Ancient Mystery Cults and Funerary Practices in the Roman Empire

Ancient Mystery Cults and Funerary Practices in the Roman Empire

1
Ancient Mystery Cults and Funerary Practices in the Roman Empire
Wolfgang Spickermann, Erfurt
This paper will not and cannot offer a comprehensive overview over the entire field of
research introduced in the title. What I would like to do is to offer a sketch of the project to be
tackled in the years to come within the Research Unit “Religious Individualization in a
Historical Perspective”. At the moment, we are busy compiling the material, and I would be
grateful for any contributions of ideas in the discussion of my paper.
Objective
One of the best known individual options of ancient religion is without a doubt the
initiation into mystery cults. The oldest accounts of the message put forth by these cults is to
be found in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter and may be summarized as follows: “There is
ritual access to a privileged relationship with the gods that every man is free to chose,
granting a better lot in the afterlife to you than to other mortals. […]” 1 . This form of religious
practice was widespread throughout the entire Greek world as early as the 6th and 5th century
BCE.
A further development can be made out during Hellenistic and Imperial Ages, while
Christian polemic shows that mystery cults were still popular even in Late Antiquity. 2 Gold
plates found in graves dating from the 5th to 3rd century
BCE
3
show the dead to be marked as
initiates of Dionysus and describe the way for them to take in the beyond. They also show that
the connection between the notions of the afterlife and mystery cults was not restricted to
discourse, but found practical application in the way individuals were buried. According to an
inscription found in Cumae dating from the mid-5th century BCE, 4 those initiated into Bacchic
mysteries had their own burial sites. Grave inscriptions show the “cursus honorum” within
mystery cults, e.g. a priest in Eleusis, 5 or a disciple of Mater Magna, Isis, or Mithras, 6 as well
as telling us about the participation of sodales at burials. 7 Grave epigrams mention the
connection between mysteries and expectations concerning the afterlife. 8 Especially in
Germania we may assume burials of initiates in the vicinity auf excavated Mithraea. 9 This is
1
Schlesier 2001, 160.
Overview: BURKERT 1990.
3
ZUNTZ 1971; GRAF/JOHNSTON 2007; BERNABÉ/JIMÉNEZ SAN CRISTÓBAL 2008
4
LSCG 120.
5
IG II/III2 366,1.
6
E. g. CCCA III 261 (Magna Mater), SIRIS 396 = RÜPKE 2005, 3178 (Isis Pelagia); CIMRM 511; RÜPKE 2005,
3028 (Mithras) all Rome.
7
E.g. CIL VI 10098 = CCCA III 355 (Rome).
8
E.g. PEEK 1960 no. 208; 210; 250; 304; 306; cf. BETZ 1998.
9
Großkrotzenburg, Stockstadt, Wiesloch, cf. SPICKERMANN 2003, 296 sqq.
2
2
even more conspicuous since so-called “oriental” mystery cults of the Imperial Age – such as
those of Mater Magna, Isis, or Mithras – are generally assumed to put less focus on the
afterlife than do the mysteries in Eleusis or of Dionysus. 10
Our project attempts to trace all possible connections between mystery initiations and
burial practices to be found in archaeological, epigraphic, and literary sources, and to offer a
new interpretation. Based on the large amount and wide variety of material, we will be able to
reconstruct individual religious practices between the options of initiation and burial on a
historical basis from the early Empire to Late Antiquity. At the same time, the question
regarding a possible origin of this connection must be faced, which is likely to be found in
Greece. Centered on the question of which media (inscriptions, rituals, images etc.) were used
to communicate that initiation into mystery cults had taken place, the question of how the
experience of being a member of a mystery cult and notions of death were commuted to other
initiates and outsiders comes into focus.
In this paper, I will focus on the following areas:
1. The so-called Orphic Gold Tablets, and their distribution during the Roman
Imperial Age;
2. The consecration of the individual;
3. Burial practices and mystery cults, focusing mainly on the graves of mystai in
the vicinity of Mithras sanctuaries and grave sites or inscriptions with a
definite connection to mystery cults;
4. The so-called “funeral banquet” images to be found in both the areas of grave
sculpture and Mithras cult;
5. Grave inscriptions of cult members and functionaries.
Research History
Even though the discovery of the gold tablet in graves of Dionysus initiates has been
widely published during the past three decades 11 – adding archaeological proof to Herodotus’
(2.81.2) connection between burial practices and mystery initiation –, a thorough analysis of
the connection between mystery cults and burial practices is still outstanding. This may well
be because the influential survey of Walter Burkert (1990) has shown that the hope of
preferential treatment by the gods was just as important in this life (if not more so) as it was in
10
BURKERT 1990, 30-34.
Cf. the lists in SCHLESIER 2001, 164 note 24; GRAF/JOHNSTON 2007 and BERNABÉ/
2008.
