Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus
Alias Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus
Roman emperor whose ceremonial reception of Tiridates I of Armenia established one of the earliest recorded links between Mithras and the Roman imperial court.
Biography
of Nero
- Nero, Emperor from 13 October 54 to 9 June 68, was probably a syndexios.
- Born in Antium, Latium, Italia in 37.
- Resident in Roma, Latium, Italia.
- Died in Roma, Latium, Italia in 68.
TNMP 168
Nero’s initiation into the mysteries of Mithras is disputed.
Dio Cassius quotes Tiridates I of Armenia addressing Nero during his visit to Rome in 63.
These were his words: ‘Master, I am the descendant of Arsaces, brother of the kings Vologaesus and Pacorus, and thy slave. And I have come to thee, my god, to worship thee as I do Mithras. The destiny thou spinnest for me shall be mine; for thou art my Fortune and my Fate.’
—Dio Cassius. Historia Romana, epitome of book 63, 5:2
Mithras was, also, unified with the sun-god Helios, and became known as ’The Great God Helios-Mithras’. Emperor Nero adopted the radiating crown as the symbol of his sovereignty to exemplify the splendour of the rays of the sun, and to show that he was an incarnation of Mithras. He was initiated into the Mithraic religion by the Persian Magi brought to Rome by the King of Armenia.
—Franz Cumont (1902) Les Mystères de Mithra
