“A STUDENT OF MANY:” 1 RELIGIONS OF THE LATE ROMAN EMPIRE

AND THEIR RE-EXPRESSION AS PART OF EARLY “ORTHODOX”

CHRISTIANITY

LORA ELIZABETH TOMPKINS

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO

Mentors:
ABRAHAM DELEON, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO
WILLIAM R. SUTTON, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO
MILO KEARNEY, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT BROWNSVILLE

1
“Biography for Dan Brown (VI),” Internet Movie Database,
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1467010/bio#quotes (accessed November 15, 2012).
 “A Student of Many:” Religions of the Late Roman Empire and Their Re-
Expression as Part of Early “Orthodox” Christianity

If you take myth and folklore, and these things that speak in symbols, they can
be interpreted in so many ways that although the actual image is clear enough,
the interpretation is infinitely blurred…
Diana Wynne Jones 2

Abstract

In this era of the world we are bombarded by symbols. These symbols are ever evolving taking
on new implication, and reclaiming older connotations. For as long as mankind has been around
we have used symbols to communicate. Many times a symbol can say more than a thousand
words. It can sum up an entire culture. Think about the cross that looks like a lower case “t,”
often referred to as the Latin Cross. We see it on a building or around someone’s neck and most
think without even realizing it “Christian.” That is the beauty and power of symbols. That cross
and one word association has come to sum up a whole religious group in many minds. Yet, there
is infinite variety in people, symbols, and meaning. Christianity is no exception. So where did
Christianity derive its symbols? There is no definitive answer available, but Early Christianity
did not evolve in a vacuum. There were multiple philosophical and religious ideals that seem to
have influenced Christianity. Taking a page from the Roman world and its customs in which the
Early Christian Religion grew up; Christianity became a melting pot for the multiple expressions
of faith and philosophy that were in the late Roman Empire. What religions and philosophies had
the biggest impact? How were they probably incorporated into the Early Christian Church? The
first question is up for debate, but the second has interesting potential, and this incorporation and
reinterpretation is the focus of this paper.

Rome boasted such a multi-cultural pluralistic background that it learned to adapt and

fuse nearly every aspect of society with the cultures met. This included the religious traditions

that they practiced, tolerated, and/or tried to control. 3 Rome is not the first nor is it the last

2
“Diana Wynne Jones Quotes,” Brainy Quote,
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/d/diana_wynne_jones.html (accessed November 15, 2012).
3
Eric Nelson, “(Un)Protected Sects: Religions, Tolerance, and Persecutions,” in Complete Idiot’s Guide to
the Roman Empire, The, ed. Jennifer Chisholm, 3rd Edition (Alpha, 2002), 277-290.

1244
society to fuse and adapt aspects of other cultures to suit needs. They are perhaps the most

known for it, and as such an evaluation of the religions present in the late empire may shed light

on another well-known cultural adapter, Christianity. Through the acceptance and efforts of the

Roman world, the myriad of traditions in ancient times found re-expression in Christianity.

Romans “incorporated beliefs that ranged from the ancient sects of Egypt and Asia to the

Teutonic and Celtic tribal gods,” something that happened frequently in Christianity, but not to

the same extent as it did in ancient Roman tradition. 4 That is quite a diverse background of

traditions from which the Romans drew. The purer forms of these religious groups and others

found, for the most part, acceptance in the Roman world. Rome rarely suppressed or tried to

convert natives from their traditions. 5

They would try to “eradicate elements that they considered seditious and politically

disruptive” while allowing the cult to try and maintain its traditions.6 At times this included the

practices of the Bacchants (followers of Bacchus/Dionysus), Isis, and Cybele. Cult, in the sense

that it will have here is the “organized system of traditions and rituals practiced by the followers

of a god or deity [or semi deity];” also used as synonyms are sect, religious group, and party. 7

These were free to practice their traditions with few exceptions; however, these religious parties

were discouraged and even banned, at times, in cities.

The Romans have typically been vilified treatment for their persecution of three major

groups; Druids, Jews, and most famously, Christians; their zealous persecution of Christians

guaranteed that they would retain this negative image long after the Empire ceased to exist. The

4
Nelson 277-290.
5
Nelson 277-290.
6
Nelson 277-290.
7
Nelson 277-290.

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foundations of this hostility arose from two sources; the first was the extreme conservative nature

of Romans in view of other traditions. They shied away from charismatic practices where

practitioners experienced a sudden spiritual or physical ability, such as speaking in tongues. 8

They had trouble with the concept of ecstatic experiences; that is emotions or sensations so

overwhelming that they force one to lose normal faculties and self-control. This does not excuse

persecution, but it does help explain it.

Ancient Roman Religions and the Imperial Religion

Rome was a society that went from a non-descriptive set of gods to a highly organized

and complex polytheism. By the time of the Empire, this view shifted again. This time the shift

moved to incorporate the very visible presence of the head of state, the emperor, into the new

mainstream view. Never did the Romans lose their ability to be flexible with other faiths in their

world.

