The Mithraic material documented in Africa Proconsularis reflects the province’s exceptional urban development and integration within Mediterranean trade and imperial administration. Cities, ports and regional mobility contributed to the spread of cults across Roman North Africa.
Mithraic monuments of Africa Proconsularis
Frescoes from the tomb of Aelius Magnus and Aelia Arisuth in Oea
The Mithraic nature of the frescoes of Oea, according to the scholars Cumont and Vermaseren, is now questioned.
CIMRM 113
Inscription of Chemtou
Dedication from Simitthus mentioning the restoration of a monument and a vow fulfilled to Cautes and Cautopates during the reign of Caracalla and Julia Maesa.
Marble cinerary casket fragment from Sabratha
Lower part of a white marble cinerary casket decorated with a relief of Mithras killing the bull, from the necropolis area near the amphitheatre of Sabratha.
CIMRM 117
Mithras relief from Carthage
Small Mithras relief found in the upper layer of the tophet at Carthage by Cintas in 1949.
CIMRM 119
Mithras statuette from Carthage
Statuettes of eastern deities including Mithras, found in a walled compartment near a Punic cemetery at Duimes, Carthage.
CIMRM 118
Tanit ex-voto from Carthage
Punic ex-voto to Tanit bearing the formula 'Meqim Elim Mithrahastarni', tentatively interpreted as a Mithras reference but pre-dating the Roman cult.
CIMRM 120
Brothers attested in Africa Proconsularis
Places in Africa Proconsularis
Oea
Oea was an ancient city in modern-day Tripoli, Libya, founded by the Phoenicians in the 7th century BC. It became a Roman-Berber colony in the second half of the 2nd century BC.
Sabratha
Sabratha, in the Zawiya District of Libya, was the westernmost of the ancient "three cities" of Roman Tripolis, alongside Oea and Leptis Magna.
Simitthus
Chemtou or Chimtou was an ancient Roman-Berber town in northwestern Tunisia, located 20 km from the city of Jendouba near the Algerian frontier. It was known as Simitthu (or Simitthus in Roman period) in antiquity.
