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Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the big imperial structures — the encomienda, the mita, the feitoria system. But I wanted to take a step sideways this time and look at something that feels really different: the cult of Mithras. A mystery religion that swept through the Roman Empire, especially among soldiers and merchants, from the 1st to the 4th century AD. Luna: Mithras — I've seen those reliefs of a guy killing a bull. That's the central image, right? Lucas: Exactly. The tauroctony — Mithras slaying a sacred bull. It's everywhere in Mithraic temples, or Mithraea. And it's a strange scene: a dog, a snake, a scorpion, a raven, sometimes a lion. All part of a cosmic narrative that we only partially understand. No sacred texts survive from the cult itself — just inscriptions, artwork, and the physical remains of the temples. Luna: So we know the imagery but not the theology? Lucas: Basically. There are hints — like the so-called 'Mithras Liturgy', which is actually a 4th-century Egyptian Greek text that might incorporate Mithraic elements. And there are parallels with Zoroastrianism — the name Mithras comes from the Persian god Mithra, a deity of contracts and light. But the Roman cult was something new, probably created in the 1st century AD, maybe in the Greek East, then spread by soldiers and merchants. Lucas: What's fascinating is the cult's structure. It was a mystery religion — which means initiation, secret knowledge, and a hierarchy of seven grades. The grades are: Corax, Nymphus, Miles, Leo, Perses, Heliodromus, and finally Pater. Each grade had its own symbols, duties, and probably its own secret teachings. Luna: Seven grades — that's a lot of levels. And it was exclusively male, right? Lucas: As far as we know, yes. Women are almost never mentioned in Mithraic inscriptions. This was a soldiers' cult, a brotherhood. The Mithraeum itself was designed as a cave-like space, usually underground or semi-subterranean, with benches along the sides for ritual feasts. The tauroctony relief was always at the far end, often with torch-bearing twins — Cautes and Cautopates — one holding a torch up, the other down, symbolizing sunrise and sunset, life and death. Lucas: There's a famous Mithraeum in London, discovered in 1954 during construction on Walbrook Street. It's been reconstructed — you can still visit it. And it's tiny. Maybe 18 metres long, 8 wide. But it could hold about 30 to 40 initiates. And it was built around 240 AD, then abandoned in the early 4th century. That's the typical lifespan of these cults: they flourished under the Severan emperors in the early 200s, then declined as Christianity rose. Luna: Wait — Commodus was actually initiated into Mithras, wasn't he? Lucas: He was, according to the Historia Augusta — though that source is notoriously unreliable. But it's plausible. Commodus did have a thing for Eastern cults. And there's a relief from the Roman forum that shows him with Mithraic symbols. But the most famous Imperial connection is Julian the Apostate, the last pagan emperor. He was a devotee of Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun, which was closely tied to Mithras. Julian even wrote hymns and tried to revive the cult, but it was already fading. Luna: So what actually destroyed Mithraism? Christian persecution? Lucas: Partly. There was active destruction of Mithraea by Christians — we have evidence from Rome, from Germany. But also the cult was deeply tied to the Roman army and the imperial bureaucracy. As the Empire Christianized, that support base vanished. By the 5th century, the Mithraea were either destroyed or repurposed. The last known inscription is from 390 AD. After that, it's gone. Lucas: And yet the tauroctony image survived in medieval art — sometimes reinterpreted as a scene of Hercules or Samson. But the true meaning of Mithras, the initiations, the rituals — all lost. We have no liturgy, no prayer book, just the stones and the silence. Luna: It's strange to think that something so widespread, so important to so many people, could just vanish without leaving a single text. Lucas: It really is. But that's partly what makes it so compelling — the mystery. There's a lot of speculation, some of it wild. The 19th-century scholar Franz Cumont argued Mithraism was basically Zoroastrianism in Roman dress. Modern scholars are more cautious — they see it as a genuinely Roman creation, drawing on Persian motifs but inventing its own mythology. Lucas: One thing we do know: the cult was incredibly popular along the frontiers — the Rhine, the Danube, Hadrian's Wall. Mithraea have been found in forts from Scotland to Syria. Soldiers carried it with them. And they often dedicated altars 'to the Unconquered Sun God Mithras' — deus sol invictus Mithras. Luna: So it's a religion of empire, in a way — spread by the same military and trade networks that built Rome. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the thread that ties it back to our series. The same way Portuguese feitorias or Spanish silver routes connected distant regions, Mithraism connected soldiers from Britain to Syria through shared ritual. It's a different kind of empire-building — cultural and spiritual. Lucas: Quick honest thing — a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what funds making this many of these. No ads, just listener support. If you've been stepping into history with us episode by episode, that's where we'd be if you wanted to help keep it going. Luna: Yeah, it's a small thing that adds up. And it means we can keep diving into these forgotten corners. Lucas: Right. So back to Mithras — one of the most striking things about the cult is that it met underground, in the dark, with torchlight. The Mithraeum was a cave, real or artificial. And the tauroctony scene is always illuminated by a torch or a lamp. There's a sense of revelation — the initiate sees the bull-slaying in the flickering light. Luna: Almost like a proto-cinematic experience. Lucas: Exactly. And that's part of the power. The secrecy, the exclusivity, the brotherhood. It gave soldiers a sense of belonging and purpose beyond the legion. And when the Empire fell, the caves fell silent. But the empty Mithraea remain, scattered across Europe, waiting for us to imagine what happened there. Luna: Thanks for bringing this one to light, Lucas. I'd love to visit a Mithraeum sometime. Lucas: You should. The one in London is free, and there's a great one in Ostia, near Rome. But for now, maybe that's a seed for future curiosity. Thanks for listening.