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Provincia

Mithras in Germania superior

Along the upper Rhine frontier, Germania superior became one of the principal centres of Mithraic activity in northwestern Europe.

Material from Germania superior reflects the strong integration of Mithraic cults within military communities, urban settlements and frontier circulation networks. The province preserves a rich body of monuments and mithraea illustrating the importance of the Rhine frontier in the western expansion of the cult.

Mithraic monuments of Germania superior

 

Mithraea of Heddernheim

Since 1826, four mithraea have been found at Nida-Heddernheim.

 

Tauroctony from Osterburken

Franz Cumont considers the bas relief of Osterburken ’the most remarkable of all the monuments of the cult of Mithras found up to now’.

CIMRM 1292

 

Mithréum of Strasbourg

Lors de la construction de l’église Saint-Paul en 1911, un mithraeum a été mis au jour à Königshoffen, vicus gallo-romain situé aux abords du camp légionnaire de Strasbourg-Argentorate.

CIMRM 1335

 

Two-sided relief of Dieburg

The relief of Dieburg shows Mithras riding a horse as main figure, surrounded by several scenes of the myth.

CIMRM 1247

 

Tauroctony from the Mithräum von Heddernheim

This relief is so well-known that it has been reproduced in nearly every handbook of archaeology and of history of religions.

CIMRM 1083

 

Tauroctony from Neuenheim

The Tauroctony relief of Neuenheim, Heidelberg, includes several scenes from the deeds of Mithras and other gods.

CIMRM 1283

 

Cautes and Cautopates from Mithraeum III of Heddernheim

The two companions of Mithras carry a torch and a shepherd's staff at the third Mithraeum in Frankfurt-Heddernheim, formerly Nida.

CIMRM 1119

 

Mithraic vessel of Mainz

The Mithraic vase from Ballplatz in Mainz depicts seven figures arranged in two narrative sequences, commonly interpreted in relation to initiation rites.

 

Mithräum von Dieburg

There are references to two places of worship from Dieburg, whereby the Mithraeum, discovered in 1926.

CIMRM 1246

 

Mithräum von Neuenheim

Only a small part of the Neuenheim Mithraeum has been excavated.

CIMRM 1282

 

Mithräum von Saalburg

In the 1900s a model Mithraeum was built in Saalburg in the mistaken belief that there was an original temple of Mithras in an ancient Roman building.

 

Feast scene with Mithras and Sol from Ladenburg

Bas-relief depicting a naked Sol leaning over his fellow Mithras while raising a drinking horn during the sacred feast.

See all Mithraic monuments in Germania superior

Places in Germania superior

 

[Neuenheim]

Neuenheim lies in an area occupied since at least the Iron Age, with a Celtic hilltop refuge and cult site on the nearby Heiligenberg from the 5th century BC. From around 40 - 45 CE, the site developed into a Roman vicus associated with a castellum.

 

Aquae Mattiacae

Wiesbaden is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main.

 

Argentoratum

Argentoratum or Argentorate was the ancient name of Strasbourg. Its name was first mentioned in 12 BC, when it was a Roman military outpost established by Nero Claudius Drusus. The Legio VIII Augusta was stationed there from 90 AD.

 

Bingium

The Celts are the first known to have settled in this place, which they called Binge, meaning rift. Roman troops stationed here in the first century AD rendered the local name as Bingium in Latin.

 

Bodobrica

Vicus Baudobriga was a Roman settlement on the left bank of the Rhine, founded during the conquest of Gaul. Its development reflects the Rhine’s shifting role as frontier, trade route, and fortified border before Roman withdrawal.

 

Centum Prata

Centum Prata is the name of a Roman vicus, whose remains are located on the eastern Zürichsee lakeshore in Kempraten, a locality of the municipality Rapperswil-Jona in the canton of St.

 

Gimmeldingen

Gimmeldingen is a village, part of the town of Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany. Its origins, along with the village of Lobloch (which used to be connected), can be traced back to Roman settlements in 325 AD.

 

Groß-Gerau

Groß-Gerau is the district seat of the Groß-Gerau district, lying in the southern Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region in Hesse, Germany, and serving as a hub for the surrounding area.

 

Güglingen

Güglingen is a town in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.

 

Lopodunum

Ladenburg is a town in northwestern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The town's history goes back to the Celtic and Roman Ages, when it was called Lopodunum.

 

Mogontiacum

The Roman castrum Mogontiacum, the forerunner of Mainz, was founded by the Roman general Drusus around 10 BC. It was an important military town throughout the Roman period. The town of Mogontiacum grew up between the fort and the Rhine.

 

Nemaninga

Stockstadt am Main is a market municipality in the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.

See all Mithraic sites in Germania superior

Inscriptions from Germania superior

Tauroctony from Osterburken

D[eo] S[oli] I[nvicto] M[ithrae] M[er?]catorius Castrensis in suo cons[ituit].
To the unconquerable sun god Mithras, Mercatorius Castrensis erected [this monument] on his property.

Two-sided relief of Dieburg

[Side A:] D[eo] i[nvicto] M[ithrae] / Silves/trius / Silvi/nius et Silvestrius Pe[rpetus et A]urelius nepos / v[otum] s[olverunt] l[ibentes] l[aeti] m[erito]. /
Perpetus fra/te[r] artis sutor[iae]. / Silvinus ar/tis quadratari/ae Aureli[us ---] d[ono] d[ederunt].