11
IMÉNEZ
SAN CRISTÓBAL
3
the beyond. Burkert rightly opposes this understanding of polytheistic mysteries to a
classification as redemptive cults similar to Christianity. 12 In addition, research on the gold
tablets often focuses on supposed “orphic-Pythagorean”, and therefore “philosophical”
content, even though it is easy to see that the texts themselves give no hints that actually point
to Orpheus (Schlesier). For the Roman Imperial Age we have an abundance of material, but
any objective research is hampered by two assumptions long-standing in research history.
One, the isolation of burial practices as “funerary cult”, supported by the argument that
in ancient polytheism, burial and cult sites were always systematically separated. 13 The other,
the assumption that grave inscriptions were “conventional” and “literary”, therefore not
“religious”. 14 One of the major goals of our research will be to prove that the Christian burial
practice ad martyres is nothing at all new, but had predecessors in polytheistic religious
practices.
Sources
The discourse on death and the afterlife which was part of mystery cults may be
reconstructed by using the compilations of Burkert 15 and Scarpi. 16 Concerning the Gold
Tablets, Fritz Graf and Sarah Iles Johnston as well as the more recent collections of Albero
Bernabé and Ana Isabel Jiménez San Cristóbal offer a comprehensive overview. 17
For the cults of Mater Magna and Mithras, Marten Jan Vermaseren’s compilations of
inscriptions (CCCA and CIMRM) are indispensable. For the mysteries of Dionysus,
Jaccottet’s study offers sufficient material. 18 Compilations of material on the Dolichenus and
Sabazios cults are to be found in the CCID and the CCIS. Indispensable is also the collection
of SIRIS for the cult of Isis by Ladislaus Vidman. Grave inscriptions for the city of Rome,
with references to cultic functions in mystery cults, are compiled in Rüpke 2005 for the years
300 BCE to 499 CE.
1. The So-Called Orphic Gold Tablets and Their Distribution in the Imperial Age
The So-Called Orphic Gold Tablets are mostly gold tablets in the form of leaves,
bearing an inscription. A large number of these tablets, most of which date to the 4th to 2nd c.
12
REITZENSTEIN 1927.
Cf. EGELHAAF-GAISER 2001.
14
HABERMEHL 1996, 309.
15
BURKERT 2004, 92-114.
16
SCARPI 2004.
17
GRAF/JOHNSTON 2007 a and b and BERNABÉ/IMÉNEZ SAN CRISTÓBAL 2008. Material until 1971 in ZUNTZ
1971, 277-293; additional finds and comments in RIEDWEG 1998, 389-398.
18
JACCOTTET 2003.
13
4
BCE,
were found in graves near Hipponion, Thessaly, Crete and especially Thurii. The short
inscriptions identify the dead as members of Orphic cults, and contain detailed descriptions as
to their conduct after death, such as the warning not to drink from the Fount if Lethe, but to
remember to drink from the Well of Mnemosyne. A good six centuries younger than the gold
tablets from Thurii is a similar tablet found in Rome, dated 260
CE.
19
It bears the text: She
comes from the pure, pure, queen of the subterranean beings, | Eucles und Eubouleus, son of
Zeus, Accept therefore. | this gift of Mnemosyne. Celebrated by men. | “Come, Caecilia
Secundina, legitimately transformed into a goddess”. In difference to the tablets of Thurii, the
soul does not speak about the deceased in the first, but third person singular, addressing her
by name. Maybe the tablet itself is the actual addressee in this context. 20 Another exception is
the worldly name given to the deceased, who is to be transformed into a divinity. This is not
the place to speak at length about the Orphic Gold Tablets; however, I would like to stress the
fact that these tablets were apparently still wide spread even during the Imperial Age, being
eloquent witnesses of the connection between mystery cults and afterlife expectations. It must
also be noted that a large part of these tablets were found in women’s graves. 21
2. The Consecration of Individuals
The Orphic tablet found in Rome vividly introduces the notion of divinization, a
process which, according to the tablet, must be seen in the context of mystery cults. Caecilia
Secundina was transformed into a goddess after her death. H. Wrede understands these kinds
of “private deifications” to be common throughout the Roman Empire. 22 We will here look at
two examples from Germanic contexts. One can today be found at the museum of Avenches,
being an inscription set in stone of unknown origin. The stone is a cube of yellow Jurassic
chalk (42.5 x 9 x 16.5 cm), which probably once served as the base of a statue. It was
dedicated to Livilla dea by Genialis, the freedman of Flavius Erotis. 23 This form of private
deification found particular attention among slaves and freedmen in the Latin West. We know
of more than 300 private deifications in which the deceased are continually identified with
distinct deities. In the present case, the deceased is quite broadly termed goddess. 24 According
to Wrede, this kind of dedication is only known for the years between 42 to 68
found in Rome, and did not spread west until c. 120
19
BERNABÉ/IMÉNEZ SAN CRISTÓBAL 2008, No. L11, 133 sq.
RIEDWEG 1996, 479; cf. GRAF/JOHNSTON 2007, 124.
21
EDMONDS 2004, 65 sq.
22
WREDE 1981.
23
FREI-STOLBA 1990, passim.
24
WREDE 1981, esp.. 158 sqq.