The Roman religion is known for many things, among them a reassignment of the

Greek’s divine pantheon. The Roman tradition owes its development to Numa, the lawgiver and

king. The Etruscans were the earliest influence, because the first kings were Etruscans. Though

there was very little originality in Roman religion, it gave them the freedom to incorporate native

institutions and their own national temperament. In fact the “…temples, cult images, and

methods of divination were taken over from the Etruscans, as was the practice of combining

deities in a triad.” 9 Rome had a plethora of temples at its hight, and the idea of the triad will be

repeated by Christianity and discussed later.

8
Nelson 277-290.
9
Everett Furgeson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 2nd Edition (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmand
Publishing Company,1993), 155.

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 The earliest deities of Ancient Rome were not well defined. They were a divine spiritual

force with no set personality, and no gender distinctions, but by the late third century B.C. Rome

started identifying Roman deities with Greek counterparts. “It was not a case of Zeus is also

Ammon, as in Egypt, but Zeus is Jupiter.” 10 The choice of Greek gods shows the influence of the

Roman love of the stories of their Trojan heritage. Some gods, however, like Janus, the two-

headed god of the doorway, had no Greek counterpart. The original Roman triad was Jupiter,

Mars, and Quirinus; but changed in 500 B.C. when the Capitoline hill temple was dedicated to

the triad of Jupiter, Minerva, and Juno. 11 These three principal gods of the Roman state were,

until, according to Dr. James Smith’s lecture from April 14, 2009, Augustus changed the triad to

Mars the Avenger, Apollo the Healer, and Venus the Lover. 12

Religion, in the governmental and constitutional form, was a very visible aspect of

Roman life, but interestingly enough “[t]here was no priestly caste set apart from other men

[excluding a couple of antiquarian faiths]….Nor was there creed or dogma.” 13 Priests had only to

follow a particular worship rite to be considered priests; no laws were formed in regard to their

personal lives, such as is evidenced in modern Catholic Christianity with the injunction that

priests are not allowed to marry or have sexual relations. One of the most distinctive trademarks

that Rome put on the religious worship model came in that they did not care about anything but

10
Furgeson 155.
11
Furgeson 157.
12
James O. Smith, “Ancient Rome Notes” (Ancient Rome and the Empire class lecture. Southwest Baptist
University, Bolivar, MO, Spring Term 2009).
13
J.M. Roberts, “Religion,” Penguin History of the World, The, 3rd Edition (New York: Penguin Books,
1997), 245-247.

1247
the actions of the gods. Citizens felt obligation to the gods, hence, Romans simply placated the

gods to control their actions, which they cared about very much. 14

Sacrifices were key in the Roman religion, whether in public, where rites and rituals were

led by high ranking free-born citizens; or private rites that often found expression in public

forums and temples under the scrutiny of public authorities. Rome thought it necessary for the

gods to have the food and drink that sacrifice provided, to give them numen, or energy, to help

people. Humans, according to Roman law, did not provide numen, so human sacrifice had no

place in Roman belief. 15

There was a distinction between rites of the state, municipal, and private sectors.

Municipal and private ceremonies and beliefs had no bearing on the Roman ‘constitution’. These

had no bearing for the simple fact that “[m]unicipal [practices] only covered the inhabitants and

area of the individual township; and private cults merely affected the private persons

involved.” 16 These distinctions helped the Romans take a matter-of-fact approach to their faith

“…not insincere or disbelieving…” but crucial to insure that the gods provided favorably for all

levels of Roman society. 17

A good example of these qualities of sincerity and belief comes in at certain Roman

ceremonies where they were so specific and legally rigorous that if any mistake occurred then

they restarted from the beginning. When these ceremonies were preformed, recitation out of a

book became mandatory, for good reason, obviously. Another law that aimed toward insuring

14
Everett Furgeson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 2nd Edition (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmand
Publishing Company, 1993), 157.
15
Furgeson 157. Ittai Gradel, Oxford Classical Monographs: Emperor Worship and Roman Religion, ed.
Committee of the Faculty of Classics in the University of Oxford, 1st Edition (New York: Oxford University Press,
2002) 9, 13.
16
Ibid (12-13).
17
J.M. Roberts “Religion,” Penguin History of the World, The, 3rd Edition (New York: Penguin Books,
1997), 245-247.

1248
these qualities, was that Roman priests (including the emperor as head priest) had to wear veils

during ceremonies. This was so that they could not see anything but the work in front of them;

highlighting the common notion that if a bad omen goes unseen then it does not exist. This suited

the Roman mind by being un-mysterious, and only required that the proscribed services and

rituals take place. For most Romans, that is non-political/quasi-religious followers; it meant not

working on a day that priests deemed a nefas, a day given to the gods. 18
19
Figure 1: Emperor Marcus Aurelius preforming the State Religious Rites

After the Republic became an Empire, and actual ruler-ship passed from the Senate to an

Emperor, an Imperial religion formed. This shift in religious focus causes distinctive problems to

18
Everett Furgeson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 2nd Edition (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmand
Publishing Company, 1993), 159. J.M. Roberts, “Religion,” Penguin History of the World, The, 3rd Edition (New
York: Penguin Books, 1997), 245-247.
19
“Bas relief from Arch of Marcus Aurelius showing sacrifice,” 2,181 × 2,898 pixels, wikipedia.org,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bas_relief_from_Arch_of_Marcus_Aurelius_showing_sacrifice.jpg (accessed
November 15 2012).

