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Mithras in Noricum

Noricum preserves Mithraic evidence shaped by Alpine routes, military circulation and Danubian connections.

The Mithraic evidence documented in Noricum reflects the province’s intermediary position between Italy, the Alps and the Danubian frontier. The material illustrates the movement of Mithraic practices through military environments, urban settlements and communication corridors crossing the central European provinces.

Mithraic monuments of Noricum

 

Plaque with the list of worshippers of Virunum

The bronze bears the dedication of a restoration of a Mithraeum carried out in 183.

 

Mithraeum of Virunum

A bronze plaque records the existence of a mithraeum at Virunum that collapsed and was rebuilt by members of the community.

 

Inscription of the praeses Aurelius Hermodorus

This marble gives some details of the reconstruction of the Virunum Mithraeum.

CIMRM 1431

 

Mithraic vase of Mühltal

The Mühltal Mithraic crater was discovered among the artefacts of a mithraeum found in Pfaffenhoffen am Inn, Bavaria.

 

Mithraeum of St. Egyden

The 'Mithraic cave' in the Gradische/Gradišče massif near St. Egidio contained vessels decorated with snakes and the remains of chicken bones and other animals that were consumed during Mithraic ceremonies.

 

Intaglio with Tauroctony from Munich

This heliotrope gem, depicting Mithras slaying the bull, dates from the 2nd-3rd century, but was reused as an amulet in the 13th century.

 

Cult vessel with snake representations of St. Egyden

Upon first examination, archaeologists interpreted the inscription on the cult vessel from Gradishje as referencing Mithras, though it has since been re-evaluated.

 

Plaque of Milan by Ulbius Gaianus

This monument dedicated to 'Invicto Patrio' was found in Milan in 1869.

CIMRM 709

 

Slab of S. Urban by Ursinus

Marble plaque with inscription by a certain Ursinus found in Virunum in 1838.

CIMRM 1443

 

Altar of Secundinus from Bad Ischl

A certain Secundinus, steward of the emperor, dedicated this altar to Mithras in Noricum, today Austria.

CIMRM 1407

 

CIMRM 1410

Conglomerate statue of the birth of Mithras, found in a burnt layer, showing the god nude emerging from the rock with raised hands and a snake.

Provinces of Noricum

 

Noricum

Noricum formed a key link between the Alpine world and the Danubian frontier where Mithraic cults spread through military and urban environments.

Places in Noricum

 

Ad Enum

Rosenheim is a city in Bavaria, Germany.

 

Esca

The Bad Ischl area has been inhabited since the time of the prehistoric Hallstatt culture. Documentary evidence of the settlement dates back to 1262, when it was referred to as Iselen.

 

Virunum

Claudium Virunum was a Roman city in the province of Noricum, on today's Zollfeld in the Austrian State of Carinthia.

Inscriptions from Noricum

Plaque with the list of worshippers of Virunum

D[eo] i[nvicto] M[ithrae] pro salute imp[eratoris] [[Commodi]] Auglustil pii / qui templum vii conlapsum impendio suo restituerunt / et mortalitat8is] causa convener[unt] / Marullo
et Aeliano coln/s[ulibus] VI k[alendas] lulias.

[There follows, in four columns, a list of 98 names, all masculine, with the first 34 in the same hand.]

Tiberius Claudius Quintilianus ob dedicationem templi tabulam / aeream donum dedit et camaram picturis exornavit.
To the invincible god Mithras, for the well-being of the emperor Commodus Augustus pius, those who restored at their own expense the temple that had collapsed, and who had gathered with mortality as their reason, during the consulship of Marullus and Aelianus, on the 6th day before the kalends of July. […] Tiberius Claudius Quintilianus, on the occasion of the dedication of the temple, offered this bronze plaque as a gift, and decorated the chamber with paintings.

Inscription of the praeses Aurelius Hermodorus

D[eo] i[nvicto] M[ithrae] templum vetusta[te] / conlabsum quot [sic] fuit / per annos amplius / L desertum, Aur[elius] / Hermodorus v[ir] p[erfectissimus] pr[aeses] pr[ovinciae] N[orici] / M[edi]t[erranei] a novo restitui fecit. / Quot edificatum est divo / Maximiano VIII et Maximino it[e]r[um] / A[u]gg[ustis] con[sulibus] Quar [tinio] Ursiniano cur [ante].
To the invincible god Mithras. This temple that collapsed because of age, which was abandoned for more than 50 years, Aurelius Hermodorus, a most perfect man, governor of the province of Mediterranean Noricum, restored from scratch. This construction was done during the eighth consulship of the divine Maximianus Augustus and second consulship of Maximinus Augustus, with Quartinius Ursinianus overseeing the work.

Mithraic vase of Mühltal

Deo invicto Mitr[a]e Ma[rt- or -tern]inus.
To the invincible god Mithras, Ma[rtinus or Matern]inus.

Cult vessel with snake representations of St. Egyden

[---?] D[eo?] d[onum?] || fec[erunt] / [---?] / [Pet?]ronius / Maximinu/s / [A?]cilius / Vibio.
[—] gave a gift to the god; [—], Petronius Maximinus, and Acilius Vibius made (this).

Plaque of Milan by Ulbius Gaianus

Invicto / patrio / Ulb[ius] Gaianus / praef[ectus] vehic[ulorum].

Slab of S. Urban by Ursinus

Deo invic/to Metras / Ursianus do/num posuet.
To the invincible god Mithras, Ursianus deposited this offering.

Altar of Secundinus from Bad Ischl

D[eo] I[nvicto] M[ithrae] / Secun/dinus Aug[usti] n[ostri] v/il[icus] sta/t[ionis] Esc[ensis] vo/t[um] ret[tulit] l[ibens] l[aetus] m[erito].
To the Unconquered God Mithras, Secundinus, the steward of our Emperor’s estate at the station in Esca, willingly, joyfully, and deservedly fulfilled his vow.

References

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