20
CE,
CE,
was only
before disappearing again under the
5
Severans. The highest density was always to be found in Rome. 25 Two elements contribute to
raise doubt about placing the dedication to Livilla dea with any certainty in the context of
urban Rome: one, the recent discovery of a woman’s grave at the centre of the newly
excavated cult district in En Chaplix, situated right next to the necropolis; 26 two, the
discovery of a small temple in the city district of Avenches from the first half of the first
century
CE,
under which were discovered graves from the late Latène era with mummified
bodies. 27 It may also be possible to establish a connection to a local gens as administrators of
this cult district, their freedmen or a related family still worshipping the mythical forebear
Livilla in the 2nd c.
CE.
Regarding the size and decoration of the tombs, belonging to the
largest north of the Alps, 28 this may have been a rather important gens with considerable
influence and family tradition.
In every respect remarkable among dedications to women in the Lower Germanic
Province is the altar of Dea Domina Rufia Materna in Millingen. 29 In this case, the deceased
is quite broadly termed ‘goddess’. The sponsor of the altar, Mucronia Marcia, also dedicated a
sacred grove (lucus), in which she sacrificed every year on July 17th, on the birthday of
Materna in October, and on February 21st, the day of the parentalia, to a pater Rufius Similis,
his son Similis, and his daughter Materna. This is most likely to be interpreted as a funerary
banquets at the birthday of the dead. 30 Rufius Similis and Mucronia Marcia were the parents
of Rufia Materna and Rufius Similis. F. Drexel supposes that there is a connection to a
congregation of mystai. 31 The dedication is in any case an important connector between
provincial religion and the cult of the dead.
3. Burial Practices and Mystery Cults
Phenomena like mystai graves in the vicinity of Mithraea, burials under cult buildings
(Avenches, Kontich), in cult chambers (Frankfurt-Schwanheim, Pforzheim), or sanctuaries
close or adjacent to necropoleis (Avenches, Nierzier-Eschegewähr, Tavigny St. Martin) make
a systematic distinction between “everyday religion” and cult of the dead seem much too
schematic. We will attempt to highlight connecting points between the two areas in a larger
study. The following remarks will focus on the graves of mystai, introducing some of them.
25
WREDE 1981, 159.
Cf. CASTELLA 1998.
27
MOREL /CASTELLA 2001, 63 sq.
28
CASTELLA 1998, 17.
29
CIL XIII 8706; cf. SPICKERMANN 1994, 311 sq.
30
WREDE 1981, 88.
31
DREXEL 1923, 11 footnote 44.
26
6
Angera (Gallia Transpadana)
Mithras
Cultic cave with the graves of two
human skeletons at the entrance 32
Großkrotzenburg
Mithras
Mithraeum with graves of mystai 33
Mithraeum I with graves of mystai 34
Stockstadt
Mithras, Sol,
Cautes, Cautopates,
[A]rtio, IOM,
Mercurius, (Victoria), (Mars),
(Iuno), (Diana),
(Vulcanus),
(Hercules),
(Hekate), (Epona)
Wiesloch
(Mithras),
Mercurius
Mithraeum with favissa (sacrificial
pit) and graves of mystai 35
(Mithras)
Mithraeum within a necropolis 36
Krefeld Gellep
Cologne, Richmondstr./corner
Breitestr. (northwestern
residential area)
Mithras,
(Dadophor)
Mithraeum I with grave of mystai? 37
Looking at the given examples, graves in the vicinity of Mithraea seem to be the
exception. It must also be said, however, that this may just be a result of what we know today
and not show the actual situation as it used to be. In view of the situation of a number of
Mithraea within necropoleis, it is in any case to be assumed that no immediate classification
can be made between grave cults on the one side, and mystery cults on the other.
There is a cave in Angera near the Lago Maggiore, about halfway up the hill which
could be identified as a Mithraeum by archaeological finds, among them crockery and animal
bones (cattle, goat, poultry, and swine) found near the entrance. Unusual are the two human
skeletons also found buried near the entrance. Numerous numismatic finds date the
32
CIMRM 716
D. BAATZ. In: BAATZ/HERRMANN 1989, 327; CIMRM II 1148–1157; SCHWERTHEIM 1974, 130 sqq. no.
113; CLAUSS 1992, 110 sq.; WIEGELS 2000, 293 with Lit,; MATTERN 2001, 26 sq.; HULD-ZETSCHE 2001,
342 and ENGSTER 2002, 457. Inscriptions: CIL XIII 7415, 7416. Cult Image: MATTERN 2001, 128 sq. no.
282. Another mithraeum is assumed: SCHWERTHEIM 1974, 132 sqq. no. 114; cf. WIEGELS 2000, 293 with
Lit.
34
The temple was situated in the neighborhood of the castellum: D. BAATZ. In: BAATZ/HERRMANN 1989,
481; cf. CIMRM II 86 sqq. no. 1158–1208; SCHWERTHEIM 1974, 135 sqq. no. 116; CLAUSS 1992, 119 sq.;
HULD-ZETSCHE 2001, 342; WIEGELS 2000, 298 and ENGSTER 2002, 459. Inscriptions: CIL XIII 11786–
11788. About the three statuettes of Mercury: HENSEN 1995, 215 No 4–6.
35
BEHRENDS 1990; cf. HENSEN 1994; HULD-ZETSCHE 2001, 341 sq.; WIEGELS 2000, 299 with lit. and
ENGSTER 2002, 472 sq. Relief of Mercury with votive-inscription: HENSEN 1995, 216 no. 13.
