Editing Mithraism (section)

===Beginnings of Roman Mithraism===
The origins and spread of the Mysteries have been intensely debated among scholars and there are radically differing views on these issues.<ref>{{cite book |last=Beck |first=Roger |title=Religious Rivalries in the Early Roman Empire and the Rise of Christianity |chapter=On Becoming a Mithraist New Evidence for the Propagation of the Mysteries |editor=Leif E. Vaage |display-editors=etal |page=182 |quote=The origins and spread of the Mysteries are matters of perennial debate among scholars of the cult.}}</ref> According to Clauss, mysteries of Mithras were not practiced until the 1st&nbsp;century&nbsp;CE.<ref name=Clauss-2000/> According to Ulansey, the earliest evidence for the Mithraic mysteries places their appearance in the middle of the 1st&nbsp;century&nbsp;BCE: The historian Plutarch says that in 67&nbsp;BCE the [[Cilician pirates|pirates of Cilicia]] (a province on the southeastern coast of Asia Minor, that provided sea access to adjacent Commagene) were practicing "secret rites" of Mithras.{{efn|
"Our earliest evidence for the Mithraic mysteries places their appearance in the middle of the 1st&nbsp;century&nbsp;BCE: The historian Plutarch says that in 67&nbsp;BCE a large band of pirates based in Cilicia (a province on the southeastern coast of Asia Minor) were practicing "secret rites of Mithras". The earliest physical remains of the cult date from around the end of the 1st&nbsp;century&nbsp;CE, and Mithraism reached its height of popularity in the third century."<ref>{{cite web |last=Ulansey |first=David |title=The Cosmic Mysteries of Mithras |url=http://www.well.com/user/davidu/mithras.html |access-date=2011-03-20 |archive-date=15 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415054733/http://www.well.com/user/davidu/mithras.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}
According to C.M. Daniels,<ref name=Daniels-1975/> whether any of this relates to the origins of the mysteries is unclear.{{efn|
"Traditionally there are two geographical regions where Mithraism first struck root in the Roman empire: Italy and the Danube. Italy I propose to omit, as the subject needs considerable discussion, and the introduction of the cult there, as witnessed by its early dedicators, seems not to have been military. Before we turn to the Danube, however, there is one early event (rather than geographical location) which should perhaps be mentioned briefly in passing. This is the supposed arrival of the cult in Italy as a result of Pompey the Great's defeat of the Cilician pirates, who practised 'strange sacrifices of their own ... and celebrated certain secret rites, amongst which those of Mithra continue to the present time, having been first instituted by them'.
:
Suffice it to say that there is neither archaeological nor allied evidence for the arrival of Mithraism in the West at that time, nor is there any ancient literary reference, either contemporary or later. If anything, Plutarch's mention carefully omits making the point that the cult was introduced into Italy at that time or by the pirates."<ref name=Daniels-1975>
{{cite conference
 |first=C.M.  |last=Daniels
 |year=1971
 |title=The role of the Roman army in the spread and practice of Mithraism
 |editor-first=John R.  |editor-last=Hinnells
 |publication-date=1975
 |book-title=Mithraic Studies
 |volume=2  |page=
 |pages=249–274
 |conference=The First International Congress of Mithraic Studies
 |publisher=Manchester University Press
}}
</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p= 250}}
}}
The unique underground temples or mithraea appear suddenly in the archaeology in the last quarter of the 1st&nbsp;century&nbsp;CE.<ref>
{{cite journal
 |last=Beck |first=R. |author-link=Rodger Beck
 |year=1998
 |title=The mysteries of Mithras: A new account of their genesis
 |journal=[[Journal of Roman Studies]]
 |volume=88 |pages=115–128
|doi=10.2307/300807 |jstor=300807 |s2cid=162251490 }}
</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p= 118}}

