Atimetus

Atimetus is known from a single inscription on a marble tauroctony discovered in Rome, in which he dedicated the monument to Sol Invictus. The inscription identifies him as a servus Augustorum nostrorum, an imperial slave, and as actor or, according to some readings, actuarius, praediorum Romanorum, an administrative official responsible for the management of the imperial estates. His dedication attests that he belonged to a Mithraic community. The monument has traditionally been dated to the late second or early third century AD on stylistic and palaeographic grounds (TNMM 210; CIMRM 546–547; Chalupa, 2023).

Atimetus belongs to the relatively small group of Mithraic devotees whose social or professional status can be identified through epigraphic evidence. As noted by Canciani (2022), only a handful of Roman Mithraists are explicitly described as slaves, while a larger number are identified as imperial freedmen. Unlike those freedmen, Atimetus is expressly designated as an imperial slave, illustrating the participation of members of the imperial household in the cult of Mithras.