Mystery Cults In Ancient Rome

Ancient Roman religion began as a blend of different attributes, beliefs and deities from other regional Religions at the time, mainly influenced by the Greeks. This imitation of the Ancient Greek mythology carried on throughout its history. This origin of syncretism is essential when discussing the state religion of the Roman Empire, however, the development of mystery cults in Rome appeared to the state as a threat, leading to significant ostracism. In order to investigate this exclusion of Mystery Cults by the Roman state, it is essential to explore the state religion itself, before going onto the general appearance of the mystery religions, supported by discussions about individual cults, the most popular being Christianity, Mithras and

The privacy executed by followers of Christ in the early years of its establishment made the Roman state nervous about what may be discussed, as it was unknown to outsiders what occurred during meetings. Historian Jeff Anderson, in an extract written for a university lecture, discusses the status of Christianity in the Roman world; he says that in the ancient world, Christianity was simply “lumped together” (Anderson, 1999) with other mystery religions. Implicitly, this suggests that the Roman state did not understand the beliefs and rituals of Christianity, therefore simply placing it under a general description of “mystery” and in turn developing bias judgements against the religion. However, this was an unfair judgement as Christianity had many advantages for its followers, including the appointment of equal status to all members, removing all ethnic and social barriers. However, “this appalled men like Apuleius, an educated Roman of the upper-classes…” (Anderson, 1999) whose wealth and breeding encouraged him to have a bias opinion of the religion of Christ. His belief was “that men were [not] equal in the sight of heaven” (Anderson, 1999) and gods instead held preference to the wealthy as opposed to slaves and freedmen who “could not possibly possess virtue or intelligence”. In addition

With some speculation about the location of origin of this cult, Mithraism was practised throughout the Roman Empire but mainly in Greece and Rome. Unlike Christianity, the cult of Mithras was all male, with seven levels of initiation and different ritualistic meals attached to each level (Pearse, nd). Mithraism, derived from the worship of the Roman deity Mithras, did not appear in historical records until the 1st century AD, and then suddenly disappeared from records in the late 4th century AD, and unlike many figures of mythology in the Greco-Roman religions, “no ancient source preserves the mythology of the god…” (Pearse, nd). The temples in which Mithras was worshipped were located in underground caves, displayed with a relief of Mithras slaying a bull, known today as a "tauroctony". Whilst not a violent cult, supporters of Mithraism believed in a “celestial heaven and an infernal hell” (Fingrut, 1993) and awaited a “day of judgment” (Fingrut, 1993) on which the dead would rise and the darkness of the world would be overthrown. These beliefs would instil a fear in the Roman state, whom possibly believed that whilst the members of Mithraism met, they conjured up the spirits of the deceased, thus leading to their ostracism of the Cult. The reason for the disappearance of this cult is unknown and exceptionally