The evidence documented in Cilicia illustrates the circulation of Mithraic cults through ports, coastal cities and communication corridors linking the Roman Near East to southern Anatolia. The province formed part of one of the principal zones of exchange in the eastern Mediterranean.
Mithraic monuments of Cilicia
Bronze medallion of Gordian III with tauroctony
The bronze medallion, from Cilicia, shows Mithras Tauroctonus on the revers.
CIMRM 27
Mithraic inscription from Anazarbus
This dedicatory inscription by Aurelius Seleucus, found in Cilicia, aligns with Plutarch’s account of Cilician pirates performing foreign sacrifices and secret rites of Mithras.
CIMRM 27
Inscriptions from Cilicia
Bronze medallion of Gordian III with tauroctony
Τάρσου μητροπόλεως. Α[ύτονόυ] μ[ητρόπόλεως] Κ[ιλιχίας] γ[ράμματι] β[ουλής].
Of Tarsus, metropolis, autonomous metropolis of Cilicia, by decree of the council.
Mithraic inscription from Anazarbus
[[- - - - - ]]
[[ὑπάτου τὸ]] β’, π[ατρὸς] π[ατρίδος] · [Μ. Αὐρή-]
λιος Σέλευκος ἱε[ρεύς καὶ]
πατὴρ διὰ βίου Διὸς [‘Ηλίου
ἀνείκητου Μίθρα τὸν [. .
...] καθ’ ὑπέσχετο τῇ πατ[ρίδι].
[[ὑπάτου τὸ]] β’, π[ατρὸς] π[ατρίδος] · [Μ. Αὐρή-]
λιος Σέλευκος ἱε[ρεύς καὶ]
πατὴρ διὰ βίου Διὸς [‘Ηλίου
ἀνείκητου Μίθρα τὸν [. .
...] καθ’ ὑπέσχετο τῇ πατ[ρίδι].
[[- - - - - ]] [[Of the consul]] [2nd year], pater of the homeland; [M. Aurēlius] Seleucus, priest and father for life of Zeus [Helios], the invincible Mithras, who [...] as he pledged to the homeland.
References
- Michael Gough (1957) A new Mithraic inscription from Anabarzos
- Michael Gough (1952) Anazarbus
- CIMRM 27 - Bronze aes. Cilicia, 240 A.D