====Earliest archaeology====
Inscriptions and monuments related to the Mithraic Mysteries are catalogued in a two volume work by Maarten J. Vermaseren, the ''[[Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae]]'' (or [[Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae|CIMRM]]).<ref name=CIMRM-1960>{{cite book |last=Vermaseren |first=Maarten Jozef |orig-year=1956 |year=1960 |title=Corpus inscriptionum et monumentorum religionis mithriacae |location=The Hague |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff |ref=CIMRM}}</ref> The earliest monument showing Mithras slaying the bull is thought to be [[Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae|CIMRM]]&nbsp;593, found in Rome.  There is no date, but the inscription tells us that it was dedicated by a certain Alcimus, steward of T. Claudius Livianus. Vermaseren and Gordon believe that this Livianus is a certain Livianus who was commander of the Praetorian guard in 101&nbsp;CE, which would give an earliest date of 98&ndash;99&nbsp;CE.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gordon |first=Richard L. |year=1978 |title=The date and significance of CIMRM&nbsp;593 (British Museum, Townley Collection |journal=[[Journal of Mithraic Studies]] |volume=II |pages=148–174 |url=http://www.hums.canterbury.ac.nz/clas/ejms/out_of_print/JMSv2n2/JMSv2n2Gordon.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525042933/http://www.hums.canterbury.ac.nz/clas/ejms/out_of_print/JMSv2n2/JMSv2n2Gordon.pdf |archive-date=2010-05-25}}</ref>

[[File:Stela funerara MItra MNIR.JPG|thumb|Votive altar from [[Alba Iulia]] in present-day Romania, dedicated to ''Invicto Mythrae'' in fulfillment of a vow ''([[votum]])'']]Five small terracotta plaques of a figure holding a knife over a bull have been excavated near [[Kerch]] in the [[Crimea]], dated by Beskow and Clauss to the second half of the 1st&nbsp;century&nbsp;BCE,{{efn|
"Another possible piece of evidence is offered by five terracotta plaques with a tauroctone, found in Crimea and taken into the records of Mithraic monuments by Cumont and Vermaseren. If they are Mithraic, they are certainly the oldest known representations of Mithras tauroctone; the somewhat varying dates given by Russian archaeologists will set the beginning of the 1st&nbsp;century&nbsp;CE as a ''terminus ad quem'', which is also said to have been confirmed by the stratigraphic conditions."<ref name=Beskow-Études>{{cite book |last=Beskow |first=Per |section=The routes of early Mithraism |title=Études mithriaques |editor-first=Jacques |editor-last=Duchesne-Guillemin}}</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p= 14}}
:
Note&nbsp;20 cites the book as Blawatsky & Kolchelenko (1966).<ref>{{cite book |first1=W. |last1=Blawatsky |first2=G. |last2=Kolchelenko |year=1966 |title=Le culte de Mithra sur la cote spetentrionale de la Mer Noire |place=Leiden |page=14&nbsp;ff}}</ref>
}} and by Beck to 50&nbsp;BCE – 50&nbsp;CE. These may be the earliest tauroctonies, if they are accepted to be a depiction of Mithras.{{efn
|...&nbsp;the area [the Crimea] is of interest mainly because of the terracotta plaques from Kerch (five, of which two are in [[Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae|CIMRM]]<ref name=CIMRM-1960/> as numbers&nbsp;11 and 12): These show a bull-killing figure and their probable date (second half of 1st&nbsp;century&nbsp;BCE to first half of 1st&nbsp;century&nbsp;CE) would make them the earliest tauroctonies – if it is Mithras that they portray. Their iconography is significantly different from that of the standard tauroctony (e.g. in the [[Attis]]-like exposure of the god's genitals).<ref>{{cite book
 |first=Roger
 |last=Beck
 |year=1984
 |article=Mithraism since Franz Cumont
 |title=Aufsteig und Niedergang der romischen Welt
 |trans-title=Ascent and Descent in the Roman World
 |volume=II
 |id=17.4
 |page=2019
 |series=Religion Heidentum: Römische Götterkulte, Orientalische Kulte in der Römischen Welt
 |article-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wFceDNFgVowC&dq=beck%20%22mithraism%20since%20franz%20cumont%22&pg=PA2018
 |via=Google Books
 |access-date=6 August 2022
 |archive-date=14 April 2023
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414153745/https://books.google.com/books?id=wFceDNFgVowC&dq=beck%20%22mithraism%20since%20franz%20cumont%22&pg=PA2018
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref>
}}
The bull-slaying figure wears a Phrygian cap, but is described by Beck and Beskow as otherwise unlike standard depictions of the tauroctony. Another reason for not connecting these artifacts with the Mithraic Mysteries is that the first of these plaques was found in a woman's tomb.{{efn|
"The plaques are typical Bosporan terracottas ... At the same time it must be admitted that the plaques have some strange features which make it debatable if this is really Mithra(s). Most striking is the fact that his genitals are visible as they are in the iconography of Attis, which is accentuated by a high anaxyrides. Instead of the tunic and flowing cloak he wears a kind of jacket, buttoned over the breast with only one button, perhaps the attempt of a not so skillful artist to depict a cloak. The bull is small and has a hump and the tauroctone does not plunge his knife into the flank of the bull but holds it lifted. The nudity gives it the character of a fertility god and if we want to connect it directly with the Mithraic mysteries it is indeed embarrassing that the first one of these plaques was found in a woman's tomb."<ref name=Beskow-Études/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 15}}
:
"He is grasping one of the bull's horns with his left hand, and wrenching back its head; the right arm is raised to deliver the death-blow. So far, this god must be Mithras. But in sharp contrast with the usual representations [of Mithras], he is dressed in a jacket-like garment, fastened at the chest with a brooch, which leaves his genitals exposed – the iconography typical of Attis."<ref name=Clauss-2000/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 156}}
}}

