Mithraism on Cities of the Underwold: Rome
May 8th, 2007 • cult, history, tv
Tonight I watched the episode of CotW which was based in Rome. Overall, things were interesting and I found it pretty amazing to see most of the structures that were on the show were still relatively in tact. Trajan’s Basilica was amazing to see. But that’s not what caught my eye. What did was the first 15 or so minutes of the show where Eric Geller got to explore a Mithraeum behind the Circus Maximus.
A museum? No. Mausoleum? Nope! A Mithraeum. It was the Mithraic place of worship built in a cave or underground. Many of these have been found in Rome and the former states of the Empire yet we do know very little about what was actually conducted in a Mithraeum. Thanks to the Avestas and Indians Vedas we know who Mithra was and what his deity entailed but we still cannot conclude what went on between the members who attended a Mithraeum. A lack of real written scripture or history attributes to this as well. The Mithraeum that Geller got to explore was in relatively good shape given the fact that it was most likely 1800 years old. Many of the walls still stood from the foundation although many of them were eroded by time. A large number of benches were still well in tact and the many rooms of the Mithraeum were also in tact. Then they panned to a votive of Mithras slaying the primordial bull during his ascent to the heavens. If it was the original that had stood since the place was still in use, it was in marvelous condition and from what I could see only had a small piece missing of the upper left corner.
The whole temple was in good condition from what they showed and was rather immense for being underground. I thought it was extremely interesting to see that this was the first segment in the show and was also the longest in the episode. For what was many people’s first introduction to Mithraism, I think it was an OK outing but did the show’s subject justice at showcasing the splendor of this underground temple.