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This image is a fictional historical visualization. No authentic portrait of P. Aelius Urbanus is known to survive.
Syndexios

P. Aelius Urbanus

Publius Aelius Urbanus

Mithraic worshipper who records having built the sacrarium of the Mithraeum of the Circus Maximus under the priest A. Sergius Eutychus in 3rd-century.

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Biography
of P. Aelius Urbanus

TNMP 57

Nothing is known about the life of P. Aelius Urbanus beyond the evidence provided by a damaged dedicatory inscription from the Mithraeum of the Circus Maximus. The text records that he built the sacrarium of the sanctuary under the priest A. Sergius Eutychus, suggesting that he was a member of the local Mithraic community. His cognomen has also been restored as Urbicus, and his identity remains otherwise unknown (Clauss 1992; Chalupa 2023).

A military inscription from Aquincum (CIL III 3524), dated to AD 228, mentions a man named Ael(ius) Urbanus, possibly Probinus Aelius Urbanus, among the members of the schola speculatorum of the Legions I and II Adiutrix. Although the similarity of the name has prompted occasional comparison, there is no evidence that this individual was the same person as the dedicator from the Circus Maximus.

CIL 03, 03524

Sc(h)ola speculatorum / legionum I et II adiutricium / piarum fidelium Severian(a)r(um) / refecta per eosdem quorum / nomina infra scripta sunt dedi/cante Fl(avio) Aeliano leg(ato) Aug(usti) pr(o) pr(aetore) Kal(endis) / Octob(ribus) Modesto et Probo co(n)s(ulibus) / Ael(ius) Optatus Ael(ius) Candidus Macr(ius?) / Sabinianus Iul(ius) Secundianus Iul(ius) / Emeritus Cass(ius) Fuscinus Iul(ius) / Probinus Ael(ius) Urbanus Pub(lius) Martinus / Val(erius) Festus Iul(ius) Alexander Fl(avius) Emeritus / Val(erius) Clementinus Iul(ius) Priscanus Ver(---) / Verissimus Iul(ius) Ingenu(u)s Iul(ius) Celerinus / Iun(ius) Adiutor Aur(elius) Lupus Fl(avius) Celsinus / curante Aur(elio) Pertinace frumentario.
The headquarters of the scouts (speculatores) of the Legions I and II Adiutrix Pia Fidelis Severianae was restored by the same men whose names are inscribed below, under the dedication of Flavius Aelianus, imperial legate with praetorian authority, on the Kalends of October, during the consulship of Modestus and Probus (AD 228): Aelius Optatus, Aelius Candidus, Macrius (?) Sabinianus, Julius Secundianus, Julius Emeritus, Cassius Fuscinus, Julius Probinus, Aelius Urbanus, Publius Martinus, Valerius Festus, Julius Alexander, Flavius Emeritus, Valerius Clementinus, Julius Priscanus, Ver(…) Verissimus, Julius Ingenuus, Julius Celerinus, Junius Adiutor, Aurelius Lupus and Flavius Celsinus, under the supervision of Aurelius Pertinax, frumentarius.

Year 228. See: HD067845

Attestations

Marble slab with inscription of Aelius Urbanus

TNMM 457

The Mithraic fellow P. Aelius Urbanus mentions that he built the sacred area of the Mithraeum Circo Massimo.

Soli invict[o Mithrae] / sacrarium [fecit] / P. Aelius Ur[banus or Urbicus] / sub A. Sergio Eutycho / sacerdote.
To the invincible sun Mithras. P. Aelius Urbanus built the sacred area when A. Sergius Eutychus was priest.

Mitreo del Circo Massimo

TNMM 15

The Mithraeum near the Circus Maximus was discovered in 1931 during work carried out to create a storage area for the scenes and costumes of the Opera House within the Museums of Rome building.

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