36
REICHMANN 1997, 21 sqq.; cf. FOLLMANN-SCHULZ 1986, 749; CHR. REICHMANN. In: HORN 1987, 534 and
WIEGELS 2000, 295 with Lit.
37
FOLLMANN-SCHULZ 1986, 743 sq.; cf. DIES. 1992, 246 sq.; CIMRM 50 sq. no. 1018; SCHWERTHEIM 1974, 15
sq. no. 10; RISTOW 1974, 6 sqq. and ID. 1980, 52 sq.; CLAUSS 1992, 99; ENGSTER 2002, 441. Find spots:
RISTOW, 1974 no.1-12; last WIEGELS 2000, 292 with recent lit.
33
7
Mithraeum to the 4th century CE, although Vermaseren is uncertain about attributing the coins
to the Mithraeum. Parallel cases in Germania seem to call for such an attribution, however. 38
The Mithraeum in Großkrotzenburg was situated to the North-West of the fort, away
from the vicus in an area that was well off the beaten track within a cemetery. On both sides
of the supposed entrance to the pronaos of the Mithraeum we find an evenly spaced number
of cremation burials. To mark the graves, brick tiles were used which were stamped with the
seal of the cohors IV Vindelicorum, a brickyard which was run by the unit in the 2nd century
CE.
A. Hensen thus rightly assumes that graves and Mithras temple stood in relation to
another, since the arrangement of the graves on both sides of the entrances would also support
this notion. 39
In the neighborhood of the Mithraeum I in Stockstadt a Dolichenum was found only
17 meters distant. We can date this to the 3rd c.
CE.
40
Thanks to a dated inscription and tile
seals we know that the stone building of the Mithraeum was there at the beginning of the 3rd
century and was not abandoned until around 250
CE.
Mithraeum I in Stockstadt contained
inscriptions and images of Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Hercules, Vulcan, Victoria, Diana, Hecate,
Juno, Epona, and maybe Dea Artio. A seated statue of Mercury bearing an inscription to
Mithras and Mercury belongs to the second Mithraeum. 41 South of Mithraeum I we have
another necropolis, with three graves only 6 to 8 meters distant. Again, we can safely assume
the proximity to the temple to be intended. 42
In 1989, a small Mithraeum was discovered during excavations of a Roman vicus in
Wiesloch which originally consisted of wood and lattice, being rebuild in stone after a fire.
The dating of the separate phases is somewhat uncertain; apparently the building was
abandoned around 260
CE
and fell into disrepair. At 6 meters distance, a sacrificial pit was
unearthed, which not only contained a larger number of cattle, pig, sheep, and horse bones,
but also the skeleton of a raven in the last deposition layer. This last was protectively covered
by the fragments of an amphora, on which a horses head had been placed. 43 The sacrificial pit
was most likely situated within the temenos of the temple. Right next to the entrance, which is
yet to be excavated, two burning pits were found, both containing a number of burial gifts,
one dating from the middle of the 2nd century CE, the other to the reign of M. Aurelius. In one
38
CIMRM 716, p. 258.
HENSEN 2000, 90.
40
D. BAATZ. In: BAATZ/HERRMANN 1989, 481; cf. SCHWERTHEIM 1974, 151 sqq. no. 118 and ENGSTER 2002,
459. Inscriptions: CIL XIII 11780–11784; cf. the table in BELAYCHE 2001, 315 sq.
41
CIL XIII 11788a = SCHWERTHEIM 1974, 147 sq. no. 117 a = HUPE 1997, 186 no. 152: sitting Mercury with
cock, ram, turtle and Bacchus child on his lap.
42
HENSEN 2000, 91.
43
HENSEN 1994, 36; cf. ID. 2000, 87 and HULD-ZETSCHE 2001, 341.
39
8
case, the body can be identified as that of a male, approximately 40 years of age. 18 meters
distant to the building two other burning pits were found containing the remains of two 15 and
17 year-old women, both dating to the end of the 2nd or beginning of the 3rd century. These
graves were within a walled burial ground, most certainly containing more graves which
unfortunately were not preserved. The graves at the entrance are certainly unique. Hensen
assumes a concurrence of Mithraeum and burials, which would place these outside of the
settlement. 44 That both graves were destroyed in the course of the erection of the temple
would make little sense in view of the short occupation span of the vicus and the limited
number of inhabitants.
