Tiberius Claudius Quintilianus

Tiberius Claudius Quintilianus was a prominent member of the Mithraic community at Virunum in Noricum in the late 2nd century CE. He appears among the members recorded on the community’s bronze album, produced in connection with the restoration and dedication of a Mithraeum that had collapsed (TNMM 375; Piccottini 1994; Gordon 1996; Beck 1998; Scherrer 2024).

The inscription records separately that, on the occasion of the dedication of the temple, Quintilianus donated the bronze plaque itself and had the camara, probably the vaulted ceiling of the cult room, decorated with paintings: Tiberius Claudius Quintilianus ob dedicationem templi tabulam aeream donum dedit et camaram picturis exornavit (TNMM 375; AE 1994, 1334). His contribution therefore went beyond participation in the community and included significant expenditure on the decoration and commemoration of the restored sanctuary.

Quintilianus is not identified as a Pater or as holder of any other Mithraic grade in the surviving evidence. Beck (1998) notes that he is also attested as a worshipper of Jupiter Dolichenus: another inscription from the Virunum region records a vow made jointly by Tib(erius) Cl(audius) Quintilianus and Rutenia Severina, apparently his wife, to Iuppiter Optimus Maximus Dolichenus. His participation in both cults provides a particularly clear example of the overlapping religious affiliations possible among members of Mithraic communities.