The Mithraic cult has its origins in Iran (Persia). But it penetrated in other countries too and in the first century after Christ, when it had changed to a mystery religion, it also became very populair in the Roman empire. Soldiers and merchants were often partisans. For Mithras was the god of statestructure, the truth and the crusade against evil.
A mystery religion
Mystery religion meaned that the Mithraic cult maintained strict secrecy about its teachings and practices, revealing them only to initiates. But it's more important that people first had to participate in an initation ceremony to become a member of the cult. This all causes very few information about the Mithraic Cult and not some book, like the Bible for Christianity. The few texts that do refer to the cult come not frome Mithraic devotees themselves, but rather from outsiders such as early Church fathers, who mentioned Mithraism in order to attack it.
We can also learn some things from the Mithraic temples, called Mithraea, because of the images you can find in the Mithraea.
The Mithraea
The Mithraea were build in the shape of a rock. Sometimes these temples were specially build for this purpose, but often they were build in buildings with another function (e.g. a bathhouse or a private house).
Mithraea were longer than they were wide, mostly around ten to twelve meters long and for to six meters wide. The entrance was placed at one of the short sides. Roman couches, clinia or podia, lined the long sides and were suited for thirty to fourthy people. Between the benches an aisle ran to the end of the temple where you could find a representation of Mithras killing a bull. The sides of the temple showed other representations, for example Mithras' birth from a rock or Mithras dragging the bull to a cave.
There were many hundreds of Mithraic temples in the Roman empire. The greatest concentrations have been found in the city of Rome and in those places in the empire where Roman soldiers were stationed. About fifty are preserved in Rome, for example under the church San Clemente or the Santa Prisca.
Mithras
Mithras was the personification of the light conquering the darkness. Mithras was born from a rock representing heaven or the top of a mountain. This is why Mithraea were build in a rock shape.
Mithras' most important action was sacrificing the bull, symbol of evil in the world and the first one born. In the fight Mithras is helped by a dog. But the god of evil sends a snake and a scorpion, which attacks the bull's testicles. In spite of this Mithras conquers the bull. The bull's blood flowing away creates all live in the world and the scorpion's fluids create evil in the world.
Mithras kills the bull
In each Mithraic temple there was a scene showing Mithras killing the bull and hardly all of them are almost the same.
Mithras is clad in a tunic, a pair of trousers (typically Persian), a cloak and a pointed cap, a Phrygian cap. He faces the viewer while half-straddling the back of a bull, yanks the bull's head back by its nostrils with his left hand, and plunges a dagger into the bull's throat with his right hand. Various figures surround this event. Under the bull a dog laps at the blood dripping from the wound and a scorpion attacks the bull's testicles. Often the bull's tail ends in wheat ears and a raven is perched on the bull's back. On the left stands a diminutive male figure, named Cautes, wearing the same clothes as Mithras and holding an upraised and burning torch. Above him, in the upper left corner, is the sun god, Sol. On the left there is another diminutive male figure, Cautopates, who is also clad as Mithras is and holds a torch that points downwards and is sometimes burning. Above him in the upper right corner is Luna, the moon. Each figure and element in the scene, except the sun and the moon, correlates to the planets recognized by the ancient Romans.
The members of the Mithraic cult
To become a member of the cult you had to participate in an initation ceremony. How this worked is not completely clear, but I will try to describe it.
The naked and blindfolded candidate had to kneel to a helmed figure, who tested him with a burning torch (how is unknown). Handcuffed the candidate kneeled nexto a sword, while a priest was holding a crown above his head. At last the candidate was looking to a round bread. What the meaning of all these things was is unknown because there are just representations about this.
The structure of the cult was hierarchical. Members went through a series of seven grades, each of which had a special symbol and a tutelary planet. From lowest to highest these grades were Corax (raven and Mercury), Nymphus (young husband and Venus), Miles (the soldier and Mars), Leo (the lion and Jupiter), Perses (the Persian and luna (the moon)), Heliodromus (the Sun's courier and sol (the sun)) and finaly Pater (father and Saturn). Those who reached the highest grade could become the head of a new congregration. Because Mithraea were so small, this often should have happenned.
When Constantine converted to Christianity in 312 the decline of the Mithraic cult started. After an upswing in 331-362 the religion disappeared: Christianity was strong enough to make resistance to this kind of religions.
• http://www.evansville.edu/~ag5/mithraism.html
• http://www.well.com/user/davidu/mithras.html
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http://www.jblstatue.com/pages/mithras.html
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