An altar or block from near SS. Pietro e Marcellino on the Esquiline in Rome was inscribed with a bilingual inscription by an Imperial freedman named T. Flavius Hyginus, probably between 80 and 100&nbsp;CE. It is dedicated to ''Sol Invictus Mithras''.{{efn|
CIMRM<ref name=CIMRM-1960/>&nbsp;362 a, b {{=}} el l, VI 732 {{=}} Moretti, lGUR&nbsp;I 179:
:{{sc|Soli {{!}} Invicto Mithrae {{!}} T . Flavius Aug. lib. Hyginus {{!}} Ephebianus {{!}} d.d.}}"
but the Greek title is just "Helioi Mithrai" (ʽΗλιωι Μιθραι). The name "{{sc|Flavius}}" for an imperial freedman dates it between 70–136&nbsp;CE. The Greek section refers to a ''pater'' of the cult named Lollius Rufus, evidence of the existence of the rank system at this early date.<ref name=Gordon-1978>
{{cite journal
 |last=Gordon |first=Richard L.
 |year=1978
 |title=The date and significance of CIMRM&nbsp;593 (British Museum, Townley collection)
 |journal=[[Journal of Mithraic Studies]]
 |volume=II |pages=148–174
 |url=http://www.hums.canterbury.ac.nz/clas/ejms/out_of_print/JMSv2n2/JMSv2n2Gordon.pdf
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525042933/http://www.hums.canterbury.ac.nz/clas/ejms/out_of_print/JMSv2n2/JMSv2n2Gordon.pdf
 |archive-date=2010-05-25
}}
</ref>
}}

[[Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae|CIMRM]]<ref name=CIMRM-1960/>&nbsp;2268 is a broken base or altar from Novae/Steklen in Moesia Inferior, dated 100&nbsp;CE, showing Cautes and Cautopates.

Other early archaeology includes the Greek inscription from Venosia by Sagaris ''actor'' probably from 100&ndash;150&nbsp;CE; the Sidon ''cippus'' dedicated by Theodotus priest of Mithras to Asclepius, 140&ndash;141&nbsp;CE; and the earliest military inscription, by C.&nbsp;Sacidius Barbarus, centurion of XV Apollinaris, from the bank of the Danube at [[Carnuntum]], probably before 114&nbsp;CE.<ref name=Gordon-1978/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 150}}