1249
modern scholars. The main problem comes when trying to classify the Imperial faith, centered as

it is upon the emperor. It is not clear whether the Imperial belief belongs in the realm of religion

or politics, because it transgresses the basic change of man versus gods and faith versus politics,

occupying a grayed intersection of the four. 20

Figure 2: Graphic depicting the Emperors position in the Imperial Religion.

Politics

M G
A Emperor O
N D

Religion

Roman law was very specific, at least for the early part of the empire. Roman policy did

not to allow the living emperor or his family to attain veneration as gods. They, the state faith

and official religion of Rome, “skirted” the issue by venerating the genius or divine numen that
20
Ittai Gradel, Oxford Classical Monographs: Emperor Worship and Roman Religion, ed. Committee of
the Faculty of Classics in the University of Oxford, 1st Edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002) 4-5.

1250
he possessed as emperor. Whereas “…the Roman emperor could in principle be worshipped as a

god in all the municipal cults of Italy and in private cults everywhere in Italy, including in Rome

itself, without such worship in the least affecting his formal place in the ‘constitution’ of Rome.”

The Romans really did venerate the Emperor before his death; they just switched the language to

make the adoration a matter of semantics. 21

The veneration of the Genius of the Emperor started in Nero’s day, but only on his

birthday and accession day (the anniversary of the day he ascended to the throne of Rome).

However, this practice was changed to the regular religious observance of veneration of the

Emperor’s Genius in either the reign of Caligula or Claudius. The inclusion of the word Divi in

the ‘official state oath’ seems to provide indirect evidence of this. By the rule of Hadrian, the

idea of the Imperial religion was so firmly ensconced in the Roman psyche that the laws and

constitutions of earlier Rome became all, but forgotten in practice. 22

Along with the ideas and practice of the Imperial Religion some citizens of Rome

followed the unofficial mystery cult of Mithraism, that existed side by side with the Imperial

Religion in areas. Mithras came to Rome from the ancient Persian Empire, and held a high-

ranking position in Zoroastrianism. During the Roman Imperial period some Romans co-opted

Mithras for their own purposes. His personality certainly changed upon his adoption by Romans,

and the term “man’s man” could apply to the Roman version of Mithras. He provided a strong

masculine image, both as Persian and Roman, and excluded women from his rites in Rome.

21
Ittai Gradel, Oxford Classical Monographs: Emperor Worship and Roman Religion, ed. Committee of
the Faculty of Classics in the University of Oxford, 1st Edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002) 12-13.
Everett Furgeson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 2nd Edition (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmand Publishing
Company, 1993), 197.
22
Gradel 162.

1251
Mithras of Persia in the Roman World

Modern scholars know something about the Mithraic mystery cult as practiced in Rome.

It is clear that what Mithras started out as, in Persia, became quite different from what is seen in

the Roman era. Two main schools of thought exist on Mithraic mystery cults; the latter has

become the more generally accepted, but the former will give some basic background on the

Persian Mithras, and thus the juxtaposition of what it started as and what it became.

Until recently, the theories of Franz Cumont on the origins of Mithraism have prevailed.

These theories deal with the Persian Mithras origins. The Persian origins are not in dispute here,

but understanding something of his supposed origins becomes essential to recognizing the

changes Rome brought to him and how these changes translated to Christianity. Cumont’s theory

stated that Aryans, who had religious practices in regards to Mithras, carried their practices to

India and Iran. Mithras supervised, in the Persian Avestan faith, such things as light, truth,

loyalty, and covenants. He supported Ahura Mazda, and fought with him against Ahriman.

Mithra also mediated between Ahura Mazda and the mortals who practiced the Persian Avestan

traditions. When it became exposed to Roman and Greek culture, Mithraism borrowed the

astrology and mystery cult aspects it found. 23

23
Everett Furgeson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 2nd Edition (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmand
Publishing Company, 1993), 270.

1252
 24
Figure 3: Persian Sun God, Mithras

Two main weaknesses exist in Cumont’s theory, which seemingly cannot be reconciled.

The first is that “…Roman Mithraism shows no evidence of including the cosmic dualism and

eschatological conflagration and resurrection that were part of the Persian [faith],” though the

Roman Mithra had cosmic significance. 25 The second is that “…the characteristics of the religion

known from monuments of the Roman period (cave-like sanctuaries, bull-slayings, and secret

initiations) were unknown to the old Iranian god of light.” These features were distinctly Roman

in nature and practice. 26

24
“Pagan Sun God Mithras.” 300 x 216 pixels. http://www.dadychery.org/2011/12/25/christmas-pagan-
origins (accessed November 15, 2012).
25
Everett Furgeson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 2nd Edition (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmand
Publishing Company, 1993), 270.
26
Furguson 270, 272.

