Appius Claudius Tarronius Dexter

Appius Claudius Tarronius Dexter, senator, is associated with the Flavian Nicomachus family.

Only 5 devotees are mentioned in inscriptions from Southern Italy. A single name from Napoli has been preserved: this is the case of Appius Claudius Tarronius Dexter who dedicated a relief to the god between the late 3rd and the early 4th century CE. He declares himself vir clarissimus, that means he was a citizen of senatorial rank.

From Paestum, we have the freedman Aurio whereas from Stabiae/Castellamare di Stabia we have Lucius Gavidius Lanius. Other two Mithraic devotees are mentioned in Lucania and Brutii. The first one is the slave Σάγαρις, who was an οἰκονόμος, that is probably a manager, in the house of his master Brittius Praesens. The second one is Titus Flavius Saturninus, who declares himself evocatus Augustorum nostrorum, that means he was a skilled soldier, re-enlisted in the army after serving his 16 years in the corps of the Praetorian Guard.

The presence of an evocatus Augustorum in Grumentum in the second half of the 2nd century CE should be read, as suggested by the analysis of C. Ricci, in light of the later incorporation in the Imperial domains of the properties of the Bruttii Praesentes, after the marriage of Commodus with Bruttia Crispina. It follows that soldiers were stationed in the area possibly for the protection of the Imperial family.

Not a single name of Mithraic devotee was preserved in Apulia and Calabria and neither in Sicily or Sardinia.