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Locus

Ostia

Ostia may have been Rome's first colony. According to legend, Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of Rome, destroyed the area and founded the colony. An inscription seems to confirm the foundation of the ancient castrum of Ostia in the 7th century BC.

Mithraic monuments of Ostia

 

Mitreo delle terme di Mitra

The Mithraeum of the terms of Mithras takes its name from being installed in the service area of the Baths of Mithras.

CIMRM 229

 

Mitreo delle Pareti Dipinte

The House of the Mithraeum of the Painted Walls was built in the second half of the 2nd century BC (opus incertum) and modified during the Augustan period.

CIMRM 264

 

Mitreo degli Animali

The Mithraeum of the Animals was decorated with a mosaic depicting a naked man, a cock, a raven, an scorpion, a snake and the head of the bull.

CIMRM 278

 

Mitreo delle Sette Porte

The name of the Mithraeum of the Seven Gates refers to the doors depicted in the mosaic that decorates the floor, symbolising the seven planets through which the souls of the initiates have to pass.

CIMRM 287

 

Mitreo del caseggiato di Diana

The Mithraeum of the House of Diana was installed in two Antonine halls, northeast corner of the House of Diana, in the late 2nd or early 3rd century.

CIMRM 216

 

Mitreo di Lucrezio Menandro

The Mithraeum of Lucretius Menander was installed in the early 3rd century in an alley to the east of a Hadrianic building named after the solar god temple.

CIMRM 224

 

Mitreo di Felicissimo

The Mithraeum Felicissimus has a floor mosaic depicting the seven mithraic grades.

CIMRM 299

 

Mitreo dei Serpenti

The Mithraeum of the Snakes preserves paintings of serpents, representing Genius Loci, part of an older private sanctuary, which were respected in the temple of Mithras.

CIMRM 294

 

Mitreo delle Sette Sfere

The Mithraeum of the Seven Spheres (Sette Sfere) is of great importance for the understanding of the cult, because of its black-and-white mosaics depicting the planets, the zodiac and related elements.

CIMRM 239

 

Sabazeo

The Mithraeum was found in one of the rooms of the Horrea built in the years 120 - 125 AD. The installation of the shrine may have taken place in the first half of the third century.

CIMRM 300

 

Mitreo di Fructosus

The Mithraeum of Frutosus was in a temple assigned to the guild of the stuppatores.

CIMRM 226

 

Mitreo presso Porta Romana

The Mithraeum near Porta Romana was connected to a Sacello, but the door was blocked.

See all Mithraic monuments in Ostia →

Inscriptions from Ostia

Mitreo di Lucrezio Menandro

Deo Invicto Mithrae / Diocles ob honorem / C. Lucreti Menandri / Patris / D[ono] D[edit] D[edicavit].
To the invincible god Mithras, Diocles, in honour of Caius Lucretius Menander, father, donated and dedicated this gift.

Mitreo di Felicissimo

Felicissimvs / ex voto f[ecit]
Felicissimus made [this] in fulfilment of a vow.

Sabazeo

Fructus / suis in/pendis / consum/mavit
Fructus spent [this] at his own expense.

Mitreo del Palazzo Imperiale

Soli invict[o] Mit[hrae] d[onum] d[edit] L. Agrius Calendio.
Lucius Agrius Calendio gave this gift to Sol Invictus Mithras.

Tauroctony marble from Mitreo Fagan

Sig[num] imdeprehensivilis dei G[aius] Valerius Heracles sacerdos s[ua]
p[ecunia] p[osuit].

L[ucius] Sextius Karus et.
Statue of the indeprehensible god, Gaius Valerius Heracles, priest, at his own expense, placed [it].

And Lucius Sextius Karus.

Tauroctony from the Mitreo delle terme di Mitra

Κρίτων / Ἀθηναιος / έποίει.
Kriton the Athenian made [this].

Aion of Mitreo Fagan

C. Valeri/us Heracles pat[er] / et C[aii] Valerii / Vitalis et Nico/mes sacerdo/tes s[ua] p[e]c[unia] p[o]s[ue]r[unt]. / D[e]d[icatum] idi[bus] aug[ustis] im[peratore] / Com[odo] / VI et / Septi/miano / co[n]s[ulibus].
Gaius Valerius Heracles, father, and Gaius Valerius Vitalis and Gaius Valerius Nicome[de]s, priests, laid at their own expense. [Statue] dedicated on the ides of August, under the consulates of Emperor Commodus for the sixth time and Septimianus.

Bronze inscription from Aldobrandini

SEX POMPEIO SEX FIL / MAXIMO / SACERDOTI SOLIS IN / VICTI MT PATRI PATRVM / QQ CORP TREIECT TOGA / TENSIVM SACERDO / TES SOLIS INVICTI MT / OB AMOREM ET MERI /TA EIVS SEMPER HA / BET
Dedicated to Sextus Pompeius Maximus, son of Sextus, High Priest of the Sun God, Mithras, all powerful, and Father of Fathers, President of the Guild of Master Ferrymen. We, Priests of the all powerful Sun God, Mithras, do this on account of the high regard and affection we hold for him and his worthy deeds.

Tauroctony from the Mitreo delle Sette Sfere

A. Decimius A[uli] f[ilius] Pal[atina] Decimianus s[ua] p[ecunia] restituit. //

A. Decimius A[uli] f[ilius] Pal[atina] Decimianus aedem / cum suo pronao ipsumque deum solem Mithra / et marmoribus et omni cultu sua p[ecunia] restituit. //

M. Aemilio / Epaphrodito / patre et sacerdote.
Aulus Decimius Decimianus, son of Aulus, of the Palatina tribe, at his own expense, restored it.

Mosaic of the Mitreo di Felicissimo

FELICISSIMVS / EX VOTO F[ecit].
Felicissimus fulfilled his vow.

Aion relief of Mitreo Fagan

C. Valerius Heracles pat[e]r e[t] an[tis]/tes dei iu[b]enis inconrupti So[l]is invicti Mithra[e / c]ryptam palati concessa[m] sibi a M. Aurelio / ---.
Gaius Valerius Heracles, pater and priest of the young god Sol Invictus Mithras, made [?] the crypt of the palace, which was granted to him by Marcus Aurelius [---].

Inscription of Fructosus in Ostia

[L. Ag]rius Fructosus patron[us] corp[orationis] s[tupp[atorum], te]mpl[um] et spel[aeum] Mit[hrae] a solo sua pec[unia] feci[t].
Lucius Agrius Frutosus, patron of the guild of stuppatores, had the temple and spelaeum of Mithras built at his own expense.

See all inscriptions from Ostia →

References

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