Mithraic Art — The Mysteries of Mithra

THE monuments of Mithraism, which have been found in considerable numbers in the provinces of the Occident and even in the Orient, constitute a homogeneous group, of which it is desirable to characterize the importance for the history of Roman art. In point of fact, their artistic merit is far below that of their value as historical documents, and their chief worth is not æsthetic but religious. The late epoch in which these works were produced destroys the least hope of finding in them any expression of true creative power or of following in them the progress of any original development. But it would be unjust if, inspired by a narrow-minded Atticism, we should cast upon them all a like measure of reproach. In the absence of inventive genius, their cleverness in the adaptation of ancient motifs and the manual skill shown in their execution,--all technical qualities of which they give evidence,--would alone be sufficient to claim our attention. Some of the groups in high and low relief,--for the paintings and mosaics which have been preserved are so few and mediocre as to dispense us from speaking

of them,--hold a very honorable place in the multitude of sculptured works which the imperial period has left us, and are deserving of some consideration.

It can be proved 1 that all our representations of the tauroctonous Mithra, the hieratic figure of which was fixed before the propagation of the Mysteries in the Occident, are more or less faithful replicas of a type created by a sculptor of the school of Pergamon, in imitation of the sacrificing Victory which adorned the balustrade of the temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis. Certain marbles discovered at Rome and at Ostia (see for example, Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 10), which unquestionably go back to the beginning of the second century, still reflect the splendor of the powerful compositions of the Hellenistic epoch. After an ardent pursuit, the god captures the bull, which has fallen to the earth; with one knee on its croup and his foot on one of its hoofs, he bears down upon it, pressing it against the earth; and grasping it by the nostrils with one hand, with the other he plunges a knife into its flank. The impetuosity of this animated scene throws into high relief the agility and strength of the invincible hero. On the other hand, the suffering of the moribund victim gasping its last, with its limbs contracted in the spasms of death, the singular

mixture of exaltation and remorse depicted in the countenance of its slayer, give prominence to the pathetic side of this sacred drama, and even to-day inspire in the heart of the spectator an emotion which the faithful of old experienced in all its living power. (See Fig. 44 and also the cover-stamp of this book.)

The traditional type of torch-bearers, or dadophori, was not susceptible of a similar impassioned treatment. But one remarks, nevertheless, in the best specimens the advantageous effect which the artist has produced by the ample Phrygian garments and by emphasizing the different emotions of hope and sadness portrayed on the countenances of the two young men. We possess a remarkable reproduction of this divine couple in the two statues discovered near the Tiber, which Zoëga attributed to the epoch of Hadrian and which were possibly imported from the Orient to Italy. 1 (See Figures 47 and 48.) It will be seen how their author succeeded in offsetting the defective symmetry resulting from the fact that the two figures, which are intended as counterparts, have both their mantles fastened at the right shoulder and falling down at the right side.

The solicitous concern for details which characterizes the works of the Antonine epoch was also bestowed with more or less felicity

upon the monuments of a slightly more recent date. Consider the group of Ostia, which

Fig. 47.

MITHRAIC DADOPHORUS.

Wrongly restored as Paris.

dates from the reign of Commodus, or the bas-relief of the Villa Albani, which appears to be

contemporaneous with the first. 1 The artist delighted in multiplying the folds of the garments

Fig. 48.

MITHRAIC DADOPHORUS.

Wrongly restored as Paris.

and in increasing the undulations of the hair merely to show his skill in conquering the

difficulties which he had himself created: yet even this bizarre mannerism does not atone for the coldness of the total impression. The success of this minute execution of details is more felicitous in fragments of smaller dimensions. A small marble recently discovered in Aquileia, and reproduced in our Frontispiece is distinguished in this respect by a "bewildering cleverness of technique." The delicately carved figures are almost entirely severed from their massive base, to which they are attached only by the thinnest supports. It is a piece of artistic braggadocio in which the sculptor parades his virtuosity by producing with a brittle material the same effects that are obtained by workers in ductile metals. 1

But these comparatively perfect compositions are rare in Italy and especially so in the provinces, and it has to be acknowledged that the great mass of the Mithraic monuments is of discouraging mediocrity. The hewers and

cutters of stone--they deserve no other name--who are responsible for these productions, were often content with roughly outlining by a few strokes of the chisel the scene which they pretended to reproduce. A garish coloring then emphasized certain details. The work is sometimes so hastily executed that the contours alone are distinctly marked,, as in the hieroglyphics. It sufficed, it is true, merely to outline representations, the meaning of which every faithful devotee knew and which he completed in imagination; and it is our ignorance that feels so vividly the imperfections of these awkward and vague compositions. Still, some of the smaller bas-reliefs could never have been more than downright caricatures bordering on the grotesque, and their deformities strongly remind us of the little toy gingerbread men which are sold at our fairs.

The carelessness with which these tablets were executed is excused by their places of destination. The mystics of Mithra were wont not only to consecrate them in their temples, but also to adorn with them their modest dwelling-houses. This domestic consumption explains the enormous quantity of these monuments, which have been found wherever the cult penetrated. To satisfy the incessant demand of the faithful for these figures, the workshops in which they were carved must have produced them rapidly and in quantities.

The manufacturers of this brummagem sculpture had no other thought than that of cheaply satisfying their clientage of devotees, whose artistic tastes were far from exacting. The ancient manufacturers turned out hundreds of smaller tauroctonous Mithras, 1 just as our image-makers multiply in profusion the very same type of crucifixes and the very same Virgin Mary. It was the religious imagery of the epoch, and it was not more æsthetic than is ours to-day.