Within the space of the burial grounds, to the northwest of the Roman auxiliary fort of
Gelduba/Krefeld-Gellep, traces of a wooden structure were discovered in 1981, which were
interpreted as the remains of a Mithraeum. The building stood within a depression of 13 x 6.5
meters. Cult image and dedicatory stelai could not be discovered, fixtures only revealed a tufa
box set into the floor and traces of a fire place. 45 Even during the time of its erection, the
building was placed within the enclosure of the burial grounds. Shards of oil lamps and clay
vessels date the building to the first half of the 2nd century CE. Remains of mortars and white
clay jars found in the filling of the middle passage of the building date to the second half of
the second century, the time in which the Mithraeum was abandoned. A large part of the
wooden fixtures were pulled out in that time, and broken clay crockery used to fill in the
recesses. The space was later used for a mass burial, most likely of the victims of the first
attacks of the Franks. 46 The pit contains the skeletons of at least 19 individuals, most of them
having died between 257 and 260. 47 Consequently, we have here the oldest known Mithraeum
in Lower Germania. Its initial erection seems to go back to the auxiliary unit stationed here. If
people were buried at the site while the sanctuary was in use stands to question; we also do
not know if older grave sites were moved or destroyed when the temple was built. 48 It is
possible that the older Mithraeum was abandoned when a new stone building was put up,
though we have as of yet found no traces of such an edifice. D. Engster mentions the
possibility that the members of the cult were exclusively made up of members of the ala
Sulpicia which was transferred from the vicus during the 2nd century CE. Following units may
44
HENSEN 2000, 87 sqq.
REICHMANN 1997, 21 sqq.; cf. FOLLMANN-SCHULZ 1986, 749; CHR. REICHMANN. In: HORN 1987, 534 and
WIEGELS 2000, 295 with Lit.
46
REICHMANN 1997, 23 sq.; cf. FOLLMANN-SCHULZ 1986, 749 R. PIRLING. In: HORN 1987, 534 sq.
47
REICHMANN 1997 23 sq.; cf. ID. 1996; J. KUNOW, Die Militärgeschichte Niedergermaniens. In: HORN 1987,
27-109, hier S. 82.
48
REICHMANN 1997, 21 sq.
45
9
not have been adherents to the cult of Mithras. 49 After the discovery of a complex in Künzig,
containing two phases of wooden structures, we must also face the question that a part of the
known Mithras sanctuaries may actually be dated much earlier, having been built in wood. 50
For Cologne, we are presented with a peculiarity when excavations brought to light a
grave inscription of 57.5 x 32 cm. It seems to have been put up by two comrades for a
essedarius, a charioteer in the arena. The first word of the inscription was later headed by the
word cor{a}x. 51 Since we cannot determine when the later addition of the initiation degree
was inscribed onto the stone, we do not know if a direct relation to the persons mentioned in
the inscription was intended. It is debatable whether this inscription can actually count as
evidence for the Mithras cult. 52 All names included in the inscription are vouched for as
cognomina, the deceased having a Greek name found also in Rome. 53 L. Lazzaro believes
him to be a slave. 54 In connection with the evidence from Upper Germania, the tomb stone is
best interpreted as the grave of an initiate in the vicinity of a Mithraeum. The deceased,
Exsochus, was most likely a member of the Mithraic congregation and subsequently buried
within the sanctuary. His fellow gladiators paid for his tomb stone, on which the degree of his
initiation was later added to mark out the connection to the cult of Mithras.
There also seem to be memorial stones for deceased members of the congregation
within the Mithraeum itself, as an inscription from Poetovio in memoriam Hyacinthi seems to
indicate. 55 An altar for D(eus) i(nvictus) M(ithras) et Soli socio in the Eisack valley in
Southern Tyrol was donated ob memor(iam) patris suis ex colleg(a). 56 A similar formula is
also to be found on the small altar in Tergeste dedicated to Magna Mater. 57 The Album of
Virunum, discovered in 1992, a very well-preserved bronze tablet, lists the names of 98 living
and deceased members of the album sacratorum, the names of the deceased being marked by
thanon (deceased). The inscription is to be dated between January 1, 183 and June 26, 184
and was donated in the course of the restoration of the Mithraeum, in which members came
49
ENGSTER 2002, 440.
Cf. HULD-ZETSCHE 2001, 339; for dating cf. also SPICKERMANN 2003, 203 sqq.
51
F. 366: ‘Cor{a}x’. | Have. | Cimber es(sedarius) et | Pietas Exsocho | esseda(rio) sodali 5| [be]ne merenti |
[pos]uit (!). Val(e). Cf. GALSTERER 1975 no. 318; RISTOW 1974, 19 sq. no. 8; SCHWERTHEIM 1974 15 sq. no.
10c and LAZZARO 1993, 245 sq. no. 281.
52
Doubtful: CLAUSS 1992, 99 footnote 15. Otherwise SCHWERTHEIM 1974, 15 sq.; RISTOW 1974, 19 sq.;
CIMRM 1021 and LAZZARO 1993, 245 do believe in a link to the mithraeum..
53
SOLIN/SALOMIES 1988, 314 (Cimber) and 378 (Pietas); SOLIN 1982, 723 (Exsochus).
54
LAZZARO 1993, 246.
55
CIMRM 1501and 1503. Vermaseren believes that Hyacinthus was the founder of the mithraeum.
56
CIMRM 730.