1253
 27
Figure 4: Roman Mithras Slaying a Bull

More recent studies have focused on the connection of Roman Mithraism and the astral

beliefs of the Greek and Roman periods, where “[t]he central cult image of Mithraic sanctuaries

was Mithras slaying a bull….[and t]he positioning of the images in the scene has been shown to

correspond to the location of constellations at a certain time (e.g.,

Taurus…Scorpio…Hydra…Corvus…Canis minor…Leo major),” clearly the Roman Mithras had

many dimensionalities to his followers, most certainly as his source the Persian Mithras had as

well. 28

David Ulansey provided one of the current prevailing theories on the Mithraic mystery

cult. He has used thoughts from astronomical data, scientific speculation, and philosophical

musings in composite, and formulated an explanation in The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries.

27
“Roman Version of Mithra Slaying the Sacred Bull.” 890 x 684 pixels. http://i-cias.com/e.o/mithra.htm
(accessed November 15, 2012).
28
Everett Furgeson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 2nd Edition (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmand
Publishing Company, 1993), 270.

1254
In brief, his theory was that Perseus, a Greek hero also known as ‘the Persian,’ is Mithras. His

constellation is above Taurus, or the Gorgon. Hence, a possible astral connection, similar to

Mithra’s Iranian astral origin, and another layer to the complex image of the god. Just as Perseus

killed the Gorgon, so too does Mithras slay Taurus. The significance of this to an astral based

Mithraic mystery cult interpretation has potential. The slaying of Taurus would seem to indicate

that the “Age of Taurus [ends] when the spring equinox occurred in the constellation of the Bull,

and the beginning of a new age when the spring equinox entered Aires.” 29

The action elicited by the slayings, the continued movement of the universal bodies,

made Mithras highly appealing to Romans. He proved powerful enough to move the cosmos, and

that ability proved superior to the fates and held the tantalizing offer of immortality. According

to Ulansey, Perseus did not become Mithras until around the first century B.C., and Mithras

among the intellectuals who were influenced by Hipparchus’s astronomical discoveries and Stoic

astral speculations. So the Mithras of Ancient Persia, the god of light, truth, loyalty, and

covenants, would die as a sacrifice to a new “Hellenistic personification of the cosmos as

conceived by a philosophical astrology[,]” taking from his Persian origins, in the end only his

name. 30

Our earliest notice of the Mithraic mystery cults comes in 67 B.C. with pirates off the

Cilician coast (where Perseus traditions were widely practiced) whom Pompey suppressed.

Archeological evidence picks up heavily in the second and first centuries B.C. During this time,

Emperor Commodus passed the initiation of the Roman Mithraic mystery cult. The Roman

Mithraic mystery cults reached their zenith in the third century A.D., and stayed important in the

fourth. It became the leader in Julian’s attempt to reinstitute ancient religions that had lost

29
Furgeson 270-271.
30
Furgeson 271.

1255
ground. Julian’s attempt failed, because Christianity had a near stranglehold on other faiths;

having seized political control of the Empire, in the Emperor Constantine’s reign, during the

fourth century. 31

Unlike most mystery cults, only men were admitted to the Mithraic mysteries. Mithras

found his biggest Roman following in the soldiers and the administrative officials on the

frontiers, such Hadrian’s Wall in Britain and Dura Europus along the Euphrates. It was appealing

because the Hellenistic-Roman Mithras was a warrior and guardian of oaths, making him very

appealing to manly pride. Unsurprisingly, it also flourished in ports such as Ostia, and in and

around the city of Rome. The structure of the initiation, as detailed on the walls of the Santa

Prisca Mithraeum, and the ideas behind them, if not the practices to achieve them, was fairly

regular. 32

There were seven grades of initiation in the Mithraic mystery cult and each of these had

three objects in its association; representations of the grade, function, and planetary god, who

was also associated with an element.

The first, or lowest grade was the Raven, symbolized by the caduceus, cup, and the raven

as Mercury, because the ravens are of the air and Mercury was the messenger of the gods the

elemental for the Raven grade is air. Next comes Bride, the representation of the grade is

unknown as the wall is damaged at this point, lamp, crown as Venus, water as the elemental is of

some question. Third is the Soldier grade, represented by an over the shoulder pouch, helmet,

and possibly a lance as a pictorial representation of the god Mars, the earth is the elemental at

this level as a soldier of the earth. The middle grade is that of the Lion. This grade’s icons are the

31
Furgeson 271. John Michael Greer, “Mithraic Mysteries,” Element Encyclopedia of Secret Societies, The,
nd
2 Edition Harper Element, 2006. 328-329.
32
Everett Furgeson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 2nd Edition (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmand
Publishing Company, 1993), 271-272.

1256
fire shovel, sistrum, and thunderbolts as Jupiter. Fire is the elemental. The last, or upper, three

levels have no elemental associations. They are as follows; the Persian icons include a hooked

knife, scythe or plow, moon and a star. The Heliodromus, second only to the Father, shown on

the wall as a torch, radiate crown, and a whip as Sol. The highest level of the Mithraic mystery

cult was that of Father. Whose representative iconography is a ring or dish and staff, Persian cap,

and a sickle perhaps meaning Saturn. Someone, who had passed through the seven initiations,

and thus the representations of the seven planets in astrology, could then pass, in death, through

the planetary spheres into paradise. 33

Figure 5: Visual Representation of the Initiatic Grades of the Roman Mithra Mysteries, with their Associated
Symbols, Planetary Gods, and Elements.

