1 Earliest Rome

4. R E L I G I O U S P L A G E S
3- Water basin and well. For the symbolism of the natural elements in Mithraea, see R. L.
Gordon (1976).
4. Painted figure of Cautes and (facing on the opposite wall) Cautopates (sec 12.5g — with
the illustration 12.5b). These figures commonly, an here, mark our the 'conceptual
south' of the Mtrhraeum (Cautes), and the 'conceptual north' (Cautopates) - whatever
the actual orientation of the temple. See Hinnells (1976); Beck (1977).
5. AJong the front of the benches were painted scenes of initiation. Here an initiate kneels
between two senior members of the cult. The figure on the left is perhaps holding a
burning torch against the initiate's face.
4.6b An attack on the Mithraic cave
For Christian critics of Mithraism the strange character of the cave was a clear
sign of the cult's sh a ruefulness.
Firmicus Maternus, On the Error of Pagan Religions 5.2
In their male deity 1
they worship a cattle thief 2
and relate his
cult to the power of fire, as his prophet 3
handed down to us, saying: 'You who are
initiated in the theft of the bull, you who take the right hand of the glorious Father.' 4
They call him Mithras. They transmit his rites in hidden caves so that, at all times buried
in the foul gloom of the darkness, they may avoid the grace of the shining and serene
light. What an appropriate sanctuary of the god!
1. The preceding paragraph discussed a female fire god of Persia - from where the cult of
Mithras was believed to derive. See Vol. 1. 27~-8.
2. A slighting reference to Mithras as ox-stealer (see 12.5gn.6).
3. Perhaps Zoroaster, See below 4.6c and Vol. 1, 280.
4. A quotation in Greek from a Mithraic text, apparently addressing a cult initiate. The
Father is rbe most senior of the Mithraic grades of initiation - see, for example, 12.5a;
12.5c(ii),(iii),(iv).
4.6c The allegory of the cave
The idea of the cave as an image of the cosmos is found in ancient philosophical
writing-as, for example, in Porphyry's treatise which offers a complex allegorical
interpretation of Homer's description of the cave of the Nymphs
{Odyssey XIII. 102-12). In this passage Porphyry elaborates his interpretation
partly on the basis of a mystical reading of the Mithraic cave.
See further: Vol. 1, 277-8; on the importance of Porphyry's work for our
understanding of Mithraism, Beck(1984) 2053-4*. For a further extract from
this text, bibliography and fuller background to the work, 12.5g.
Porphyry, On the Cave of the Nymphs in the Odyssey 6
The Persians too initiate candidates, giving a mystical account of the passage of souls
down and out again and they call the place where this initiation
happens a cave'. Zoroaster, 1
90
as Euboulos tells us, 2
was the first to dedicate a natural cave