57
CCCA 244: M(atri) d(eum) m(agnae) | in memor(iam) | Usiae L(uci) fil(iae) | Tertullinae || sacerd(otis)
divarum | matris suae | Sex(tus) Appuleius Marcell(us) | d(ono) d(edit).
50
10
together on June 26, 184 mortalitat(is) causa convener(unt), probably in connection with the
plague. 58
It must also be mentioned that within the sanctuary of Mithras in Königshoffen in
Alsace, a pit was found which contained the skull and thighbones of a human being. Cumont
interpreted this as a building sacrifice. 59 The so-called Rock of Mithras, a cult grotto at St.
Urban in Carinthia, contained children’s teeth in addition to animal bones and pottery
shards. 60
While for the Cybele/Attis and Isis/Serapis cults we have a large number of devotional
objects in the graves, this is much rarer for the cult of Mithras, though not unheard of. 61 Attis
appears depicted on numerous grave monuments and inscriptions, 62 not to mention the
abundance of pine cone images on the graves. Terracotta figurines of Cybele and Attis can
often be found as grave goods, 63 while symbols of the cult of Isis and the depiction of
Egyptian deities can also be found on many grave inscriptions. 64 There is also a special grave
inscription addressed to Egyptian deities (the “water of Osiris”, “indebted to Isis, to Serapis”
etc.). 65 We also know of a number of statues of the dead dressed in Egyptian style, like the
Athenian women dressed up as Isis. 66
4. The So-Called Funeral Banquet
Richard Gordon recently noted that the cultic feasts depicted in Germanic Mithras
monuments are directly related to the reliefs of the funeral banquet. According to Gordon,
excavations of necropoleis along the coasts of Asia Minor revealed a large quantity of such
reliefs, their iconography taken from the Greek hero cult. 67 These reliefs seem to want to
convey the idea of a good death. 68 Presumably it was once again the Roman military which
adapted these ideas and introduced them in the west. We find a large number especially in
58
PICCOTINI 1994, 22 sq.; cf. HULD-ZETSCHE 2001, 346 and HENSEN 2000, 92.
CIMRM 1375.
60
CIMRM 1442.
61
CIMRM 11, 12 (Pantikapaion, Chersones); 113 (Oea, Tripolitania).
62
Cf. CCCA I 103 (Armonia, Phrygia) door of a tomb with a picture of Attis; 116 (Buglija, Phrygia) tombstone
of a family which mentions Attis; CCCA IV 249 (Tergeste); CCCA V 328 and 329 (Nemausus) part of grave
monuments with symbols of Attis; VI 97 (Carnuntum).
63
Cf. CCCA I 336 (Cebres Mysia); 528 (Cyme, Ionia); CCCA IV, 3 (Cumae); CCCA V 143 (Icosium, Africa).
164 (Carmo, Hispania), 430 (Argentomarus, Gallia).
64
Cf. SIRIS 18 (Athens, Keramaikos); 97 (Larisa, Thessaly); 454, 455 (Rome); 629 (Patavium); 678 (Narona,
Dalmatia); 737 (Carpentorate);
65
Cf. SIRIS 52 (Tanagra); 346 (Corydalla); 347 (Rhodopolis); 459-465 (Rome); 586 (Ravenna); 593 (Bononia)
66
Cf. WALTERS 1988.
67
RICHARD GORDON, “Das Ladenburger Kultmahlrelief: Mythos, Ritual und Jenseitsvorstellungen im
Mithraskult“, Paper given at a conference in Güglingen on 4. 4.09. I am very grateful to Prof. Gordon for
sending me a copy of his text.
68
Cf. FABRICIUS 1999.
59
11
major colonial centers and military stations (especially Cologne, Mainz, and Bonn), in which
elaborate tomb stone were put up depicting the deceased in full armor and riding down his
enemies. The inscriptions give name (with tribus), rank, age, and years of service. The typical
grave stelai are modeled on Italic archetypes, adapted by the sculptors along the Rhine. 69 The
transition to the civilian sphere is achieved by depicting the late friend or family member as
the heroicized deceased reveling in the joys of an everlasting feast. Like the rider grave
reliefs, these images are not to be found along the Rhine before the days of the Flavians, when
they were chosen by active soldiers and veterans who often belonged to auxiliary units. 70
During the second century, the imagery was re-interpreted as realistic family feasts, thus
secularized and introduced into the civilian sphere. The local Celtic population of Mainz took
over the habit if putting up distinct grave markers during the 1st century
CE.
The strong
concentration of military units lured a large number of stone mason to Mainz, where they
worked for the legionaries from Upper Italy and Gallia Narbonensis, as well as the auxiliary
units from all parts of the empire. 71 This concentration of shops and military examples
probably contributed to wealthy civilians erecting grave monuments for themselves and their
families. Gordon interprets the depiction of the cultic meals on Germanic Mithras monuments
as an allusion to the idea of the hero’s meal and the eternal feast after death. This would mean
that scenes of cultic meals in Mithraism do not look back to mythical times, do not only
depict a repeated ritual within the Mithraeum, but rather express the Mithraic hope for a good
life after death. This would explain the absence of Mithraic grave iconography as it is known
from the cults of Isis or Cybele: the cultic meal was in itself the funeral banquet.
