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Mithras in Umbria

Umbria formed part of the central Italian heartland through which religious practices circulated between Rome and the northern provinces.

The material documented in Umbria reflects the movement of Mithraic cults through inland communication routes, urban settlements and regional exchange networks connected to central Italy. The province occupied an intermediary position within the Italian Peninsula.

Mithraic monuments of Umbria

 

Mitreo di Spoleto

The Mithraeum of Spoleto was found in 1878 by the professor Fabio Gori on behalf of Marquis Filippo Marignoli, owner of the land.

CIMRM 673

 

Inscription on restauration of the Mitreo de Carsulae

Marble plaque with inscription of a sacerdos probatus to Sol and the god Invictus Mithras.

 

Inscription on the leonteum of Umbria

This plaque from Carsulae, in Umbria, refers to the creation of a leonteum erected by the lions at their own expense.

 

Mitreo di Carsulae

Epigraphic monuments reveal the presence of a Mithraeum in the ancient municiple of Carsulae, in Umbria.

 

Tauroctony from Piedimonte

This finely carved marble tauroctony from Interamna features an unusual series of altars and ritual vases surrounding the scene.

CIMRM 670

 

Bone statuette of a youth from the Spoleto Mithraeum

A small bone statuette from the Mithraeum at Spoleto, depicting a youth dressed in tunic and long cloak with a laurel wreath around the head.

CIMRM 678

 

Cipollino marble prism from the Spoleto Mithraeum

A triangular prism in cipollino marble with a hollow on the upper side, found standing in front of the cone-shaped stone in the Mithraeum at Spoleto.

CIMRM 676

 

Cone-shaped stone from the Spoleto Mithraeum

A cone-shaped piece of stone with a square hole found to the left of the altar in the Mithraeum at Spoleto, unlikely to have supported a representation of Mithras's rock-birth despite earlier suggestions, given that the stone tapers slightly.

CIMRM 675

 

Cross-shaped medal with Sol and Luna from the Spoleto Mithraeum

A medal in the form of a Grecian cross from the Mithraeum at Spoleto, showing busts of a bearded man and a veiled woman each with a radiate crown, identified by Cumont as Sol and Luna.

CIMRM 681

 

Earthen lamp and coins from the Spoleto Mithraeum

An earthen lamp bearing the name of C. Dessi along with two coins of Constantine and one of Gratianus, found in the Mithraeum at Spoleto in Umbria.

CIMRM 682

 

Inscription to Sol Invictus Comiti from Interamna Lirinatis

A brief inscription to Sol Invictus as companion of the emperor found among the ruins of ancient Interamna Lirinatis in the Umbrian territory of Terni.

CIMRM 672

 

Inscription to Sol Invictus from Montefalco

A decorated inscription with egg-and-dart moulding found in the castle of La Fratta near Montefalco in Umbria, bearing a brief dedication to Sol Invictus.

CIMRM 683

See all Mithraic monuments in Umbria

Places in Umbria

 

Carsulae

Carsulae was a Roman municipium in the region of Umbria, now preserved as an archaeological site, about 4 km north of the small town of San Gemini. Its foundation dates back to 220 BC with the construction of the Via Flaminia.

 

Interamna

Terni is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria, in Central Italy.

 

Interamna Nahars

Terni is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria, in Central Italy.

 

Montefalco

Montefalco is a historic small hill town in Umbria, Italy.

 

Narnia

The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven portal fantasy novels by British author C.

 

Ocrea

An ochrea, also spelled ocrea, is a plant structure formed of stipules fused into a sheath surrounding the stem.

 

Spoletium

Spoleto is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines.

Inscriptions from Umbria

Inscription on restauration of the Mitreo de Carsulae

Soli et invicto [deo Mithrae]. / Ex permissu san[ctissimi] / ordinis dec[ur[ionum]] / Sex[tus] Egnatius Primitivus / sacerdos probatus sevir / Aug[ustalis] Casuenti et Carsulis, / q[uaestor] arcae Aug[ustalium] designat[us] / spelaeum vi motu terrae di/ruptum ex suo omni inpen/sa refecit.
To Sol and the invincible [god] [Mithras]. With the permission of the [most] sacred order of decurions, Sextus Egnatius Primitivus, approved priest [sacerdos probatus], Augustal serf at Casuentum et Carsulae, appointed quaestor of the Augustus treasury, has restored the crypt destroyed after an earthquake, entirely at his own expense.

Inscription on the leonteum of Umbria

Leonteum cum signo et cetero cultu exornatum / ex permissu sanctissimi ordinis ex pec[unia] sua / a solo fecerunt leones, consummati ab Egnatio Re/parato sacerdote legit[imo] et collatore, T[itus] Lepidius Ho/norinus Alexander et Amicus circ[itores] Aug[usti] n[ostri], L[ucii duo] Vicri[i] Severus / et Speratus, T[itus] Satronius Sabinianus, P[ublius] Vatinius Tustus, L[ucius] Tulius / Felix, L[ucius] Longinius Stachys faber de [sestertiis quinque] m[ilibus] n[ummum]. L[ocus] d[atus] d[ecurionum] d[ecreto].
The leonteum, adorned with a statue and other cultic elements, with the permission of the most sacred municipal ordo, the Lions erected it at their own expense from the ground, they who were initiated [consummati] by Egnatius Reparatus, legitimate priest [legitimus] and contributor: Titus Lepidius Honorinus, Alexander and Amicus, imperial [slaves], guardians, the two Lucii Vicrii, Severus and Speratus, Titus Satronius Sabinianus, Publius Vatinius Iustus, Lucius Tulius Felix, Lucius Longinius Stachys, craftsman, for a sum of 5,000 sesterces. Location given by decree of the decurions.

References

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