05/10/2026
Livia Galante is an expert archaeologist and tour guide, having been in the business for decades. She has led tours of, dare I say, pretty much every archaeological site in Rome--here she is pictured leading a group through the Tombs of Latina, along the Via Appia.
Join us today at 2pm EST (8pm CEST) for a lecture by Livia entitled "Mithras: Mysterious Faith and Secret Rituals in Ancient Rome." Link is in bio!
Description: Imagine entering a small, dimly lit room beneath the streets of ancient Rome. Along the walls, a group of worshippers reclines on stone benches, while at the far end a striking image depicts Mithras killing a bull. This is a mithraeum—a sacred space belonging to one of the most intriguing religious traditions of the Roman Empire.The cult of Mithras, usually called Mithraism, spread widely across the Roman world between the first and fourth centuries CE. Its origins, development, and relationship to earlier Iranian traditions remain subjects of scholarly debate. What we can study with greater certainty is the archaeological evidence left by its communities: temples, inscriptions, reliefs, altars, and objects associated with ritual activity.
Rome and the nearby port city of Ostia provide particularly rich evidence. In Rome, numerous mithraea have been identified, often occupying adapted spaces within larger buildings. Ostia, with its dense urban landscape and highly diverse population, preserves an exceptional concentration of sanctuaries, offering valuable insights into how the cult functioned within an everyday Roman environment.
Yet mithraea were more than simply places of worship. Their architecture, imagery, and archaeological contexts allow us to ask broader questions about religious identity, social networks, ritual practice, and the movement of ideas across the Empire.
In this presentation, we will explore Mithras through the evidence of Rome and Ostia, moving from the enigmatic figure at the centre of the cult to the spaces, communities, and rituals that brought his worship to life.
