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
CIMRM 118
According to AA 1900, 63 a mosaic with lion and panther was found near an old Punian cemetery at Duimes.
CIMRM 118
CIMRM 119
In the upper layer of the "tophet" at Carthago, under which a very old sanctuary was situated, a small Mithras-relief was found by Cintas in 1949 (Br. 0.50).
CIMRM 119
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.
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.
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.