Grade (from
Function Planetary God
Lowest to Grade Symbol Element
Symbol(s) Association
Highest)
Mercury as a
Raven Caduceus Cup Air
Raven
Unknown (wall
Bride Lamp Venus as a Crown Water (disputed)
damaged)
Over the Shoulder
Soldier Helmet Mars as a Lance Earth
Pouch
Jupiter as
Lion Fire Shovel Sistrum Fire
Thunderbolts
Persian Hooked Knife Scythe or Plow Moon and a Star None
Heliodromus Torch Radiant Crown Sol as a Whip None
Ring or Dish and Saturn as a Sickle
Father Persian Cap None
Staff (disputed)

Mithraic mystery cults essentially have their origins in the Eastern cult systems, and like

many Eastern cults; Mithraism had no rigorous organization, tolerated other gods, and allowed

regional variations. There are, however, eight distinctive features of Roman-based Mithraism

that connected them beyond their belief in Mithra:

1. Excluded women
2. Made moral demands

33
Furgeson 276-277.

1257
 3. Did not spread on a national basis
4. Never acquired civic status
5. No priestly caste
6. No professional clergy
7. No public drama,
8. Initiation was coextensive with its adherents (though we can only really guess at
some of the rites of initiation)

Mithras, also had a vita, or a chain of events important for the world’s drama, but also

provided an example for his followers, and provide them with consistent iconography; like the

legacy of a man that would come into the world, die, and have stories written about his life and

after during the very height of Mithras presence in Rome and its provinces. 34

The cults of the Emperor and Mithras were successful, and indeed, they existed together

for quite some time. Women were left out as active participants in the Imperial faith as it hinged mainly

on the Emperor, and were excluded altogether from Mithraism. In what seems to have been a feminine

counterpart to these masculine-dominant cults, some women and men alike adopted Cybele. It was not

until Cybele that Romans fully embraced a feminine-dominate cult, as they had before the Imperial

religion took root. She had an image of motherhood, but conservative Romans still had some problems

with her traditions. Still, Cybele gave the Romans a sense of behavioral norms toward the gods that

they had, for the most part, ignored since the Imperial religion had taken primary import. Amazingly,
35
Cybele became an official goddess of Rome, and was frequently associated with the Emperor.

Cybele Rome’s Own Mother Goddess

The traditions of Cybele, “…originally centered on a major temple at Pessinus, where the

chief priests were eunuchs…”; 36 however, Cybele, as with other ancient gods could have local

34
Furguson 271, 277-278.
35
Furgeson 271, 277-278.
36
James B. Rives, Religion in the Roman Empire, 2nd Edition (Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2007) 60.

1258
names according to specific regions locales, and most often mountains. As such she also held the

name, Mother Dindymene, named for the mountain. In western Anatolia where her cult was

common, and a frequent name for Cybele was the Great Mother. 37

In Rome, the Senate had the power to formally authorize new public faiths. The Senate

granted authorized public status for Cybele, whom they called the Mater Deum Magna Idaea, the

‘Great Idaean Mother of the Gods’, in 204 B.C. at the same time the Senate did, however, put

strictures on the more non-conservative rituals, that would have been nearly impossible for the

pragmatic, conservative Romans to accept. Cymbeline priests were required to be eunuchs, and

as such, Roman citizens could not, by law, take part in the priesthood. 38
39
Figure 6: Cybele with Children

37
Rives 60.
38
Rives 84.
39
“Great Mother, Magna Mater, Cybele with Children,” 179 x 211 pixels,
http://theapricity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15130 (accessed November 15, 2012).

1259
 Though they could not be priests, Romans enjoyed the traditions of Cybele in other ways,

notably in theatre. The Cybeline sect became so popular that once “…introduced into Rome …

[it] spread throughout much of the Roman world” rapidly. 40 The most anticipated event, the

“spring festival, at which the strange, [for the Romans at any rate], legend of the love of Cybele

for Attis and the penitential sacrifice of his manhood was dramatized. [The re-enactment]

fascinated the masses [of Romans] with its weird excitement.” 41 Cybeline rites and faith were

still very much in evidence when Christians started writing, and equally evident were Christians’

feelings to the Great Mother. Some Romans may have seen the Cybeline cult as weird, but

Christian writers denounced it as evil.

One early Christian writer had a rather vehement reaction to the performance of Cybeline

myths; “the literature of the stage sketches out all the foulness of the gods…without a blush from

you Cybele pants for her haughty shepherd [Attis]….”42 To understand these reactions it is

helpful to be familiar with the love story of Cybele and Attis.

