Argata

Argata was a member of the Mithraic community associated with Mithraeum I at Stockstadt am Main in Germania superior during the first half of the 3rd century CE. He is known from a small silver-plated copper plaque depicting the tauroctony, found broken and inserted between the blocks of the base of the sanctuary’s principal cult relief (TNMM 399; CIMRM 1206–1207; Mattern 2005).

The inscription records that Argata fulfilled a vow to Deus Invictus Mithras and Sol Socius: [D(eo)] I(nvicto) M(ithrae) et S(oli) S(ocio) Argata / v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) l(aetus) m(erito) (CIL XIII 11786). The interpretation of S S has been debated. Domaszewski proposed s(ocius) s(uis), while Vermaseren retained S(oli) S(ocio). Vágási (2018) likewise favoured the latter interpretation and discussed the inscription among the epigraphic attestations associating Mithras with Sol.

Argata’s name is unusual. Early discussion of the inscription compared it with related forms attested elsewhere in the Roman world, including C. Antonius Arga[…] at Poetovio and P. Cornelius Argates at Rome. Vágási (2018) considered Argata possibly to have been a slave, although his legal status cannot be established from the inscription itself.

Clauss (1992) included Argata among the few members of the Stockstadt community identifiable by name. No specific Mithraic office or grade can be assigned to him.