Marcus Aemilius Epaphroditus

Marcus Aemilius Epaphroditus was a leading member of the Mithraic community associated with the Mithraeum of the Seven Spheres at Ostia during the late second or early third century AD. He is known from two inscriptions that describe him first as pater and later as pater et sacerdos, indicating that he held the highest initiatory grade and exercised priestly functions within the cult. A further inscription records that Lucius Tullius Agatho dedicated an altar to Deo Invicto Soli Mithrae while Epaphroditus served as pater.

These monuments belong to the same group of finds associated with the sanctuary restored by Aulus Decimius Decimianus, whose benefactions included the renovation of the temple, its pronaos, and its cult image. Although the inscriptions were originally discovered during the excavations conducted by Giuseppe Petrini between 1802 and 1804, many scholars now consider Petrini’s lost mithraeum to be identical with the Mithraeum of the Seven Spheres near the theatre of Ostia. Beyond his prominent role within the congregation, nothing is known about Epaphroditus’ life, although his Greek cognomen may suggest a servile or freedman background.