Attis was the son of Nana and Agdistis, but shepherds raised him. The legend goes that

he was so handsome that his paternal grandmother, Cybele, was smitten with him. She kept her

love secret, hence Attis was unaware of her affections. When Attis fell in love with a beautiful

princess it raised the ire and jealousy of Cybele. In her insane jealousy she drove Attis mad with

revenge. In this state Attis castrated and killed himself at the base of a pine tree. His blood was

the origin of the violet, and each pine tree houses Attis’ spirit. When she had recovered her

40
James B. Rives, Religion in the Roman Empire, 2nd Edition (Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2007) 60.
41
M.A. Jones and H. Stuart, Story of the Nations: The Roman Empire, The, (New York: G.P. Putnam’s
Sons, 1852) 215.
42
James B. Rives, Religion in the Roman Empire, 2nd Edition (Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2007) 30.

1260
senses Cybele and Zues, Attis’ paternal grandfather, resurrected him. It is to honor Attis, and to

show their love for Cybele, that priests emasculate themselves. 43

44
Figure 7: Cybele with Attis leaning upon a Pine Tree

These actions and dramas led many to think, both in Rome and in the present day, that

the mystery cults of the East had sexual deviance at their heart. Religions of Asia Minor,

however, with few exceptions held that “the gods were thought to be not merely present but

actively involved in people’s lives. The inhabitants of western and central Anatolia in particular,

[where Cybele had a wide following], … were noted for their strict morality, and often invoked

the gods as dispensers of justice and enforcers of proper behavior.” 45 These thoughts of the gods

as dispensers of justice and enforcers of proper behavior were a foreign concept to the Romans. 46

In the Greco-Roman mainstream, there was little development of the idea of divine

retribution for human misbehavior toward the gods. This misbehavior, including the concept of

sin, has much closer ties with the Jewish and Christian faiths, and there are in fact strong

43
N.S. Gill, “Cybele and Attis-The Love Story of Cybele and Attis,” About.Com
http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/nemythology/a/cybeleattis.htm (accessed April 18, 2012).
44
“Cybele and Attis,” 360 x 266 pixels. http://whollybooks.wordpress.com/occultural/ (accessed November
15, 2012).
45
James B. Rives, Religion in the Roman Empire, 2nd Edition (Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2007) 62.
46
Rives 62.

1261
connections between Anatolian and Christian moral rigors, that were developed in the latter half

of the second century of the common era. 47

Isis the Foreign Mother Goddess in Rome

Isis, the other major goddess with her own cult outside of the Graeco-Roman pantheon,

came to Rome from Egypt, and as in many places found an unofficial acceptance in Rome. Her

cult may have been seen, like that of Cybele, as a feminine counterpart of the more masculine-

orientated cults. Her followers accepted both genders into the cults, but some remained wary of

her. Her followers held her dear and even more non-followers respected her, but, she always had

an outsider feel to her to Roman thinking. She had her temples, and while her identity shifted to a

broader scope, encompassing more than Egyptian ideals, she retained the essential Egyptian

characteristics that she had had for centuries. She would remain the outsider for the whole of her

time in the larger Roman world outside of her native Egypt, but her importance to her followers

became as with most goddess, she protected those most important elements of humanity.

Isis reigned as the “goddess of fertility and marriage, represented as loving and

compassionate to individual suppliants.” 48 Isis was identified in Greece with Aphrodite and in

Rome, to some extent with Venus, although Isis had her own temples and shrines within the

Roman Empire. With her adoption in Greece and Rome and her spread beyond her native

borders, Isis became a universal goddess with followers from most walks of life, but still clearly

retained her Egyptian heritage, something that no other foreign derived god or goddess had really

done to that moment. 49

47
Rives 62.
48
Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins, Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1994), 290.
49
Henry C. Boren, Roman Society: A Social, Economic, and Cultural History, 2nd Edition (Lexington: D.C.
Heath and Company, 1992), 143-144.

1262
 Isis “developed into a universal goddess, omnipresent and omniscient, especially

important to pregnant women and also to travelers everywhere.” 50 The universal appeal did little

to stem the fears of the Roman Senate. The lack of universal appeal was demonstrated starkly by

the leadership of Rome in that “…five times in the middle years of the first century B.C. shrines

to Isis were destroyed by Senate decree. They were usually rebuilt rather quickly… [but n]ot

until [sometime in] the early Empire was Isis ensconced in a properly consecrated temple within

the…city’s sacred boundary.” 51 Isis had problems finding political acceptance, but once let into

the city boundaries her followers flourished.

In fact by the first century A.D. Iseums (temples of Isis) existed in most of Roman

Empire. This also means that Jesus of Nazareth could have easily known of Isis and her

followers, as one of the major trading centers of Rome—Sepphoris—was within walking

distance of Nazareth and provided most of the skilled labor jobs for the area. Regardless of

Jesus’ personal knowledge of Iseums, the Iseums were in charge of seeing that prescribed events

happened for proper initiation for Isis adherents. These prescribed events in Isis’ cult “involved

initiation, baptism and service, and promised eventual salvation.” 52 Isis religious initiation rites

centered on the murder of Osiris, by his brother Seth, and the act of his resurrection undertaken

by his sister/wife, Isis. Also emphasized during initiation, Isis’ subsequent birth to her and

Osiris’ son, Horus. As this image of life-giver was at the heart of the faith, “[o]ne of the core

symbols of the Isiac mysteries was the image of Isis suckling the infant Horus,” 53 which is not

50
Boren 143.
51
Boren 144.
52
Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins, Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1994), 290.
53
John Michael Greer, “Mithraic Mysteries,” Element Encyclopedia of Secret Societies, The. 2nd Edition.
(Harper Element, 2006). 250.

