Cult of Mithras in Late Antiquity

David Walsh, Ph.D. (2016), University of Kent, is a lecturer in Classical and Archaeological Studies at that university. He has published articles on the cult of Mithras and on the fate of temples in the Roman provinces of Noricum and Pannonia.

'Scholars and excavators will have a much richer set of causal mechanisms that they can explore and test thanks to Walsh’s work. His book charts new directions in the study of Mithras-worship, and subsequent work on the cult will benefit mightily from engaging with Walsh’s novel framework and ideas.'Matthew M. McCarty, in Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2019.08.23. Date accessed: 13 August 2019. Click here. ''Walsh has performed a considerable service in charting the archaeological information, such as it is, relating to the decline after 275 ce of what we may call the institutionalised Roman cult of mithras, in trying to align the discussion of mithraic “decline” and “fate” with developments relating to such topics in related fields, in emphasising alternative narratives, and in pointing out the role of pre-conception and parti-pris in the traditional scenarios''. Richard Gordon in Arys, 17 (2019). NL:"Het verdwijnen van de Mithras-cultus en de sluiting van elk Mithras-heiligdom kunnen niet langer zonder meer worden toegeschreven aan de opkomst van het christendom. In plaats daarvan zullen geleerden en archeologen een veel rijkere reeks causale mechanismen hebben die ze dankzij Walsh’s werk kunnen verkennen en testen. Zijn boek brengt nieuwe richtingen in de studie van de aanbidding van Mithras, en het daaropvolgende werk aan de cultus zal veel baat hebben bij de interactie met Walsh’s nieuwe raamwerk en ideeën". EN: "The end of the Mithras cult and the disappearance of every Mithras shrine can no longer simply be ascribed to the emergence of Christianity. Instead, scholars and archaeologists now have much richer causal mechanisms to explore and test, thanks to Walsh’s work. His book brings new directions to the study of Mithras worship, and future work will significantly benefit from interaction with Walsh’s new framework and ideas". Mark Beumer, in KLEIO-HISTORIA, Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 2020 (11).

• ForewordList of IllustrationsList of AbbreviationsIntroductionReligious Change in Late Antiquity: Changing Scholarly ViewsThe Cult of Mithras: A Brief IntroductionThe Cult of Mithras in Late Antiquity: Changing Scholarly ViewsThe Structure of This VolumeSelecting the EvidenceA Note on Terminology1 The Development of the Cult of Mithras in Late AntiquityThe Location of MithraeaMithraic ArchitectureMithraic IconographyPatronage and MembershipMithraic HierarchiesRitual PracticeVariations of the Name ‘Mithras’Conclusion2 The Decline of the Cult I: The EvidenceIntroductionThe Decline in Construction/Restoration of MithraeaMithraea and Wider Patterns of Construction and Repair in Late AntiquityCharting the Declining Use of Individual MithraeaConclusion3 The Decline of the Cult Part 2: Explaining the DeclineIntroductionDeclining PopulationsChanging Social NetworksChanges in Mithraic RitualsCoercion by the Imperial GovernmentConclusion4 The Fate of MithraeaIntroductionGeographical and Chronological Variation in the Fate of MithraeaFactors Contributing to the Fate of MithraeaConclusionConclusionAppendix A: Gazetteer of Mithraea Active in the 4th c. and Those That Exhibit Evidence of Christian IconoclasmA BritainB. GermanyC. NoricumD. PannoniaE. DalmatiaF. Italy (Excluding Rome and Ostia)G. GaulH. SpainI. North AfricaJ. The Eastern MediterraneanAppendix B: Mithraea Constructed and Repaired ca. AD 201–400BibliographyIndexLate Antique Archaeology