The Mithraic depiction of the cultic meal is not only known in Germania, but can be
found on monuments connected to the cult of Mithras throughout the Roman Empire. For
Germania, the images found in Frankfurt-Heddernheim, Rückingen, Dieburg, Ladenburg, and
Osterburken must be mentioned. 72 Other images of Mithras and Sol at the feast can be found
in Dura Europos, Santa Prisca in Rome, Augusta Emerita, Pons Saravi, Apulum, Biljanovac,
Tavalicavo, Tomis, Serdica, and Philoppopolis. 73 Another grave marker depicting a funeral
banquet from Byzantium gained quite some attention since it was put up for a woman called
69
Constitutive: H. GABELMANN, Die Typen der römischen Grabstelen am Rhein, Bonner Jahrbücher 172, 1972,
65-140; cf. BOPPERT 1992, 47 sqq.
70
BOPPERT 1992, 62; cf. BAUCHHENß 1978, 10.
71
BOPPERT 1992, 81.
72
SCHWERTHEIM 1974, 59a = CIMRM 1083 (Heddernheim); SCHWERTHEIM 1974, 85a = CIMRM 1137
(Rückingen); SCHWERTHEIM 1974, 123a = CIMRM 1247 (Dieburg); SCHWERTHEIM 1974, 144 = WIEGELS 2000,
G 21 (Ladenburg); SCHWERTHEIM 1974, 148a = CIMRM 1292/93 (Osterburken).
73
CIMRM 42, 49 (Dura Europos); 484, 485 (S. Prisca, Rome); 782 (Augusta Emerita); 966 (Pons Saravi); 1935,
1958, 1974 (Apulum); 2202 (Biljanovac, Poesia sup.); 2225 (Ratiaria); 2244 (Tavalicavo); 2297 (Tomis); 2320,
2325 (Serdica); 2332 (Philippopolis).
12
Epikrate, who also had a theophoric Isis sobriquet. 74 This would indicate that the imagery of
the hero’s feast was not confined to the cult of Mithras.
We can conclude, then, that the motif of the hero’s meal of Mithras and Sol was
known throughout the Roman Empire with a somewhat stronger focus in Germania and the
upper Danube provinces. Since for these areas, scenes of funeral banquets in funerary art was
also well known, it can be assumed that behind this was not only the idea of the eternal feast,
but also that the connection hero’s meal-Mithras and Sol-funeral banquet was recognized by
the adherents of the cult of Mithras throughout. For Germania it must be stated, however, that
recent studies have set an earlier date for the Mithraeum of Mainz, dating it to the Flavian
period, 75 thus setting the beginnings of the Mithras cult in Mainz at a time in which the first
depictions of funeral banquets also appear in funerary art. The idea of the hero’s feast and the
good death is most likely to have influenced both sepulchral sculpture and Mithraic imagery.
5. Grave inscriptions of Cult Members and Cult Functionaries
Grave inscriptions of devotees to Isis, Cybele, and Mithras can be found in large
numbers and different contexts. It is notable that grave inscriptions mentioning the cult of
Mithras are far less common than those of other cults. Mention should be made of two leones
in Africa Proconsularis, though the adherence to the cult of Mithras in this case is debatable,
because one of them is a woman. 76 But scattered evidence shows that there are some regions
in which women can be seen to stand in some kind of connection to the cult of Mithras,
especially since recent studies have shown that these congregations were by no means
privileged circles. We also have grave inscriptions for patres, 77 sacerdotes of the cult of
Mithras, 78 and in one case a hiereus 79 who is likely to stand in some connection to the cult.
For the cult of Isis, we have a number of grave inscriptions mentioning not only
adherents and initiates, 80 but also cult functionaries. 81 The same can be said of devotees to the
cults of Cybele and Attis. 82 They are also known for the cult of Sabazius. 83
74
SIRIS 129a.
HORN 1994, 33 and HULD-ZETSCHE 2004, 213.
76
CIMRM 114 and 115 (Oea).
77
Cf. CIMRM 511 = RÜPKE 2005, 3028; CIMRM 378 = RÜPKE 2005, 3089 (Rome); 885 (Sextantio).
78
CIMRM 633 = RÜPKE 2005, 303; RÜPKE 2005, 816, 835 (Rome).
79
CIMRM 934 (Noviodunum).
80
Sacrorum (Isisdis): CIL XII 263 (Frejus); SIRIS 440-443 (Rome); 467 (Brundisium); 473 (Sulino); 587 Forum
Popili; fanaticus ab Isis Serapis (!): 373 (Rome); collegius Serapis et Iunonis: SIRIS 481a (Locri,); Isiacus:
SIRIS 539 (Praeneste).
