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.
People 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
Slab of Sol Invictus
Mitreo di Felicissimo
Leontocephalic deity from the Fagan Mithraeum
Tauroctony 593
Altar from Mitreo di San Clemente
Procession Fresco from Santa Prisca
Mosaic of the Mitreo di Felicissimo
Tauroctony marble from Mitreo Fagan
p[ecunia] p[osuit].
L[ucius] Sextius Karus et.
And Lucius Sextius Karus.
Tauroctony from Chrestos
Dedication to Zeus-Helios, Mithras, and Phanes
Tauroctony from the Villa Borghese
To the invincible Sol god Mithras. Caius Aufidius Ianuarius [and Caius Aufidius ---].
Tauroctony from the Collezione Torlonia
[Soli i]nvicto / Mithrae [f]ec[it] L[ucius] Aur[elius] Severus Pra[es[idente] L[ucio]] Domitio Mar[cel]lino patr[e].
To the Unconquered Sol Mithras, Lucius Aurelius Severus made this, under the presidency of Lucius Domitius Marcellinus, the Pater.
References
- Aleš Chalupa (2023) Římský kult boha Mithry. Atlas lokalit a katalog nálezů I
- Attilio Mastrocinque (2022) The Mithraic Prophecy
- Attilio Mastrocinque (2017) The Mysteries of Mithras. A Different Account
- Carel Claudius van Essen & Maarten Vermaseren (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
- Israel Campos Méndez (2026) Mitra. Un dios entre Oriente y Occidente
- Jaime Alvar Ezquerra (2008) Romanising Oriental Gods Myth Salvation and Ethics in the Cults of Cybele Isis and Mithras
- Laurent Bricault & Philippe Roy (2021) Les cultes de Mithra dans l’Empire romain
- Maarten Vermaseren (1963) Mithras, the Secret God
- Maarten Vermaseren (1974) Mithriaca II. The Mithraeum at Ponza
- Maarten Vermaseren (1982) Mithriaca III. The Mithraeum at Marino
- Maarten Vermaseren (1978) Mithriaca IV. Le Monument d'Ottaviano Zeno et le culte de Mithra sur le Célius
- Manfred Clauss (1992) Cultores Mithrae. Die Anhängerschaft des Mithras-Kultes.
- Manfred Clauss (2000) The Roman Cult of Mithras. The God and His Mysteries
- Multiple authors & Ugo Bianchi (1979) Mysteria Mithrae
- Nicolas Amoroso, Laurent Bricault & Richard Veymiers (eds.) (2021) The Mystery of Mithras. Exploring the heart of a Roman cult
- Pierre de Labriolle (2021) La Réaction païenne. Étude sur la polémique antichrétienne du Ier au VIe siècle
- Robert Turcan (1993) Mithra et le Mithriacisme
- Roger Beck (2004) Beck on Mithraism. Collected Works with New Essays
- Roger Beck (2007) The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire. Mysteries of the Unconquered Sun
