. Balbina). Invicto d(eo) Navarze / Terentius Priscus / P(ublii) f(ilius) / Eucheta curante / et sacratis / d(onum) d(edit) c(ompos) b(oti).

In this text, which does not mention Mithra by name, Nabarze is a theonym. [This] dedication engraved on a triangular base [was] found in 1727 near the church of Santa Balbina on the Aventine in Rome. In it, a certain Terentius Priscus Eucheta [sic], who had been initiated and cured, thanks the invincible god Navarze for granting his wish. Note that this text gives b(oti) for v(oti) and Navarze for Nabarze, which probably indicates that we are dealing with a Greek speaker.

The theonym appears to be indecipherable in both Greek and Latin. The meaning of the name itself remains controversial. What could it mean? ’The strong, the courageous, the victorious, the radiance of Mithras, as F. Cumont suggested in various ways throughout his work? The ’great man’ proposed by J. Marquart? The ’new man’, as proposed by G. König?

Iranologists are divided because, beyond its possible etymology, the very structure of the term poses a problem. In fact, we can go further in our questioning. Is it a genuine Persian term that came to the West in the Antonine period? Or was it a Greek or Roman invention to emphasise the Persian character of the Roman cults of Mithras? It’s impossible to say. Nabarze remains a mystery.