Ursus Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 Rome, 17 June (AKI) - An 2000-year-old marble monument featuring the pagan god Mithras has been found outside Rome by Italian police who believe it was to have been illegally sold abroad. The large marble bas-relief which dates from the 2nd century AD was recovered by authorities in a house north of the capital, according to a report in the Italian daily, Il Messaggero. http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Cultu...=3.0.3437120414 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klingan Posted June 20, 2009 Report Share Posted June 20, 2009 Good thing that they got caught! I must wonder though, who wrote the article? I don't know much about the Mithras cult, not nearly as much as I would like too but: Rulers of the Roman empire worshipped Mithras for over 300 years. Oh, did they? Mithras worshippers held strong beliefs in a celestial heaven and an infernal hell, they believed in resurrection as well as judgement day and also drank wine and ate bread to symbolise the body and blood of the god. Was someone influenced by the church when writing this? And what about the ritual slaughter of bulls? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted June 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2009 Yeah, whoever wrote the article was relying on scholarship from over 100 years ago. I'm just glad they found the relief. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylla Posted June 21, 2009 Report Share Posted June 21, 2009 (edited) Rulers of the Roman empire worshipped Mithras for over 300 years.Oh, did they? More or less. In 66 AD, Tiridates of Armenia was crowned at Rome by Nero; he declared that he had come "in order to revere you [Nero] as Mithras" (Dio 63.5.2). According to Pliny (Natural History 30.1.6), Tiridates "initiated him [Nero] into magical feasts". Julian "the Apostate" (died 363) is considered by some scholars (eg, Bidez and Athanassiadi) to have regularly worshipped Mithras. Edited June 21, 2009 by sylla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted June 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2009 Rulers of the Roman empire worshipped Mithras for over 300 years.Oh, did they? More or less. In 66 AD, Tiridates of Armenia was crowned at Rome by Nero; he declared that he had come "in order to revere you [Nero] as Mithras" (Dio 63.5.2). According to Pliny (Natural History 30.1.6), Tiridates "initiated him [Nero] into magical feasts". Julian "the Apostate" (died 363) is considered by some scholars (eg, Bidez and Athanassiadi) to have regularly worshipped Mithras. Robert Turcan can't find much evidence that Senators and above had much to do with Mithraism. The vast amount of epigraphic dedications to Mithras come from common soldiers, imperial slaves, and low ranking clerks. Even if Nero and Julian were initiated in some kind of Mithraic mysteries (which some scholars doubt), that's only two out of many. It may be that the ruling classes approved of the cult, given how much it seemed to promote traditional Roman values and loyalty to the empire. But their direct involvement in the cult seems to be minimal, at least as far as the archaeological record is concerned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylla Posted June 21, 2009 Report Share Posted June 21, 2009 Even if Nero and Julian were initiated in some kind of Mithraic mysteries (which some scholars doubt), that's only two out of many. We agree, and I also find the evidence dubious at best; I was only trying to explain why the unnamed author of the article posted above might have quoted the "300 years" lapse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klingan Posted June 21, 2009 Report Share Posted June 21, 2009 Even if Nero and Julian were initiated in some kind of Mithraic mysteries (which some scholars doubt), that's only two out of many. We agree, and I also find the evidence dubious at best; I was only trying to explain why the unnamed author of the article posted above might have quoted the "300 years" lapse. Thanks for the explanation then Sylla It's appreciated, even as I am aware of the details in this case! I was simply trying to highlight the not so correct statement of the writer, but had no time to back it up. My position in the question is more or less the same as Ursus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylla Posted June 21, 2009 Report Share Posted June 21, 2009 Yeah, whoever wrote the article was relying on scholarship from over 100 years ago. The information on Mithra from that article seems to have been taken, sometimes almost verbatim, from the works of Franz Cumont (died 1947). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted June 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2009 Yeah, whoever wrote the article was relying on scholarship from over 100 years ago. The information on Mithra from that article seems to have been taken, sometimes almost verbatim, from the works of Franz Cumont (died 1947). Yeah, his work on Mithras was dated 1903. http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/mom/index.htm Still a fascinating read, though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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