Sextus Pompeius Maximus

Sextus Pompeius Maximus is one of the most prominent Mithraic figures known from Ostia. He is first attested as pater in the Aldobrandini Mithraeum, where an inscription records that he paid entirely at his own expense for a new marble image of the god, together with its throne and ornaments, replacing an earlier image that had been made “in a veil” and had become darkened or obscured by humidity. The same inscription adds, apparently in smaller letters and probably as a later addition, that he also had the praesepia, usually understood as the side benches or podia of the mithraeum, revetted in marble for a length of 68 feet. Becatti interpreted these praesepia as the benches of the sanctuary, a reading followed by Vermaseren, Marchesini and Mastrocinque, although Calza had earlier proposed other explanations. Marchesini further argued that the old image was probably not painted but woven on cloth, since the verb formare fits better with a textile representation than with painting (TNMM 568; Calza 1924; Becatti 1954; CIMRM 233; Marchesini 2012-2013; Mastrocinque 2018; Battisti 2020; Chalupa 2023).

A second inscription, on a bronze plaque now in the British Museum, honours Sextus Pompeius Maximus as sacerdos Solis Invicti Mithrae, pater patrum and quinquennalis corporis traiectus Togatensium. The plaque was dedicated by the sacerdotes Solis Invicti Mithrae “on account of their affection and his merits”, suggesting that Maximus had acquired exceptional prestige among the Mithraic priests of Ostia. Bakker and Meiggs interpreted pater patrum as a sign that he may have stood at the head of the Mithraic cult in Ostia, or at least held pre-eminence among its priests. Hänninen similarly notes that the title may imply cooperation between several Ostian Mithraea, or the presence of several patres within the same sanctuary. Marchesini, however, offers a more cautious interpretation, arguing that pater patrum may have been an honorific title rather than a formal office with a defined administrative role. Battisti follows this caution and stresses that, in Ostia, this is the only attestation of the title pater patrum (TNMM 199; CIL XIV 403; CIMRM 234-235; Meiggs 1973; Bakker 1994; Marchesini 2012-2013; Hänninen 2020; Battisti 2020; Canciani 2022; Chalupa 2023).

Outside the cult, Maximus was quinquennalis of the corpus traiectus Togatensium, a collegium connected with one of Ostia’s ferry services. This role places him among the better-off members of the city’s professional associations, rather than among the municipal elite. Bakker, following Meiggs and Gordon, situates him within the broader social profile of Ostian Mithraism, where wealthy freedmen, descendants of freedmen, collegial officers, merchants and skilled workers were well represented, while senators, equestrians and local magistrates are largely absent. Battisti notes that his role in the corpus traiectus Togatensium has encouraged the hypothesis that he may have belonged to a family of freedmen, although this cannot be demonstrated. Canciani likewise presents him as one of the wealthy patrons of Ostian Mithraism, comparable to Fructosus of the corpus stuppatorum, and underlines his importance both as a Mithraic benefactor and as a leading member of a professional collegium (Meiggs 1973; Bakker 1994; Marchesini 2012-2013; Tran 2014; Hänninen 2020; Battisti 2020; Canciani 2022).

The archaeological context reinforces this picture. The Aldobrandini Mithraeum stood close to the ancient course of the Tiber and near the city wall, a location that may support a connection with the ferry guild mentioned in Maximus’ honorific inscription. Battisti suggests that the sanctuary may have occupied public land granted to an association, possibly the corpus traiectus Togatensium itself. Chalupa similarly notes that the mention of the ferrymen’s collegium, together with the mithraeum’s proximity to the Tiber, makes it possible that the sanctuary served the needs of this professional group. This remains a hypothesis, but it would explain both Maximus’ prominence and the considerable investment he made in the sanctuary’s monumental refurbishment.

Sextus Pompeius Maximus, ’father of the fathers’. Apparently he was the leader of the cult of Mithras in Ostia. We also learn that he was in charge of one of Ostia’s ferry services.

—Ostia-Antica.org

The Mithreum Aldobrandini, named after the family that owned the land, was uncovered in Ostia in 1923. Built on the inner corner of a tower of Sylla’s enclosure, on the banks of the Tiber, the mithreum underwent two phases of development. A large (h. 54 x L. 164 cm) marble plaque, fixed to the wall of the base with steps supporting the cult relief at the bottom of the speleum, recalls the offerings of Sextus Pompeius Maximus, relating to the second phase: first a marble tauroctony intended to replace the previous cultic image, woven or painted on a veil that time had ended up degrading and blackening, as well as a throne and all its decoration; then, in a second phase, as suggested by the last two lines, later additions in smaller characters, a marble covering for the side benches, for some twenty metres (2 x 10 m), i.e. probably for their entire length.

As the community took root and developed, broadening its base and integrating new members who sometimes had considerable financial means, the temples were embellished and consolidated. Structures could change from wood to stone, as at Wiesloch, iconographic supports from the most ephemeral textile to the most durable mineral. Of these fragile images nothing remains, fabric and wood having disappeared centuries ago in the temperate climates that saw the Roman cults of Mithras flourish.

The generous donor of these marbles, who took great care to prominently display the inscription commemorating his acts of evergetism, is known elsewhere: a father in the mithreum Aldobrandini, later a sacerdos, Father of the Fathers and quinquennalis of the corpus traiectus Togatensium, he is honoured by the other Mithraic dignitaries of Ostia, presumably at the end of a life partly devoted to leading the large community of the Aldobrandini mithreum.

—Bricault; Roy (2021)