According to C.M. Daniels,<ref name=Daniels-1975/> the Carnuntum inscription is the earliest Mithraic dedication from the Danube region, which along with Italy is one of the two regions where Mithraism first struck root.{{efn|
"The considerable movement [of civil servants and military] throughout the empire was of great importance to Mithraism, and even with the very fragmentary and inadequate evidence that we have it is clear that the movement of troops was a major factor in the spread of the cult. Traditionally there are two geographical regions where Mithraism first struck root: Italy and the Danube. Italy I propose to omit, as the subject needs considerable discussion, and the introduction of the cult there, as witnessed by its early dedicators, seems not to have been military. Before we turn to the Danube, however, there is one early event (rather than geographical location) which should perhaps be mentioned briefly in passing. This is the supposed arrival of the cult in Italy as a result of Pompey the Great's defeat of Cilician pirates, who practiced 'strange sacrifices of their own ... and celebrated certain secret rites, amongst which those of Mithras continue to the present time, have been first instituted by them'." (ref. Plutarch, ''Pompey'' 24–25)
:
Suffice it to say that there is neither archaeological nor allied evidence for the arrival of Mithraism in the west at that time, nor is there any ancient literary reference, either contemporary or later. If anything, Plutarch's mention carefully omits making the point that the cult was introduced into Italy at that time or by the pirates. Turning to the Danube, the earliest dedication from that region is an altar to 'Mitrhe'&nbsp;{{sic}} set up by C.&nbsp;Sacidus Barbarus, a centurion of XV&nbsp;Appolinaris, stationed at the time at Carnuntum in Pannonia (Deutsches-Altenburg, Austria). The movements of this legion are particularly informative." The article then goes on to say that XV&nbsp;Appolinaris was originally based at Carnuntum, but between 62–71&nbsp;CE transferred to the east, first in the Armenian campaign, and then to put down the Jewish uprising. Then 71–86 back in Carnuntum, then 86–105 intermittently in the Dacian wars, then 105&ndash;114 back in Carnuntum, and finally moved to Cappadocia in 114.<ref name=Daniels-1975/>
}}
The earliest dateable mithraeum outside Rome dates from 148&nbsp;CE.{{efn| The first dateable Mithraeum outside Italy is from Böckingen on the Neckar, where a centurion of the legion VIII&nbsp;Augustus dedicated two altars, one to Mithras and the other (dated 148) to Apollo.<ref name=Daniels-1975/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 263}}
}} The Mithraeum at Caesarea Maritima is the only one in Palestine and the date is inferred.{{efn|
"At present this is the only Mithraeum known in Roman Palestine."<ref name=Hopfe-1994/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 154}}
:
"It is difficult to assign an exact date to the founding of the Caesarea Maritima Mithraeum. No dedicatory plaques have been discovered that might aid in the dating. The lamps found with the ''taurectone'' medallion are from the end of the first century to the late 3rd&nbsp;century&nbsp;CE. Other pottery and coins from the vault are also from this era. Therefore, it is speculated that this Mithraeum developed toward the end of the 1st&nbsp;century and remained active until the late 3rd&nbsp;century. This matches the dates assigned to the Dura-Europos and the [[Sidon Mithraeum|Sidon Mithraea]]."<ref name=Hopfe-1994>{{cite book |first=Lewis M. |last=Hopfe |year=1994 |article=Archaeological indications on the origins of Roman Mithraism |editor-first=Lewis M. |editor-last=Hopfe |title=Uncovering Ancient Stones: Essays in memory of H. Neil Richardson |publisher=Eisenbrauns |pages=147–158}}</ref>{{rp|style=ama|p= 153}}
}}

====Earliest cult locations====
According to Roger Beck, the attested locations of the Roman cult in the earliest phase ({{circa|80–120&nbsp;CE}}) are as follows:<ref name=Beck-2004-InPlcLion/>{{rp|style=ama|pp= [https://books.google.com/books?id=SIYTfTYrs1UC&dq=%22The+attested+locations+of+the+cult+in+the+earliest+phase+%28c.+80-120%29+are+as+follows%22&pg=PA34 34–35] }}

Mithraea datable from pottery
* Nida/Heddernheim III ([[Germania]] Sup.)
* [[Roman Mogontiacum|Mogontiacum]] (Germania Sup.)
* Pons Aeni ([[Noricum]])
* [[Caesarea Maritima]] ([[Judaea]])
Datable dedications
* Nida/Heddernheim I (Germania Sup.) ([[Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae|CIMRM]]<ref name=CIMRM-1960/>&nbsp;1091, 1092, & 1098)
* Carnuntum III ([[Pannonia]] Sup.) ([[Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae|CIMRM]]<ref name=CIMRM-1960/>&nbsp;1718)
* [[Novae (fortress)|Novae]] ([[Moesia]] Inf.) ([[Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae|CIMRM]]<ref name=CIMRM-1960/>&nbsp;2268 & 2269)
* [[Oescus]] (Moesia Inf.) ([[Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae|CIMRM]]&nbsp;2250)
* Rome ([[Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae|CIMRM]]<ref name=CIMRM-1960/>&nbsp;362, 593, & 594)