The Roman Army, 31 BC–AD 337: A Sourcebook
The Roman Army, 31 BC–AD 337: A Sourcebook
The Roman Army, 31 BC–AD 337: A Sourcebook
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<strong>The</strong> army in peacetime 135<br />
224 RIB 1546, inscription, Brocolitia (Carrawburgh), Britain,<br />
3rd. C.AD<br />
To the invincible god Mithras, Marcus Simplicius Simplex, prefect,<br />
willingly and deservedly fulfilled his vow.<br />
This is one of the three altars found in the Mithraeum close to the fort (see Plate<br />
11). <strong>The</strong>re is a recess at the back to carry a lamp; on the front is a relief of<br />
Mithras, carrying a whip, representing the sun, with which he was sometimes<br />
identified. His crown is constructed with pierced openings through which the<br />
rays of the lamp could shine. <strong>The</strong> Mithraeum at Carrawburgh was an underground<br />
cavern, originally built in the early third century though modified later; it will<br />
have held between ten and twelve people (Richmond and Gillam 1951).<br />
Mithras was an ancient Iranian spirit of light which seems first to have<br />
come to the attention of the <strong>Roman</strong>s early in the first century BC. Among the<br />
attributes of Mithras were those of a victorious warrior, which may have<br />
recommended him to soldiers, among whom his worship became increasingly<br />
popular in the later second century AD; moreover the initiation tests and closeknit<br />
structure of Mithraism may have appealed to the self-contained world of<br />
army life, and perhaps especially to the officer class; the three altars at<br />
Carrawburgh were dedicated by prefects of the first cohort of Batavians.<br />
225 CIL 7. 646=RIB 1600, inscription, Vercovicium (Housesteads),<br />
Britain, AD 252<br />
To the invincible Sun-god Mithras, Everlasting Lord, Publicius<br />
Proculinus, centurion, on behalf of himself and his son Proculus,<br />
willingly and deservedly fulfilled his vow, in the consulship of our lords<br />
Gallus and Volusianus.<br />
226 ILS 4721=RIB 989, inscription, Bewcastle, Britain, 3rd (?) C.AD<br />
To the holy god Cocidius, Quintus Peltrasius Maximus, tribune,<br />
promoted from the rank of chief clerk of the praetorian prefects, most<br />
eminent men, willingly and deservedly fulfilled his vow.<br />
227 RIB 1583, inscription, Vercovicium<br />
To Jupiter Best and Greatest and the god Cocidius and the Genius of<br />
this place, the soldiers of Legion II Augusta on garrison duty, willingly<br />
and deservedly fulfilled their vow.