These manufacturers did not restrict themselves to the unceasing production of replicas of the same traditional type; they sought to diversify their wares, in order to recommend them to all tastes and purses. Look only at the series of ex-votos found in the mithræum of Sarmizegetusa in Dacia. 2 We find here specimens of all the models that the workshops of the place reproduced. High reliefs, which are difficult and costly, are avoided. At most, the marble was perforated in places, so as to show forth the group of the tauroctonous god. But what a wondrous variety in the small bas-reliefs which were affixed to the walls of the sanctuaries! For a mere bagatelle square tablets could be obtained bearing only

the immolation of the bull. Sometimes its value is enhanced by the addition of a sort of predella, divided into three or four smaller scenes. Again, its composition is complicated by an upper panel decorated with accessory scenes. These, finally, also occupy the borders of the monuments, and encompass on four sides the principal representation. Again, the fancy of the workman taking flight, the tauroctonous god has been enclosed in a circle ornamented with the signs of the Zodiac, or in a crown of foliage. Frames were added or omitted. Considerable ingenuity was exercised to give new forms to the sculptured plaques. They were indiscriminately square, oblong, semicircular, trapezoidal, or even round. There are no two of these pieces which are exactly alike.

If these commercial products of labor for hire have only the remotest relationship with art, they nevertheless furnish a valuable commentary upon the stone-hewing industry of antiquity. We have many proofs that a goodly portion of the sculptures intended for the provincial cities were executed during the imperial epoch at Rome. 1 This is probably the case with some of the monuments discovered in Gaul, and also for those which adorned a mithræum in London. 2 On the other hand, certain statues discovered in the capital were

presumably imported from Asia Minor. 1 The beautiful bas-reliefs of Virunum were likewise brought from abroad, probably by way of Aquileia. We know by the passion of the Four Crowned Ones the importance of the quarries of Pannonia in the third century, 2 where marble was not only quarried but worked. These stone-yards appear to have been an important center for the manufacture of Mithraic votive offerings. In any event, there are several of them, exhumed in the temples of Germany, which were unquestionably sculptured on the banks of the Danube. These facts cast an interesting light on the traffic in church ornaments during the days of paganism.

Yet the majority of the Mithraic monuments were undoubtedly executed on the spot. The matter is clear for those which were sculptured on the walls of natural rocks smoothed for the purpose,--they are unfortunately all greatly damaged,--but the proof of local manufacture for many others is also forcibly forthcoming from the nature of the stone employed. The construction of these fragments likewise

clearly reveals that they are not the handiwork of foreign masters and of some great center of art, nor even of those nomadic sculptors who traversed the land in quest of lucrative or honorific employment, but of the modest stone-cutters of some neighboring town.

The local origin of the largest monuments is best established, since their transportation would have involved both numerous risks and extravagant expenditures. Our collection of large Mithraic bas-reliefs thus constitutes a highly interesting group for the study of the provincial art of the empire. Like the mass of votive tablets that have come down to us, these sculptures, which were exhibited in the apse of the temples for the adoration of the faithful, are also far from being masterpieces of art. But they were nevertheless not executed with the same carelessness, and we feel in their presence that their authors bestowed upon them their best energies. If the artists afforded no proof of originality in the invention of subjects, they nevertheless give evidence of ingenuity in the arrangement of their figures and of their skill in handling the material.

It must not be forgotten, further, in judging of these fragments, that the painter came to the aid of the sculptor and that the brush completed what the chisel had only sketched. On the naked marble or on stone coated with

plaster, flaring colors were laid: green, blue, yellow, black, and all shades of red were wantonly intermingled. This glaring contrast of tones accentuated the main contours of the figures, and made prominent their secondary parts. In many cases the details were only indicated with the brush. Gilding, finally, emphasized certain subsidiary features. In the penumbral darkness of the subterranean crypts, the reliefs of these sculptured compositions would have been almost invisible without this brilliant polychromatic vesture. Vivid variety of coloring, moreover, was one of the traditions of Oriental art, and Lucian had already contrasted the simple and graceful forms of the Hellenic deities with the ostentatious gaudery of the gods imported from Asia. 1

The most remarkable of these sculptures have been brought to light in the north of Gaul, or, more precisely, on the Rhenish frontier. It appears that we must attribute this entire group of monuments to that interesting school of sculpture which flourished in Belgium in the second and third centuries, the productions of which unquestionably surpass those of the workshops of the south. One cannot contemplate the bas-relief of Osterburken, which is the most complete of the series, without being impressed with the wealth and the general harmony of this vast composition. The

confused impression resulting from the accumulation of personages and groups,--a defect which the Mithraic monuments show with many others of their epoch, and especially with the sarcophagi, the composition of which is generally intricate,--is here tempered by the judicious use of separating bands and frames. If we were anxious to criticize the details of these works, it would be easy to point out the disproportion of certain of their figures, the awkwardness of certain of their movements, and sometimes the stiffness of their attitudes and vestments. But these defects should not render us oblivious to the delicacy of the work here performed with a crumbling material, and especially to the praiseworthy success with which a conception of real grandeur has been realized. To attempt to represent on stone not only the gods but the cosmogony of the Mysteries and the episodes of the legend of Mithra, even to the final immolation of the bull, was an undertaking attended with great perils and is a meritorious achievement even in partial success. Even prior to this date, and particularly on the sarcophagi, instances occur where the successive moments of the drama are depicted on superposed or parallel plates, but we cannot, nevertheless, cite a single monument of Roman paganism which can be compared in this respect to our grand bas-reliefs, and for similar productions we must wait for the lengthy compositions with which

the Christian mosaicists decorated the walls of their churches.

We shall not inquire here into the origin of each one of the different representations which are portrayed upon our monuments; we shall merely observe that in spite of their variety two or even three clearly marked classes may be distinguished. Some of the figures have been borrowed outright from the traditional types of Græco-Roman art. Ahura-Mazda destroying the monsters that had risen against him is a Hellenic Zeus annihilating the giants with his bolts; Verethragna is transformed into a Hercules; Helios is a young man with long flowing hair, mounted on the usual quadriga; Neptune, Venus, Diana, Mercury, Mars, Pluto, Saturn, are shown to us in their ordinary aspect with the garb and attributes which are known to have been theirs from time immemorial. Similarly, the Winds, the Seasons, and the Planets had been personified long before the propagation of Mithraism, and the latter cult had only to reproduce in its temples the models that had long since been made popular.

On the other hand, one personage at least is a transformation of an Asiatic archetype; this is the leontocephalous, or lion-headed, Kronos. (See Figs. 20-23.) Like the majority of his compeers, this animal-headed monster is a creation of the Oriental imagination. His genealogy would doubtless carry us back to

Fig. 49.

MITHRAIC KRONOS, OR PERSONIFICATION OF INFINITE TIME.

Surrounded by the signs of the Zodiac (see p. 121). In the corners the gods of the Winds. Here represented without the head of a lion, which appears on the breast of the figure. A Roman beautification of the horrific features of the Oriental god. (Bas-relief of Modena, Rev. arch., 1902, I., p. 1.)

the period of Assyrian sculpture. But the artists of the Occident, having to represent a deity entirely strange to the Greek Pantheon, and being untrammelled by the traditions of any school, gave free rein to their fancy. The various transformations to which they subjected his figure were in part influenced by religious considerations, which tended to complicate the symbolism of this deified abstraction and to multiply more and more his attributes, and in part by an æsthetic solicitude to soften as much as possible the monstrous character of this barbaric personage, and thus gradually to humanize it. Ultimately they suppressed the lion's head, and contented themselves with representing this animal by its feet only, or with placing the head of the beast on the figure's breast. (See Fig. 49)

The leontocephalous god of Eternity is the most original creation of Mithraic art, and if it is totally destitute of the charm of grace, its unwonted aspect and the suggestive accumulation of its attributes awakened curiosity and provoked reflection. With the exception of this god of Time, we can establish the Oriental origin of certain emblems only, like the Phrygian bonnet topping a staff, or the sphere surmounted by an eagle representing the Heavens. As the Mithra immolating the bull, so also the other scenes in which this hero appears as actor, are unquestionably in greater part the transpositions of motifs popular in the

Hellenistic epoch, although we are unable in every case to rediscover the original which the Roman marble-cutter imitated or the elements which he combined in his composition. As for the rest, the artistic value of these

Fig. 50.

BIRTH OF ERICHTHONIOS.

From a Greek vase. (Baumeister.)

adaptations is generally very slight. We have only to compare the lifeless group of Mithra issuing from the rock (Fig. 30) with the animated picture of the birth of Erichthonios as it is portrayed on Greek vases (see, for example, Fig. 50) to note the superior artistic effect which the ancient Hellenic ceramists could produce from a similar theme. The poverty

of the innovations which the Mithraic iconography introduced contrasts painfully with the importance of the religious movement that provoked them. We have, in this, an additional corroboration of the fact that in the epoch in which the Persian Mysteries spread throughout the empire, the ancient sculpture was doomed beyond recall. Whereas, during the Hellenistic period, sculptors were still able to conceive new forms felicitously adapted to the character of the Egyptian divinities, under the empire, on the other hand, the majority of the Mazdean gods, despite their very peculiar nature, were compelled, whether or no, to take on the form and the garb of the denizens of Olympus. And if for some of these strange subjects new types were actually invented, they were in every instance distressingly commonplace. The superabundant wealth inherited from the ancient generations had enervated the generative potencies of art; and, accustomed to draw from these rich stores, art had grown incapable of all individual productivity.

But we should be wrong in exacting from the adepts of Mithraism something which they never made the pretense of offering. The religion which they preached was not a cult of beauty, and love of plastic form would doubtless have appeared to them a vain, if not a condemnable, taste. Religious emotion alone was of consequence in their eyes, and to

awaken it they addressed themselves mainly to the reason. In spite of the many appropriations which it made from the treasury of types created by Greek sculptors, Mithraic art rested at heart Asiatic, like the Mysteries of which it was the expression. Its predominating idea was not to provoke an aesthetic impression; it aimed not to fascinate, but to tell its mission and to instruct,--faithful in this also to the traditions of the ancient Orient. The jumbled mass of personages and groups which are presented on some of the bas-reliefs, the host of attributes with which it surcharged the eternal Kronos, 1 show us that a new ideal was born with the new religion. These uncouth and unappealing symbols, the manifold use of which our monuments exhibit, did not allure by their elegance or nobility; they fascinated the mind by the disquieting attractions of the Unknown, and provoked in souls reverential fear for an august mystery.

Thus is explained why this art, extremely refined despite its imperfections, exercised a lasting influence. It was united to Christian art by an affinity of nature, and the symbolism which it had popularized in the Occident did not perish with it. Even the allegorical figures of the cosmic cycle which the devotees of the Persian god had reproduced in great profusion (for nature was for them divine throughout) were adopted by Christianity,

although in essence they were diametrically opposed to its spirit. So with the images of the Heavens, the Earth, and the Ocean, of the Sun, the Moon, and the Planets, and of the signs of the Zodiac, of the Winds, the Seasons, and the Elements, so frequent on the Christian sarcophagi, the mosaics, and miniatures.

The mediocre compositions which the artists had conceived to represent the episodes of the legend of Mithra appeared also worthy of imitation to the Christian ages, which were even more powerless than their predecessors to shake off the traditions of the workshops. When, after the triumph of the Church, Christian sculptors were confronted with subjects hitherto unattempted, and found themselves under the embarrassing obligations of depicting on stone the personages and stories of the Bible, they were happy in the opportunity of being able to draw inspiration from the portrayals which the Persian Mysteries had popularized. A few alterations in costume and attitude transformed a pagan scene into a Christian picture. Mithra discharging his arrows against the rock became Moses causing the waters of the mountain of Horeb to gush forth; the Sun, raising his ally out of the Ocean, served to express the ascension of Elijah in the chariot of fire; and to the time of the Middle Ages the type of the tauroctonous god was perpetuated in the images of Samson rending the lion.

Footnotes

209:1 In the original this chapter appeared as an Appendix. We have given it an independent place in this edition.--Tr.

210:1 Compare my large work, Textes et Monuments figurés relatifs aux Mystères de Mithra, Vol. II., pp. 180 et seq.

211:1 T. et M., Mon. 27, Plate II, opposite p. 209, Vol. II. Conmut thinks these statues are prior to Hadrian.

213:1 T. et M. Mon. 79, Fig. 67; and Mon. 38, Fig. 45.

214:1 M. von Schneider, loc. cit., Vol. II., p. 488, who sees in this composition "ein verblüffendes technisches Geschick," compares it with the relief on the base of the Antonine column (Brunn, Denkmäler gr. u. röm. Skulptur, Pl. 210b), and a bas-relief of the Campo Santo of Pisa (Dütschke, Bildwerke in Ober-Italien, I., No. 60), and the bust of Commodus in the Palais des Conservateurs (Helbig, Führer, second ed., No. 524). The same application of the technique of metal-working to marble may be noticed in two admirably preserved busts which were discovered at Smyrna and are to-day to be found in the Museum at Brussels (Catal. des antiquitées acquises par les musées royaux depuis le 1er janvier 1900, Bruxelles, 1901, Nos. 110-111).

216:1 The absence of machinery naturally excluded any absolute resemblance, but some of our bas-reliefs are certainly from the same hand or at least from the same workshop. Cf. T. et M., Vol. II., Mon. 45 and 46; Figs. 85 and 95, Fig. 87; 192 and 192 bis; 194 and 195.

216:2 T. et M. Vol. II., Nos. 138 to 183.

217:1 Friedländer, Sittengeschichte, Vol. III., p. 280.

217:2 T. et M., Vol. II., Mon. 267 and the note on p. 390.

218:1 T. et M., Vol. II., Mon. 235 and the note on p. 338. Cf. supra, p. 122, Fig. 26.

218:2 Wattenbach, Passio sanct, quatuor coronat., with the notes of Benndorf and Max Büdinger, 1870; cf. Friedländer, op. cit., p. 282. A new text has been published by Wattenbach, Sitzungsb. Akad., Berlin, XLVII., 1896, p. 1281 et seq. There still exists of this work an unpublished Greek translation; cf. Analecta Bollandiana, XVI., 1897, p. 337.

220:1 Lucian, Jup. trag., § 8.

227:1 Cf. p. 139, Fig. 35, and p. 105 et seq.

Absolutism, theory of, 90, 101

Abstinence, 160.

Adam-Klissi, 43.

Adige, river, 73.

Adriatic, Mithraism along the coasts of the, 67.

Æon, 105 et seq. (See Kronos.)

Agri Decumates, 52, 83, 199.

Ahriman, 7, 112, 137, 140; the destruction of the world by, 146.

Ahura-Mazda, 5 et seq., 20, 27, 94, 113, 222.

Alexander the Great, 12, 20, 192.

Alexandria, 92.

Alps, Mithraism in defiles of the, 72.

Amshaspands, 2, 5.

Anâhita, 8 et seq., 10, 20, 179 et seq.

Anaïtis, 112.

Anangke, 111.

Anauni, tribe of the, 206.

Animal disguises, 153.

Animals and stars, 122.

Antiochus of Commagene, 13, 14, 26, 27, 95.

Apathy, stoic, 161.

Apotheosis of the emperors, 90 et seq.

Apuleius, 164.

Apulum, 45, 139.

Aquileia, Mithraism in, 67 et seq., 73, 213.

Aquincum, 46.

Arcana, the secrecy of the, 172.

Archer, the divine, 138, 197, 228.

Arete, 112.

Aristocracy and Mithraism, the Roman, 81 et seq., 205.

Ark, 138.

Armenia, Mithraism in, 16.

Armenians, religion of the, 16.

Army, the principal agent of the diffusion of the Mithraic religion, 40 et seq.

Arshtât, 5.

Artagnes, 111.

Artaxerxes, 8, 9.

Artemis Tauropolos, 20.

Art, Mithraic, 24, 200 et seq. intricacy of, 221; symbolism of, 227; its influence on Christian sculpture, 196; Christianity adopts symbols of, 228.

Art of the empire, provincial, 219.

Ascension, Mithraic, 194.

Asceticism, 141.

Asha, 112.

Ashi-Vañuhi, 5.

Asia Minor, Mithraism in, 11 et seq.; resists the civilization of Rome, 35.

Asia Propria, 79

Asia, religions of, and the Cæsars, 91.

Astarte at Rome, 34.

Astrolatry, 10.

Astrologers, 78, 85.

Astrology, 119, 125, 207.

Atar, 112.

Athena Nike, 210.

Atlas, 123.

Attis, 87, 105, 179, 198.

Aurelian, 88, 103, 185, 199.

Aurelius, Marcus, 37.

Austerities, 160.

Avesta, the, 1 et seq.

Ba'al, 42.

Baal of Emesa, 185.

Babylon, Mithraism in, 9, 10, 119.

Bacchus, 112.

Bactrian coins, 19.

Banquets, sacred, 173.

Baptism, 6, 157, 190, 173.

Baresman, 6, 26.

Basil, St., 28.

Bavay, 56.

Bear, title of, 153.

Bee, lion and, 185.

Bêl, 10.

Belgium, early school of sculpture of, 220.

Bellona, 35, 87.

Bell, sounding of a, 166.

Bethlehem, 195.

Bithynia, 79.

Blood, baptism of, 181.

Bologna, 151.

Bonn, 52.

Borghesi bas-relief, 21.

Boulogne, 56.

Bread and water, consecrated, 158.

Brenner pass, 73.

Britain, Mithraism in, 57 et seq., 79.

Brotherhoods, Mithraic, organization of, 168.

Brothers, 190.

Brunn, 214.

Bull, capture of the wild, 132, 135 et seq., 210; immolation of the mythical, 182; the Evil Spirit and the, 137; the divine, 146, 194.

Bundahish, 7.

Burial associations, 86.

Caërleon, 57.

Cæsarism, democratic fiction of, 90.

Cæsars, intimate alliance of, with the Sun, 98 et seq.; religions of Asia and the, 91; the successive Avatars of Helios (the Sun), 100; Mithraism favored the pretensions of the, 101.

Cæsar, the genius of, 93.

Calabria, 71.

Caligula, 93.

Capitol, bas-relief of, 81.

Cappadocia, Magi and Mithraism in, 26, 28, 42, 43, 46, 76.

Carnuntum, 38, 46, 47 et seq., 83, 88, 89, 163, 178, 200.

Catechumens, Christian, 155.

Catharsis, 141.

Cause, the suprasensible, 118.

Cauti, 129.

Cautopati, 129.

Caves, consecrated to the gods, 30.

Celibacy, 165.

Celsus, 82.

Cemetery, Mithraic, 171.

Centurions, a microcosm of the empire, 40, 41.

Ceramists, Hellenic, 225.

Ceremonial, the occult, 162 et seq.

Chaldæans, theology of the, 10; as astrologers, 78, 95; theories, influence of their, 119.

Chester, 57.

Chosroes, vi.

Christ, 193, 195.

Christianity, battle between idolatry and, iii et seq.; struggle between Mithraism and, 188 et seq.; resemblances between Mithraism and, 193; differences between Mithraism and, 197; adopts symbols of Mithraic art, 228.

Christians, persecutions of, 200.

Christmas, 167, 191, 196, 202.

Chrysostomos, Dion, 25.

Church ornaments during the days of paganism, 218.

Cilicia, pirates of, 31, 35, 37, 42.

Clergy, Mithraic, 150 et seq., 165.

Cologne, 52.

Coloring of Mithraic statues, 219.

Colt, title of, 153.

Commagene, 41, 43, 178.

Commandments of Mithraism, 140.

Commerce, international, 79.

Commodus, 38, 83, 87, 97, 212.

Communion, the Mithraic, 158 et seq., 194.

Compromise, Mithraic policy of, 198.

Conflagration, 138.

Congregations, Mithraic, 169.

Constantine, 200.

Constantius, 201.

Constellations, worship of the Planets and the, 148.

Continence, 41.

Conventicles, the Mithraic, 171.

Corbulo, 47.

Creator, Mithra the, 137.

Crown, the, 156.

Ctesias, 9.

Cybele, 17, 30, 87, 112, 179.

Dacia, Mithraism in, 44 et seq., 139, 199.

Dadophori, 57. (See Torchbearers.)

Dalmatia, 40, 76.

Danube, 44, 51.

Darkness, the Spirit of, and his pestilential scourges, 137.

Day and night, struggle between, 4.

Dead, resurrection of the, 191.

Dea Syria at Rome, 35.

Deities, sidereal, 120; septuple division of the, 155.

Deliverance, 143.

Deluge, 138.

Despotism, 90, 91 et seq.

Destiny, 95, 109, 110, 124.

Devotees, Mithraic, 150 et seq.

Diadochi, Mithraism and the, 11 et seq.

Diana, 112.

Diocletian, vi, 48, 89, 98, 200.

Dioscuri, the, 123 et seq.

Disc, the radiant, 100.

Divine flame, 26.

Dog of Mithra, the, 135, 137.

Dolichenum, 178.

Dolichenus, Jupiter, 36, 48, 178, 190.

Dormagen, 52.

Drave, Mithraism in valley of the, 73.

Drvâspa, 112.

Dualism, advantages of, 141.

Earth, mother, 115.

Ecliptic, 107.

Egypt, a theocratic government, 91.

Eisack, 73.

Elements, the four, 116 et seq., 148.

Elijah, 228.

Emperors, titles of, 97; worship of the, 90 et seq., 184.

Equinoxes, 167.

Erichthonios, birth of, 225.

Eternity, leontocephalous god of, the most original creation of Mithraic art, 224.

Etruria, 67, 72.

Eubulus, 82.

Eugenius, 205.

Europe, in danger of being Asiaticized, vi.

Eutropius, 44.

Evil Spirit and the Bull, the, 137.

Fatalism, 97, 147.

Fatality, 95, 109; belief in, 124.

Fates, 111.

Father, degree of, 152 et seq.

Father of the Fathers, 165, 177.

Festivals, Mithraic, 167.

Fire, 114; the inextinguishable, 99.

Flavianus, Nicomachus, 205.

Fleet at Ravenna, 46.

Flood, 191. (See Deluge.)

Fortuna regia, 97.

Fortune, 94 et seq., 102, 111.

Four Crowned Ones, passion of the, 218.

France, Mithraism in, 69.

Freemasonry, 162.

Friedberg, 52.

Friedländer, 217.

Future life, 144.

Galatia, 79.

Galerius, 89, 200.

Gâthas, 150.

Gaul, Mithraism in, 69 et seq., 79.

Generative Rock, the, 131 et seq., 194.

Geneva, 56, 70.

Genius of Cæsar, the, 93.

George the patriarch, 202.

Germanies, Mithraism in the two, 50 et seq., 52 et seq., 78.

Gigantomachy, 112, 113, 127.

Gilding, 220.

Glory, 94 et seq.

God, 187.

God, the passion of the, 192.

Gods, Iranian, worshipped under Greek and Latin names, 175.

Good and evil, the struggle between the principles of, 146.

Good, principle of, 148.

Gordianus III., 18, 32.

Gracchus, the prefect, 203.

Grace (halo), 94 et seq.; the Mithraic spirit of, 147.

Gratian, 205.

Greeks and Persians, iii.

Hadrian, 40, 46; wall of, 57.

Haoma, 6, 112, 131, 158.

Heaven, 109, 191, 197.

Heavens, the, 121, 138.

Heddernheim, 53 et seq., 117.

Heidelberg, 55.

Helbig, 214.

Heliogabalus, 185.

Heliolatry, 184 et seq., 200.

Helios, 22, 138, 222.

Hell, 191, 206.

Hellenism, Iranism and, 20.

Heracles, C. Valerius, 105.

Hercules, 20, 111, 127, 222.

Hierarchy, the, 165.

Holy water, 157.

Honey, 157.

Hooerkes, 19.

Horeb, rock of, 197.

Horses, the four, 116 et seq.

Human couple, the first, 137.

Hvarenô, 94 et seq., 102.

Iconography, Mithraic, 226.

Idolatry, destruction of, 201.

Imagery, religious, 216.

Immortality, 143.

Initiates, the Mithraic, 155.

Initiation, 6; seven degrees of, 152; cruelty of the ceremonies of, 161.

Invictus, the epithet, 98.

Invincible, the epithet, 97 et seq., 143.

Iranism and Hellenism, 20.

Iran, naturalism of, 119.

Ishtar, 10.

Isis, Mysteries of, 178; at Rome, 34.

Italy, depopulated, 64; Mithraism in, 38, 70 et seq.

Janes, S. H., 176.

Jerome, St., 152.

Jerusalem, capture of, 37.

Jesus, life of, 194.

Jewish community trans Tiberim, 37.

Journey, the, 135.

Judaism, iv.

Julian the Apostate, 89, 201 et seq.

Juno, 111.

Jupiter, 110, 136.

Jupiter-Ormazd, 140, 146.

Kanerkes, 19.

Klagenfurt, 113.

Kronos, 105 et seq., 153, 162, 222, 223, 227.

Lambæse, 58.

Lampridius, 78, 83.

Last Supper, the, 138.

Latin world, diffusion of the Mithraic religion in the, 36.

Legio II adjutrix, 46.

Legion, fifteenth, 47 et seq.

Leontocephalous Kronos. (See Kronos.)

Licinius, 89.

Life, a battle, 140; beyond the tomb, 148.

Lion and bee, 185.

Lion, degree of, 152.

Lion-headed Kronos. (See Kronos.)

Liturgy Mazdean and Mithraic, 6, 150 et seq.

Livianus, slave of T. Claudius 38.

Logos, the, 140, 191.

Lord's Supper, the, 138, 158, 191.

Love feasts, 160.

Lucania, 71.

Lucian, 27, 82, 220.

Luna, 112. (See Moon.)

Lyons, 60, 69.

Mâ 30, 180.

Macrobius, 187.

Magician, the word, 126.

Magi, the official Persian clergy, 9; in Asia Minor, 11 et seq., 20; propaganda of, 15; adoration of the, 195.

Magus, the title, 126.

Malachi, 193.

Manichæans, the, 165.

Manichæism, v, 207.

Man, origin and destiny of, 120.

Mars, 112.

Martyrs, Oriental, 175.

Masks, sacred, 153.

Mater, Magna, at Rome, 19, 34, 67; Mithraism associated with, 86 et seq., 179 et seq. (See Mother, Great.)

Mauls, 73.

Maximus of Ephesus, 202, 203.

Mayence, 52.

Mazdaism, ritual forms of, 28; priests of, 29; its influence on Occidental culture, iv; a congeries of traditions, 10; in Italy, 15; in Armenia, 16. (See Mithraism.)

Mediator, 140, 191.

Memphis, Mithra at, 33.

Men, Mithra and, 17.

Merchants disseminate Mithraism, 78.

Mercury, 112.

Metempsychosis, 153.

Metroon, 179, 182.

Middle Zone, 127.

Mihragân, the, 9.

Milan, 72.

Minerva, 112, 181.

Missal, a Mithraic, 152.

Mithra-Ahura, 2, 6.

Mithra-Anâhita, 17.

Mithra-Men, 17.

Mithra, the god of light, 2 et seq., 127 et seq.; as god of hosts and victory, 4, 8, 12; doctrine of redemption by, 5; a yazata, 5 et seq.; in the calendar, 8, 27; Shamash and, 10; King Antiochus and, 14; typical representations of, 21 et seq.; the tauroctonous, 21 et seq., 210, 216; legends and deeds of, 30, 127 et seq., 133; the invincible Sun identified with, 95, 121, 132; the mediator, 127 et seq.; the triple, 129; born from the rock, 130 et seq.; his combat with the bull, 132, 135 et seq., 210; his dog, 135, 137; the creator, 137, 140; the guide to heaven, 145; causing the living waters to leap forth, 197, 228.

Mithradates, the name. (See Mithridates.)

Mithræums, ruins of, 203.

Mithraism, the origins of, 1 et seq., 30; a composite religion, 31;

analysis of the constituent elements of, 30; Semitic theories in, 10; religious survivals in, 30; struggle between Christianity and, v, 188 et seq.; resemblances between Christianity and, 193; differences between Christianity and, 197; dissemination of, in the Roman Empire, 33 et seq.; army principal agent of diffusion of, 40 et seq., 60, 77, 78; disseminated by Syrian merchants and slaves, 61 et seq., 63 et seq., 69, 74 et seq., 78; imperial officers disseminated, 74 et seq.; the Roman aristocracy and, 81 et seq., 205; the imperial power of Rome and, 85 et seq.; reasons the Roman Empire supported it, 88 et seq.; despotism and, 91 et seq.; favored the pretensions of the Cæsars, 101; dogmatology of, tended to lift princes above the level of humankind, 102; at its apogee, 15, 84 et seq., 88 et seq., 177, 199; the doctrines of, 104 et seq.; its theology, 105 et seq.; astrology and, 125; its liturgy, clergy and devotees, 150 et seq.; the religions of the empire and, 175 et seq.; importance of its history, vi; philosophy and, 25; the Stoic philosophy and, 25; excluded from the Hellenic world, 33; Roman tolerance of, 85; associated with the religion of the Magna Mater (Great Mother), 86 et seq.; legal status of, 86; sacred poetry of, 126; commandments of, 140; a religion of soldiers, 142; satisfied the hearts of the simple-minded, 148; allurements of, 149; conforms religion to ancient science, 149; offers opportunities for prayer and motives for veneration, 149; the religious expression of the physics and astronomy of the Roman world, 149; admission to, 156; stupendous illusions of, 173; women and, 173; its priests, 175; its policy of compromise, 198; its temples sacked, 199, 203; downfall of, 203 et seq.; its art, sculpture, etc., 209 et. seq.; monuments of, 43 et seq., 209 et seq.; not a cult of beauty, 226.

Mithrakana, the, 9, 167.

Mithridates, 13.

Mithridates Eupator, 31.

Mitra-Varuna, 2.

Mœsia, Mithraism. in, 40, 43, 74.

Monachism, Mithraic, 165.

Monarchical power, Mazdean ideas concerning, 95.

Monarchs, majesty of, sacred, 93.

Monotheism, 87, 188.

Moon, worship of the, 119.

Mosaicists, Christian, 222.

Moses, 197, 228.

Mothers, order of, 179.

Mother, the Great, 19. (See Mater, Magna.)

Mysteries, the term, 29.

Myths, origin of, 187.

Nabarze, 142, 143, 150.

Nama, Nama Sebesio, 151.

Names, theophorous or god-bearing, 8, 34.

Narbonne, 69.

Natalis invicti. (See Christmas.)

Nativity, the, 196.

Naturalism of Iran, 119.

Necessity, 126.

Necromancy, 125.

Neo-Platonism, 184.

Neo-Pythagorism, 184.

Neptune, 111, 115.

Nero, 85, 93.

Nersæ, 38, 71.

Neuenheim, 55.

Neuwied, 52.

Nike, 112.

Noricum, Mithraism in, 49, 73, 75, 113.

Numidia, Mithraism in, 59.

Oblations of milk, oil, and honey, 26.

Occult, degree of, 152.

Ocean, 109, 115.

Officers, imperial, disseminate Mithraism, 74 et seq.

Oglia, river, 72.

Oneiromancy, 125.

Orestes, 20.

Oriental, cults, persecutions of the, 85; genius, triumphs over the Roman mind, 90; traffic, extension of, and spread of Mithraism, 69, 70.

Ormazd, v, 7, 111.

Osrhoene, 36.

Osterburken, 51, 220.

Ostia, 38, 66, 68, 105, 179, 210, 212.

Ox, title of, 153.

Pallas, 82.

Pannonia, Mithraism in, 46 et seq., 74, 199; quarries of, 218.

Pantheism, 149; solar, 188.

Pantheon, Mithraic, 109.

Paradise, 191.

Pâreñdî, 5.

Parseeism, development of, 15.

Parthians, 42, 47, 64.

Pergamon, 12; School of, 24, 192, 210.

Persian, degree of, 152.

Persians and Greeks, iii.

Persians, their apotheosis of their rulers, 93.

Petronell, 163.

Pharaohs, incarnations of the great day-star, 92.

Philippus, 88.

Philosophical conceptions, 148.

Philosophy and Mithraism, 25.

Phrygian cap, 131.

Piræus, 33.

Planets, 222; deified, 120 et seq.; and the Constellations, worship of the, 148.

Plutarch, 7, 36, 37, 96.

Pluto, 112.

Pompey, 37.

Pontiff, the chief, 165.

Pontus, 42.

Porphyry, 155, 158.

Pozzuoli, 64.

Prætextatus, 187.

Priesthood, Mazdean, 29.

Priests of Mithra, 175; slain, 205.

Pronaos, 170.

Ptolemies, 93.

Ptolemy, 10.

Purification, 181.

Purity, 141.

Puster-Thal. 73.

Quadriga, 116, 118, 138.

Râ, 92.

Radiate crown, 99.

Rashnu, 5.

Raven, degree of, 152 et seq.

Ravenna, fleet at, 46.

Redeemer, the, 193, 195.

Redemption, 143.

Resurrection of the flesh, 146, 171, 191, 206.

Revelation, 191.

Réville, Jean, 17.

Rhætia, 73.

Rhone, 69 et seq.

Ritual of Mazdaism, 28.

Rock, Mithra born from the, 130 et seq.; of generation, 194.

Roman aristocracy, Mithra and, 81 et seq.

Roman Emperors and theocracy, 90.

Roman tolerance of Mithraism, 85.

Rome, 210, 217; Mithraism at, 79 et seq.; the capital of paganism, 205.

Runner of the Sun, degree of. 152 et seq.

Sabazius-Anaïtis, 17.

Sacraments, 156, 157, 206.

Sacred bath, 180.

Sacrifice, the, 137, 166.

Sæculum, (See Kronos.)

Samson, 228.

Sarmizegetusa, 45, 142, 216.

Sarrebourg, 56, 204.

Sassanian kings, 100.

Saturn, Mithraic, 105 et seq. (See Kronos.)

Scarbantia, 49.

Schneider, Von, 214.

Schwarzerden, 56.

Scorpion, sign of the, 129.

Scotland, 43.

Sculpture, Mithraic, 196, 215; ancient, 226.

Seasons, the, 115, 121, 222.

Sebesio, Nama, Nama, 151.

Seleucidæ, the, 95.

Semitic theories in Mithraism, 10.

Serapis at Rome, 34.

Services, Mithraic, 162.

Seven spheres, the, 144.

Seven, the number, 120 et seq., 154.

Severus, Alexander, 18, 61, 78, 88.

Shahrîvar, 112.

Shamash, 10, 20, 121, 127, 128.

Shepherds, worship of the, 32, 194.

Sicily, Mithraism in, 68.

Sidereal influences, 206.

Silvanus, 66, 112, 136, 137.

Sisters, order of, 179.

Skeleton, Chained, 204.

Slaves, Asiatic, disseminated Mithraism and other Oriental cults, 63 et seq., 70, 71, 78.

Smyrna, 214.

Societies, Mithraic, 170.

Sodalicia, 168, 171.

Solar, divinities, 99, 121; pantheism, 188.

Soldier, degree of, 152; Roman his religion, 42 et seq.

Soldiers, the principal agent of the diffusion of the Mithraic religion, 40 et seq., 78.

Sol invictus, cult of the, 89.

Sol the sun-god, 186.

Soul, immortality of, 143, 191.

Spain, Mithraism in, 59, 60, 79.

Spelæa, 161.

Speñta-Armaîti, 111.

Sraosha, 5.

Stars, worship of, 119; animals and, 122.

Statius, 37.

Stoic philosophy, Mithraism and the, 25, 184.

Stone-hewing industry of antiquity, 217.

Strabo, 11, 26.

Strassburg, 52.

Sunday, 101.

Sun, worship of the, 118, 183 et seq.; the invincible, identified with Mithra, 95, 121; Mithra and the, 132; intimate alliance of the Cæsars with the, 98 et seq.; consubstantiality of the emperor with, 101; birth of the, 167; of justice, 193; custom of invoking the, 195; also 128, 138, 148, 201.

Symbolism, astronomical, 130.

Syncretism, religious, 10-22, 187.

Syrian merchants disseminated Mithraism, 61 et seq.

Syrians, character and occupations of, 62 et seq.

Tarsus, 31, 32.

Taurobolium, 86, 180.

Tauroctonous, or bull-slaying, Mithra, the, 21 et seq.

Taurus, constellation of, 129.

Temples sacked, Mithraic, 199, 203.

Tertullian, 157, 165, 188.

Themis, 111.

Theocracy, Roman emperors and, 90.

Theodosius, 205.

Theologies, of the Orient and the philosophies of Greece, 14; the Mithraic, 147.

Theophorous, or god-bearing, names, 8, 34.

Thiasi, 155.

Time, 148, 153; boundless, 105 et seq.; infinite, 112, 121. (See Kronos.)

Titus, 47, 64.

Torch-bearers, 57, 68, 128 et seq., 211 et seq.

Toronto Mithra, the, 176.

Trajan, 44, 48, 64.

Trapezus, coins of, 18.

Trent, 73.

Treves, 56.

Trials, 160.

Trinity, v, 176; Mithraic, 111.

Triple Mithra, the, 129.

Twigs, sacred (baresman), 6, 26.

Tyche, 94 et seq.

Unction, 157.

Vanaiñiti, 112.

Vedas, 1 et seq.

Vendidad, the, 26.

Venus, 112, 181.

Venusia, 71.

Verethraghna, 5, 20, 127, 222.

Vespasian, 46, 47, 77.

Veterans disseminate Mithraism, 77.

Vienna, 49.

Villa Albani, 212.

Virunum, 50, 73, 113, 199, 218.

Vulcan, 112, 114.

Water, 114.

West, 7.

Winds, the, 197, 222, 223.

Witchcraft, 125.

Women in Mithraism, 173.

World, origin and destiny of the, 109, 120, 140.

Yazatas, 5 et seq., 175.

York, 57.

Zeno, 25.

Zervan, 105 et seq., 125. (See Kronos.)

Zeus, 111, 222; Ahura-Mazda and, 20.

Zodiac, signs of the, 109, 121 et seq., 153, 223.

Zoroaster, 152.

Zoroastrianism, 2 et seq., 8, 165. (See Mithraism.)