Biography
of Flavius Aper
- Flavius Aper, an eques, is attested as a member of a Mithraic community (syndexios) at the Mithraeum III of Ptuj.
- Also recorded as Praepositus of troops from Legio V Macedonica and Legio XIII Gemina.
- Attested in service with the Legio XIII Gemina.
- Attested in 260.
- Attested at Poetovio, Pannonia superior, Pannonia in 260 – 268 (TNMM 204 and TNMM 255).
TNMP 35
Flavius Aper was an equestrian officer (vir egregius) and praepositus of troops from Legio V Macedonica and Legio XIII Gemina stationed at Poetovio during the reign of Gallienus (260–268).
He is directly attested as a follower of Mithras by a large marble altar from Mithraeum III (TNMM 255; CIMRM 1584–1585), which he dedicated to Deus Sol Invictus Mithras for the welfare of the emperor Gallienus. The richly decorated altar depicts the handshake between Mithras and Sol and the water miracle, and is one of the principal monuments associated with the sanctuary’s military community.
A second monument from the same mithraeum (TNMM 204; CIMRM 1593–1594), depicting the rock-birth of Mithras, was dedicated for the welfare of the officiales serving under Aper as praepositus of the two legions. Clauss (1992) suggests that Aper himself may have commissioned this dedication, although the inscription does not explicitly identify him as its dedicator.
The dedications associated with Aper belong to a wider group of monuments erected by personnel of the two Dacian legions at Poetovio under Gallienus. Clauss (1992) connects this military presence with a renovation and enlargement of Mithraeum III, while Vomer Gojković (2018) likewise identifies the dedications of soldiers from the two legions as characteristic of the sanctuary’s final building phase.
References
- Attilio Mastrocinque (2017) The Mysteries of Mithras. A Different Account.
- Gabriel Simeoni (2023) The Father of Mithras.
- Manfred Clauss (1992) Cultores Mithrae. Die Anhängerschaft des Mithras-Kultes..
- Mojca Vomer Gojkovič (2018) Mithraea in Poetovio and the new discovery.
- Philippe Roy & Laurent Bricault (2021) Les cultes de Mithra dans l’Empire romain.
Attestations
Flavius Aper altar (CIMRM 1584)
TNMM 255
The altar of Ptuj depicts Mithras and Sol on the front and the water miracle on the right side.
Mithraeum III of Ptuj
TNMM 60
Mithraeum III in Ptuj was built in two periods: the original walls were made of pebbles, while the extension of a later period was made of brick.
Mithras rock-birth of Mithraeum III, Ptuj
TNMM 204
Cautes and Cautopates attend the birth of Mithras from the rock in the Petrogenia of the third Mithraeum of Ptuj.