1263
dissimilar to a popular genre of religious paintings in Christianity in the coming centuries—the

Madonna and Child.

54
Figure 8: Isis Suckling her Infant Son, Horus

55
Figure 9: Madonna and Child Painting

Isis’ temples, for the most part, came through as safe clean places. This safe clean image

became tarnished as “… for baser folk in the Italian capital [also thought of] the same temple

could mean little else than a brothel. So Roman poetry regards Isis not as the chaste and loving

wife and mother but as a lady of easy virtue, countenancing the sexual enjoyments and

54
“Statute of Isis Suckling Horus; Bronze.” 352 x 564 pixels.
http://www.antonieborger.nl/manuscripten/Isis%20en%20Horus.html (accessed November 15, 2012).
55
Vinci, Leonardo da. “Madonna and Child.” 350 x 455 pixels. http://motherfulkser.wordpress.com/tag/la-
leche-league/ (accessed November 15, 2012).

1264
lovemaking.” 56 This image went further when a scandal under Tiberius caused him to destroy the

temple statue of Isis, and crucify the priests en mass. 57

For people who understood her true nature, namely her followers and sympathizers, Isis

personified the length and breadth of love. She had the “warm affection of the bereaved wife, the

tenderness of the mother suckling her baby… the concern of the midwife for the safe delivery of

women in childbirth, the sexual passion symbolized by the erect phallus… and eternal kindness

towards those whom she embraced in life and sheltered after death.” 58 In short, she made flesh

what a woman could and should be.

The Imperial religion and the followers of Mithras, Cybele, and Isis shared the masses

with another sect, this one dedicated to the Greek god Dionysus. The Romans changed his name

to Bacchus, but he was otherwise essentially Dionysus, the god of the vine, wine, as well as

vegetation and fertility. Unlike the Imperial faith, or those of Mithras, or Cybele, that of Bacchus

was more like the rites of Isis, meaning he was unofficial and often seen as strange and an

outsider. Bacchus’ adherents held the masculine in high regard, but ironically most of his

followers were female within the Roman world. His processions were legendary, for their sexual

connotations, which is probably one of the key reasons Bacchus remained unofficial within the

Roman world.

56
R.E. Witt, Isis in the Ancient World, 3rd Edition (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1971) 138.
57
Witt 138.
58
Witt 138.

1265
Dionysus Changes his Name in Rome to Bacchus

Figure 10: Dionysus/Bacchus Mosaic Tile.

Dionysus’ key symbol, the phallus, was most conspicuous during his traditional

processions. The phallus is often a symbol of masculinity, even though, as stated the majority of

Bacchites tended to be women. Men were not excluded though, as Mithraism did to women. 59

The dramatic arts, even today, owe much to the Dionysian festivals of Greece and the

natural outgrowth of the festivals in Rome. These festivals’ plays, comedies and tragedies,

helped shape our own ideas of these play genres. Modern plays, in a broad sense, originated from

this custom. Performance of plays became a way of giving Dionysus/Bacchus pleasure. Both

plays and festivals were public affairs. One of the plays that these festivals helped spawn

59
Everett Furgeson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 2nd Edition (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmand
Publishing Company, 1993), 151.

1266
indubitably illustrated the orgiastic and ecstatic nature of the celebrations amalgamated with the

classic Dionysian and Bacchian festivals, Euripides’ play entitled The Bacchae. 60

According to historical records “[t]he Dionysiac mysteries were the only new mysteries

of Greek origin that spread widely in Hellenistic-Roman times. They were practiced in general

by private associations but under the control of the state.” Typical rites required before the winter

festivals Bacchites, the Latin name for Dionysiac followers, would fast. Weakened by fasting

they would engage in ecstatic dance with instrumental accompaniment, and work themselves

into a self-induced delirium. In this delirium they would consume the flesh, usually raw, and

blood of animals, as well as wine. Dionysus’ followers believed that he came to one in animal

form and presented a part of himself in wine. Consuming them then, was a way of incorporating

the god and his power within the individual. 61 Similar to a rite that the Christian Church would

adopt supposedly based upon a story found in the Gospels chronicling the life of Jesus.
62
Figure 11: Modern examples associated with Imbibing a god or god-like individual.

One reason for such abandon during the practice of the winter festival rites could have

had something to do with the Bacchanal views on death and the afterlife. Unlike some mystery

60
Furgeson 151, 246, 243.
61
Furgeson 151, 246, 243..
62
“Bread, Grapes, and Wine,” 1024 x 768 pixels, The Rubicon http://therubicon.org/2007/03/more-
communion-please/ (accessed November 15, 2012).

