Monumentum
Tauroctony from Circo Massimo
This marble relief depicting Mithras as a bull slayer was found in the back room of the Mithraeum of the Circus Maximus.
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The New Mithraeum
9 Nov 2023
Updated on May 2026
TNMM 742 ↔ CIMRM 437
Marble relief (H. 0.48 Br. 0.62 D. 0.12), found in the hindmost room.
In a cave Mithras slaying the bull, whose tail ends in (three?) ears. The dog and the serpent with their heads near the wound; the scorpion at the testicles; the raven on the rocky cave-border. Mithras is looking at Sol whose bust has been represented in the l. upper Corner. Sol has a radiate crown. In the r. corner the bust of Luna with a crescent behind her shoulders. The torchbearers have not been represented.
Traces of painting: Mithras’ cap and cloak are red; the other garments have traces of blue; the open mouth of the bull is red; traces of red and gold on the heads of Sol and Mithras.
References
Pietrangeli, 26f = 166f No. 2 and Tav. II. See fig. 123.
- Vermaseren, Maarten Jozef (1956) Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae
