Mithraeum of the Circus Maximus
The Mithraeum of the Circus Maximus is a Mithraeum in Rome . It was located opposite the west side of the Circus Maximus in the direction of the Tiber on the edge of the Forum Boarium . Today it is located under a building on Via dell'Ara Massima .
history
The public brick building from the Roman imperial era was attached to the Carceres of the Circus Maximus. It was discovered during construction in 1931.
description
The ground floor of the building is quite well preserved. It consists of five rectangular, interconnected rooms and two staircases on the side of the circus that lead to the upper floor and stretched the entire length of the building. The stairs, which covered some smaller rooms, were added in a second construction phase in the second century.
In the third century, some rooms were redesigned to accommodate a mithraium. The main entrance was probably on the east side, accessible via a corridor. Today, however, you enter the complex through a former side entrance. Through the adjoining room one could enter the actual sanctuary through a door, the Spaelum ("cave") with a small room, a kind of sacristy (apparatus) , with a niche on the right side. In this first wing, the floor with large square bricks dates from the time of Diocletian .
In the wall of the atrium there are two niches with marble bases on which two statues of the torchbearers Cautes and Cautopates must have been. On the sides two consoles held the columns of two aedicules .
This is followed by four more rooms that are connected in the middle, in the form of an "H", by a central arched opening. The benches are located here, in the two smaller rooms on the left only on the right-hand side, on which the believers sat. Here, too, there are two niches in front of the door, the right of which contains a terracotta vessel.
Under the arch is a large, buried terracotta amphora that may have been used to collect the blood of the sacrificed bulls .
The floor was covered with marble, which has been partially preserved but largely restored.
An arch opens on the back wall, and the interior is covered with pumice . Column bases and niches are also lined up here, framed by aedicules. Inside the arch, a semicircular niche made of bricks is covered with a semi-dome. The statue of Mithras will have been in a prominent position here. It is not clear where the relief with the bull-killing scene discovered during the excavation was originally located. It shows Mithras killing the bull, flanked by Cautes, Cautopates, Sol , Luna and the raven. On the left you can see Mithras carrying the slain bull on his shoulders. The inscription above bears the name of the founder:
- Deo Soli Invicto Mithrae Ti (berius) Cl (audius) Hermes ob votum dei typum d (ono) d (edit)
- (“Tiberius Claudius Hermes donated the image of the god to the undefeated god Sol Mithras on the basis of a vow”).
A second, much smaller, relief depicting the sacrifice of the bull is located in a recess on the right. Other inscriptions and dedications were found, all of which bear the names of freedmen .
literature
- Filippo Coarelli : Guide Archeologiche Roma . 5th edition. Mondadori Editore SpA, Milan 2006, ISBN 88-04-48002-5 .
Web links
Remarks
Coordinates: 41 ° 53 '17.2 " N , 12 ° 28' 58.3" E