[Side B:] D[eo] S[oli] i[nvicto] M[ithrae] Silvestrius Sil[v]inu[s] et Silvestrius Perpetus et Silvinius Aurelius.
[Side A:] To the invincible god Mithras, Silvestrius Silvinus, Silvestrius Perpetus and Silvinius Aurelius.
[Side B:] To the invincible god Mithras, Silvestrius Silvinus, Silvestrius Perpetus and [Silvinus?] Aurelius, their nephew, fulfilled their vow willingly, gladly and deservedly. Perpetus, brother, a cobbler by trade, and Silvinus, a sculptor by trade, Aurelius [---] gave this as a gift.

Tauroctony from Strasbourg

[In h[onorem]] d[omus] d[ivinae] d[eo] i[nvicto] M[ithrae] / ... us M.P.D ... / ... us typu[m] ... / ... solo v ...
In honor of the Imperial house, to the unconquered god Mithras … sculptural model … soil [/only] ...

Altar with Mithras rock-birth of Nida

D[eo] inv[icto] Mit[hrae] / Senilius Car/antinus / c[ivis] Medio/m[atricus]
V[otum] s[olvit] l[ibens] l[aetus] m[erito] / Sive Cracissiu[s]. // P[etram] genetricem.
To the invincible god Mithras, Senilius Carantinus, also named Cracissius, citizen of Mediomatricus, dedicated willingly, gladly and deservedly following a vow these images of Cautes, of the generative rock, of Cautopates, and of the Heaven and Ocean.

Dedication inscription from Koenigshoffen Mithraeum

In h[onorem] d[omus] d[ivinae] deo Invic/to M[ithrae] C[aius] Celsinius / Matutinus veter[anus] / leg[ionis] VIII Aug[ustae] Alexan/drianae typum / de suo repinx[it]
In honour of the divine house, to the invincible god Mithras. Caius Celsinius Matutinus, veteran of legio VIII Augusta [Alexandriana], repainted this relief at his own expense.

Cautes and Cautopates of Stockstadt

In honorem domus divinae Cauti et Cautopati Florius Florentius et Ancarinius Severus nepos votum solverunt libentes laeti merito Faustino et Rufino consulibus.
In honour of the divine house, at Cautes and Cautopates, Florius Florentius and Ancarinius Severus, his nephew, willingly, joyfully and justly fulfilled their vow, [Manius Acilius] Faus[tinus and [Aulus Triarius] Rufinus being consuls.

Votive plaque of Stockstadt

[D[eo]] i[nvicto] M[ithrae] et S[oli] s[ocio] Argata / v[otum] s[olvit] l[ibens] l[aetus] m[erito].
To the invincible god Mithras and his ally Sol, Argata has fulfilled his vow willingly, gladly and deservedly.

Altar to Mithras and Mars from Mainz

D[eo] I[nvicto] M[ithrae] / et Marti / Secundini/us Amantius / cornicu[larius] / praef[ecti] leg[ionis] / XXII permi/ttente Pri/mulo patre / ex voto pos/uit l[ibens] l[aetus] m[erito].
To the Unconquered Sun God Mithras and Mars. Secundinius Amantius, cornicularius to the prefect of the 22nd Legion, with the permission of Primulus the Pater, dedicates this willingly in fulfilment of a vow.

Inscription of Corax Materninius Faustinus from Gimmeldingen

In h[onorem] d[omus] d[ivinae] / deo inviht[o] [sic] Midre [sic] / Maternin[i]us Faustinu[s] / carax [sic] fan[um] cum solo inviht[o] / in suo fecit c[ onsac]ratus XI k[alendis] Feb[ruariis].
Fanus [sic] consacrat[us] / per Potentianum / patrem co[n]s[ulibus] / Paulino et Iuliano /l[ibens] l[aetus] m[erito].
In honour of the divine house, to the invincible god Mithras, Materninius Faustinus, Crow, consecrated a shrine with [a statue of] the invincible Sol, on his property [in suo], on the tenth day before the calendars of February. Sanctuary [fanum] consecrated by Potentianus, Father, the consuls being [Sextus Anicius Faustus] Paulinus and [Ionis] Iulianus, willingly, joyfully and justly.

Male figure with offerings from Dieburg

D[eo] I[nvicto] M[ithrae] // Priscinius Sedulius / Primulus fratres / v[otum] s[olverunt] l[ibentes] l[aeti] m[erito].
To the Invincible God Mithras, Priscinius Sedulius Primulus, gladly paid their vows and deservedly rejoiced to the brothers.

Consecration for Mars Meder

D[eo] Medru Matu/tina Cobnert[i]
To the god Medrus Matus, Cobnertius (dedicated this).

Altar with Inscription to Mithras of Rottenburg

Invicto / Mithrae / P. Ael[ius] Voc/co mil[es] l[egionis] XXII / p[rimigeniae] p[iae] f[idelis] v[otum] s[olvit] l[ibens] l[aetus] / m[erito].
To Invictus Mithras Publius Aelius Vocco, soldier of the Legio XXII Primigenia Pia Fidelis, gladly, willingly and deservedly fulfilled his vow.

See all Mithraic inscriptions from Germania superior

References

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