The corpus from Latium is dominated by the exceptional concentration of Mithraic evidence documented in Rome and Ostia. Urban density, imperial administration and intense commercial activity contributed to the extraordinary development of Mithraic cults within the region.
Mithraic monuments of Latium
Mitreo di San Clemente
The Mithraeum under the Basilica of San Clemente made part of a notable Roman house.
CIMRM 338
Mitreo di Santa Prisca
The Mithraeum of Santa Prisca houses remarkable frescoes showing the initiates in procession.
CIMRM 476
Mithraeum of the Baths of Caracalla
The Mitreo delle terme di Caracalla is one of the largest temples dedicated to Mithras ever found in Rome.
CIMRM 457
Mitreo di Felicissimo
The Mithraeum Felicissimus has a floor mosaic depicting the seven mithraic grades.
CIMRM 299
Tauroctony in the British Museum
The sculpture of Mithras slaying the bull was transported from Rome to London by Charles Standish in 1815.
CIMRM 592
Aion of Villa Albani
White marble statue of Lion-head god of time, formerly in the Villa Albani, nowadays in the Musei Vaticani.
CIMRM 545
Mitreo del Circo Massimo
The Mithraeum of the Circus Maximus was discovered in 1931 during work carried out to create a storage area for the scenes and costumes of the Opera House within the Museums of Rome building.
CIMRM 434
Tauroctony from Santo Stefano Rotondo
The relief of Mithras killing the bull of Stefano Rotodon preserves part of his polycromy and depicts two unusual figures: Hesperus and an owl.
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
Mitreo di Santo Stefano Rotondo
The Mitreo dei Castra Peregrinorum was discovered under the church of Santo Stefano Rotondo in Rome.
Mitreo di Marino
The Marino Mithraeum preserves one of the most elaborate painted cycles of Mithras’ myth, combining the tauroctony, planetary symbolism and scenes from the god’s sacred narrative.
Brothers attested in Latium
Places in Latium
Roma
Archaeological evidence shows that the area around Rome has been inhabited since around 14,000 years ago. Excavations support the theory that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill, which was built over the area of the Roman Forum.
Aesernia
Isernia is a town and comune in the southern Italian region of Molise, and the capital of the province of Isernia.
Ager Albanus
Albano Laziale, sometimes known simply as Albano, is a comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, on the Alban Hills, in the Italian region of Lazio.
Antium
Antium was an ancient coastal settlement in Latium, founded around the 11th century BC. A major stronghold of the Volsci before its conquest by Rome, its territory largely corresponds to modern Anzio and Nettuno.
Castrimoenium
Marino is an Italian comune with 46,676 inhabitants located in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital in Lazio.
Ciciliano
Ciciliano is a comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian region of Latium, located about 35 kilometres east of Rome.
Corniculum
Corniculum was an ancient Latin settlement associated with the early historical landscape of Latium.
Formiae
Formia is a city and comune in the province of Latina, on the Mediterranean coast of Lazio, Italy.
Labicum
Labici or Labicum or Lavicum was an ancient city of Latium, in what is now central Italy, lying in the territory of the modern Monte Compatri, about 20 km SE from Rome, on the northern slopes of the Alban Hills.
Lanuvium
Lanuvium (modern Lanuvio) was an ancient city of Latium Vetus, about 32 km southeast of Rome. A member of the Latin League, it was conquered by Rome in 338 BC and remained an active municipium into the Imperial period.
Marino
Marino has been inhabited by Latin tribes since the 1st millennium BC. During the Roman Republic it was a summer resort for Roman patricians who built luxurious villas in the area.
Inscriptions from Latium
Mitreo di Felicissimo
Tauroctony 593
Altar from Mitreo di San Clemente
Procession Fresco from Santa Prisca
Slab of Sol Invictus
Mosaic of the Mitreo di Felicissimo
Leontocephalic deity from the Fagan Mithraeum
Tauroctony from the Mitreo delle terme di Mitra
Tauroctony from the Villa Borghese
To the invincible Sol god Mithras. Caius Aufidius Ianuarius [and Caius Aufidius ---].
Frescoes of lions at Santa Prisca
Nama Hel[io]doro leoni; Nama Gelasio leoni; Nama Phoebo leoni.
Tribute to Heliodoros, Lion; Tribute to Gelasios, Lion; Tribute to Poebus, Lion.
Aion relief of Mitreo Fagan
Tauroctony relief exposed at the Hermitage Museum
References
- Attilio Mastrocinque (2022) The Mithraic Prophecy
- Attilio Mastrocinque (2017) The Mysteries of Mithras. A Different Account
- Carel Claudius van Essen (1965) The Excavations in the Mithraeum of the Church of Santa Prisca in Rome
- David Walsh (2018) The Cult of Mithras in Late Antiquity. Development, Decline and Demise ca. A.D. 270-430
- Jaime Alvar Ezquerra (2021) The Mystery of Mithras. Exploring the heart of a Roman cult
- Maarten Jozef Vermaseren (1963) Mithras, the Secret God
- Maarten Jozef Vermaseren (1974) Mithriaca II. The Mithraeum at Ponza
- Maarten Jozef Vermaseren (1982) Mithriaca III. The Mithraeum at Marino
- Maarten Jozef Vermaseren (1978) Mithriaca IV. Le Monument d'Ottaviano Zeno et le culte de Mithra sur le Célius
- Manfred Clauss (1992) Cultores Mithrae. Die Anhangerschaft Des Mithras-Kultes
- Philippe Roy (2021) Les cultes de Mithra dans l’Empire romain
- Robert Turcan (1993) Mithra et le Mithriacisme
- Roger Beck (2017) If So, How? Representing “Coming Back to Life” in the Mysteries of Mithras
- Roger Beck (1976) Interpreting the Ponza Zodiac
- Roger Beck (2007) The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire. Mysteries of the Unconquered Sun
- Vittoria Canciani (2022) Archaeological Evidence of the Cult of Mithras in Ancient Italy
- La Réaction païenne. Étude sur la polémique antichrétienne du Ier au VIe siècle
- Římský kult boha Mithry. Atlas lokalit a katalog nálezů I