81
Pater sacrorum: SIRIS 438 = CIMRM 623 = RÜPKE 2005, 1536; SIRIS 439 = CIMRM 624 = RÜPKE 2005,
1872; Sacerdos: SIRIS 328 (and nauarchus, Sinope), 377 = RÜPKE 2005, 3177 (Rome, sacerdos Isidis
Capitolinae); SIRIS 422 = RÜPKE 2005, 1302 (Rome); SIRIS 444 = RÜPKE 2005, 500 (Rome); SIRIS 543
(Ostia, Sacerdos Isidis Ostiensis et Matris deum) 732 (Nemausus); 789 (Cirta); pastophorus: SIRIS 433 =
75
13
In general, it can be observed that there is a marked interest of both priests and
functionaries, as much as initiates and devotees to document their relationship to Isis/Serapis,
Cybele/Attis, or also, in some cases, Mithras on their grave markers. This illustrates the wide
acceptance of the cults and their congregations among the populace, while these formulae also
seem to appeal to the gods to lend their aid after death. If a priestly office is worth mentioning
for any other cult, the mere membership in a mystery cult congregation may also by noted for
posterity.
6. Conclusions
Departing from the assumption that during the Roman Imperial Age, membership of a
“group religion” like the cults of Mithras, Cybele, or Isis must have some influence on
individual burial practices, and the notions of death and the afterlife that come with it, five
areas of study have been put forth which will be examined in the course of our project.
Concerning the Orphic Gold Tablets I was able to show that this kind of burial gift was still
placed in the graves during the Roman Imperial Age. To come to any extensive conclusions, it
will not only be necessary to carefully examine the relevant source compilations on the
Bacchic cult, but also to examine possible connections to private deifications. It will therefore
be necessary to go beyond the material compiled by Wrede.
Another important complex will be the issue of grave and temple. The occasional
graves of initiates found in the vicinity of Mithraea such as Wiesloch or Stockstadt which
have been introduced in this paper, have their analogies in other cult sites. 84 A. Hensen,
following M. Clauss, assumes that cult congregations also took care of funerary matters. They
would thus fulfill the same kind of function as funerary collegia. 85 While the grave
inscriptions of cult functionaries and memorial markers mentioned above may point to this
interpretation, the question remains why the graves of mystai were placed at the entrance to
Mithraea. In order to make some progress in this direction, it is necessary to systematically
RÜPKE 2005, 563 (Rome); aedituus: SIRIS 396 = RÜPKE 2005, 3178 (Rome); scoparius: 517 (Syracusa);
pausarius: 727 (Arelate); Anubophorus: 742 (Vienna).
82
Religiosus: CCCA III 292 (Rome); archigallus: III 261 (Rome); VI 141 (Iader, Dalm.); sacerdos: CCCA III
276 = RÜPKE 2005, 1801; III 291 = RÜPKE 2005, 1154; III 296 = RÜPKE 2005, 2719; III 360 = RÜPKE 2005,
450; RÜPKE 2005, 1037 (Rome); CCCA III 420, 422, 423, (Ostia); 442 (Portus); V 85 (El Kef); V 125 (Sigus);
dendrophor: CCCA IV 14 (Puteoli); V 373 (Vienna); V 390, 391 (Lugdunum); VI 160 (Salona); caernophor: IV
15 (Puteoli); tympanistria: CCCA III 444; sodales ballatores: III 361 (Rome). See also: CIL XIII 5384
(Vesontio, mater sacrorum) and CIL XII 708 (Arles, antistitis?).
83
Cf. CCIS II 28 (Teos, Sabaziastai); II 65 (Rome, Sabazis antistes).
84
I would like to remind you of the link between temple and necropolis in Avenches ‚En Chaplix‘, Niederzier
‘Eschergewähr’ and probably Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt. I think that there is a need for a special and systematic
investigation of the link of temple and necropolis in the Roman Empire.
85
HENSEN 2000, 92.
14
analyze the Mithraea which have so far been excavated throughout the Roman Empire, also
comparing them to the known sanctuaries of Isis and Cybele. It already seems to become
obvious that a connection between grave and sanctuary is not specific to certain cults, but has
to be treated in accordance with possible regional differences.
More difficult to answer will be the question of possible notions of the afterlife for the
members of these “group religions”. Even though it seems likely that the imagery of the
hero’s feast is initially to be viewed as a separate element standing in no relation to grave cult
and was later still used in other than funerary contexts, the implications of the imagery
shifted. It may well be assumed that within the border provinces where this kind of imagery
was widely spread thanks to the military units that had introduced it, the connection to the
afterlife seems to have been quite obvious to the observer. In this we must follow R. Gordon
who stresses that this kind of imagery found entrance into the Mithraea by way of funerary
art, interpreting the banquet of Sol and Mithras as the eternal feast. We are currently working
on compiling all source material of this divine feast, looking for analogies in other cultures.
Finally, we will attempt to comprehensively collect all source material of grave
monuments of initiates and cult functionaries of the Imperial Age in order to analyze if there
are any regional and chronological differences and to be able to analyze how important is was
for the deceased and their possible descendants and heirs to be marked out as an adherent to a
specific deity. Special attention will be paid to the question of there being any possible
“initiate grave sites”, even though this question too will be hard to answer.
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