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Monumentum

Mitreo del Palazzo Imperiale

A mosaic of Silvanus, dated to the time of Commodus, was found in a niche in a nearby room of the Mithraeum in the Imperial Palace at Ostia.
  • The shrine seen from the south

    The shrine seen from the south
    Jan Theo Bakker / Ostia-antica.org 

  • The shrine seen from the south

    The shrine seen from the south
    Jan Theo Bakker / Ostia-antica.org 

  • Seen from the south, imprint from 1860

    Seen from the south, imprint from 1860 

  • Bases y esculturas de Cautes y Cautopates del Mitreo del Palazzo Imperiale, Ostia.

    Bases y esculturas de Cautes y Cautopates del Mitreo del Palazzo Imperiale, Ostia. 

  • Altar of Mitreo Palazzo Imperiale

    Altar of Mitreo Palazzo Imperiale
    Jan Theo Bakker / Ostia-antica.org 

  • Detail of the niche with the depiction of Silvanus.

    Detail of the niche with the depiction of Silvanus.
    Ostia-Antica.org 

  • Floor mosaic from Palazzo Imperiale Mithraeum

    Floor mosaic from Palazzo Imperiale Mithraeum
    Ostia-antica.org / Jan Theo Bakker 

 
The New Mithraeum
19 Jun 2009
Updated on Sep 2023

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Near the 'Terme Marittime' (Bloch, Bolli lat., 278 = BCR LXVI, 1938, 146) in a room of a large palace (Palazzo Imperiale) a Mithraeum was excavated in 1860-1861 (Reg. III, Is. VIII).

Before the main-entrance, there was a small apartment, which must have served as a pronaos. In it was a mosaic of Silvanus (see infra) and an altar (now lost). In the middle of the apartment the remnants of a 'chimney' ('cammino') were found, probably behind an altar. On entering the sanctuary, one notices a peculiar altar.

The Mithraeum itself (L. 16.70 Br. 5.25) is divided into three parts: the central

Related monuments

Cautes and Cautópates of Palazzo Imperiale

The sculptures of Cautes and Cautopates from the Mitreo del Palazzo Imperiale may have been reused from an older mithraeum in Ostia.

Altar with inscription of Mitreo del Palazzo Imperiale

This is one of several marble inscriptions made by a certain Caelius Ermeros, who was the antistes of the Mithraeum of the Imperial Palace.

Mosaic of Silvanus from Ostia

This unusual mosaic representation of the god Silvanus was found in the Mithreaum of the so-called Imperial Palace in Ostia.

Floor mosaic of Mitreo del Palazzo Imperiale

It bears an inscription repeated on each side of the podia.