The Mithraic material documented in Dalmatia reflects the province’s position between the Adriatic coast, the Balkan interior and the Danubian military zone. The evidence illustrates the circulation of the cult through urban settlements, communication routes and communities connected to imperial administration and mobility.
Mithraic monuments of Dalmatia
Mithraeum of Močići
The Mithraeum of Mocici was situated in a grotto at one hour's walk fomr the ancient Epidaurum.
CIMRM 1882
Two-sided relief from Konjic
The mithraic relief of Konjic shows a Tauroctony in one side and a ritual meal in the other.
CIMRM 1896
Mithraeum of Jajce
The remains of the Jajački Mithraeum were discovered accidentally during excavation for the construction of a private house in 1931.
CIMRM 1901
Mithraic meal from Proložac, Croatia
Mithras and Sol share a sacred meal accompanied by Cautes and Cautopates on a relief found in a cemetery from Croatia.
Tauroctony from Dardagan
The relief of Mithras killing the bull, found near Zvornik in Bosnia and Herzegovina, features some variations on the usual scene.
Tauroctony from Jajce
The relief of Mithras killing the bull from the Jajce Mithraeum is walled into the cult niche and surmounted by a roof.
CIMRM 1902
Mithraic exvoto of Dalmatia
The altar that now stands in Split was dedicated to Invincible Mithras for the health of a dear friend.
CIMRM 1873
Altar of Senj made by the slave Hermes
The dedicator of this altar was a slave in the service of a high official, the prefect Gaius Antonius Rufus, known from other inscriptions.
CIMRM 1846
Mithraeum of Prozor
The Mithraea in the territory of Arupium were first mentioned by Š. Ljubić in 1882.
Altar of Tihaljina
This altar, discovered in Grude, near Tihaljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, bears an inscription by Pinnes, a soldier of the Cohors Prima Belgica.
CIMRM 1889
Tauroctony relief from Crikvine
This relief of Mithras killing the sacred bull was found in 1908 near Klisa, in the surroundings of Salona, the ancient capital of Roman Dalmatia.
CIMRM 1871
Tauroctony from Golubić
This relief of Mithras as a bullkiller was found in Golubić, Bosnia and Herzegovina, near a cementery.
CIMRM 1910
Brothers attested in Dalmatia
Provinces of Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia connected the Adriatic world to the Balkan interior through maritime routes, military mobility and provincial urban networks.
Places in Dalmatia
Jajce
Little is known about Jajce in Roman times, apart from the accidental discovery of a 4th-century mithraeum in 1931.
Malvesatium
Skelani (Serbian Cyrillic: Скелани) is a village in the municipality of Srebrenica, in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Salona
Salona was an ancient city and the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. It was founded in the 3rd century BC and was mostly destroyed in the invasions of the Avars and Slavs in the 7th century AD.
Senia
Senj is a town on the upper Adriatic coast in Croatia, in the foothills of the Mala Kapela and Velebit mountains. The symbol of the town is the Nehaj Fortress which was completed in 1558. Senj is to be found in the Lika-Senj County of Croatia, the
Solin
Solin is a town in Dalmatia, Croatia, developed on the location of ancient city of Salona, which was the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia and the birthplace of Emperor Diocletian.
Vratnitsa
Vratnica is a small village and community located in the Jegunovce Municipality of North Macedonia.
Inscriptions from Dalmatia
Two-sided relief from Konjic
Mithraic meal from Proložac, Croatia
Mithraic exvoto of Dalmatia
Altar of Senj made by the slave Hermes
Altar of Tihaljina
Tauroctony from Golubić
Altars of Jajce
Altar from Skelani by Hostilius
Tauroctony from Vratnitsa
Altar with donor lists from Solin
Under our lords Constantine Augustus, consul for the fifth time, and Licinius Junior Caesar, consuls. Under Aurelius Xenon, prefect for the second time, on the Kalends of February, we served among the Tritones: Aurelius Lucentius, Aurelius [---]ius, Aurelius Gregorius, Aurelius Firminus, Aurelius Marcellinus, Aurelius Dalmatius, [---] Valentinus, Aurelius Vincentius, Aurelius Messor.
Under our lords Constantine Augustus and Constantine, most noble Caesar, under the prefect Quintilius Faintillus, among the Tritones, on the Kalends of February: Aurelius Martinus, Aurelius Donatus, Varius Terentianus, Aurelius Stercorius, Aurelius Exuperius, Aurelius Terentianus, Aurelius Alexander, Aurelius Heraclianus, Aurelius Reditus, Aurelius Maurenus, Aurelius Balbinus, Aurelius Euticius, Aurelius Leuntius, Aurelius Senator.
Ministers among the Tritones: Aelius Valerianus, Varius Sabinus, Julius Silvius, Aurelius Fortunius, Papirius Crescent[---], Claudius Barbianus, Dirrutius Crescent[---], Aelius Dalmatius, with the permission of Nocturnus Novellus, patron of the collegium. Happily accomplished.
References
- Ante Rendić-Miočević (2013) Monuments of the Mithraic cult in the territory of Arupium (Dalmatia)
- Bricault, Veymers, Amoroso et al. (2021) The Mystery of Mithras. Exploring the heart of a Roman cult
- Milica D. Kosorić (1965) Spomenik Mitrinog Kulta Iz Okoline Zvornika
- Nirvana Silnović (2024) Tauroctony Relief from Dardagan Revisited
- Richard Gordon (2016) Den Jungstier auf den goldenen Schultern tragen. Mythos, Ritual und jenseitsvorstellungen im Mithraskult