1267
religions, Cybeline or Isiac for example, there is no bodily resurrection associated with Bacchus’

mysteries. Instead, the idea centers on taking away the fear of death, and showing the afterlife as

a place of revelry and joy. 63

Under the influence of the city and Oracle at Delphi, the ecstatic frenzy that characterized

these festivals, especially in Greek context, saw more restraint. Still, in Rome, conservatives

resisted this euphoric mode of practice for traditions. In 186 B.C., the senatus consultum aimed

to suppress the Bacchanalia. The desire to suppress came about due to charges of immorality,

and possible threat to the state. However, by the first century, the Senate and Bacchus’ followers

had reached an accord. After which the Bacchanalia flourished, especially among the wealthy in

Southern Italy. The senatus consultum of 186 B.C. left a lasting impression on future

generations, however, and made Romans attitude toward new foreign religions that did not have

official acceptance quite negative. 64

This negativity extended to another religion out of the Near East, Judaism. Judaism, in

Roman times and even before, was considered the anomaly of the ancient world. Rome as a

whole took little notice. The Jews and their practices were quiet and even pitied outside of the

Near East which was their original center. Besides, they had scores of internal conflicts, and

posed no serious threat to Roman stability as far as could be ascertained. The Jewish faith

received respect, recognition, and a fair amount of head scratching from the Romans, especially

outside the Judean territory. Romans just did not comprehend how the Jewish concept of god

could function. Little did anyone know that from the Jews and this oddity concerning their

concept of god would come a belief system capable of changing the face of the empire, and

eventually the world.

63
Furguson 248.
64
Furgeson 151, 245.

1268
Judaism the Odd Religion Out

Followers of Judaism practiced monotheism; they believed in only one god, and have

only one proper set of practices for religious rites. For the ancient world, this was strange, at

best, and misguided, at worse. Only once in times past had a people worshipped only one god,

under Akhenaton, a pharaoh of Egypt. The short of it is that worshipping only one god did not

receive popular support among the people at large, and only lasted as long as Akhenaton held

power, which had not been very long, relatively speaking. 65

Rome tolerated the Jews for the most part. They were used as scapegoats on occasion,

though Romans felt somewhat miffed by them. One god to oversee everything, and such a fierce

adherence to “His” laws and strictures tended to be unfamiliar to Romans. As stated before

Romans tended to use their gods to mortal benefit without much consideration to the god(s)

themselves; they (meaning the emperor) would make laws, it seemed at least by the late Roman

Empire, only to find some reason to break them. Besides, Judea, the “home country” of the Jews,

compared to the rest of the empire was relatively inconsequential. Jews had their own problems

beyond Roman occupation and because of Roman occupation; and the Jews, whether in Judea or

elsewhere in the empire, tended to keep a low profile; especially after AD 66 and the destruction

of the Jewish Temple of Solomon. The destruction of which resulted in their further dispersion in

the diaspora. 6667

65
Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins, Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1994), 290-291.
66
Furgeson 291.
67
Diaspora refers to the area outside Palestine settled by Jews.

1269
Figure 12: The “Image” that the Jews have of their God, YHWH, “I am that I am.”

Jewish custom, compared to other ancient traditions, were very low key. The temple in

Jerusalem was where most of their animal sacrifices took place. At least the world had not

completely turned on its head for the Romans, the Jewish custom of animal sacrifice was

something they could understand. They followed the Tanakh, which was composes into three

large sections; the Pentateuch also called the Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim. These are further

composed of books. 68 They had laws that regulated nearly every aspect of their lives. These

included but far from limited to; acceptable foods, the human rights of the newborn, and the

circumcision of a male infant. The circumcision was used as a reminder to the parents and the

boy, in later years, of the covenant that their god made with them. 69 Most of these laws were

later codified in the Talmud.

68
There are traditionally counted 24 books in the Tanakh as the multiple books that share a name are
considered one book.
69
B.A. Robinson, “Description of Judaism,” Religious Tolerance
http://www.religioustolerance.org/jud_desc.htm (accessed April 19, 2012); B.A. Robinson, “Christianity: A Brief
History,” Religious Tolerance http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_intr1.htm (accessed April19, 2012).

1270
 Into the first century Jewish religion the baby, Yeshua ben Yosef (Jesus son of Joseph)
70
was born. As an adult, he travelled Judea teaching the way and life of prophetic Judaism. In

fact he and his followers referred to his teachings as The Way. 71 Among his teachings, “[h]e

emphasized the love and mercy of God, the love and brotherhood of men of good will, the

unimportance of worldly wealth and power, and the comfort and promise of redemption and

happiness in a blessed hereafter.” 72 He was a Jew. The Christian faith, as we know the term, did

not come about until after his death. Presumably, he was a simple and humble man, and did not

take liberties as to officially name his teachings, which were reiterations of Judaic teachings,

after himself. He taught and lived as a devout Jew. He adhered and encouraged adherence to the

Jewish celebrations and laws. 73

Figure 13: Yeshua bar Yosef Reading from the Tanakh in the Synagogue.

70
There is some debate over whether he would be called the son of Joseph or the son of Mary. By Jewish
tradition he would take the son of Joseph, but outside the community as Yeshua, Yosef, and Miriam were all
common Jewish name then he probably would have been referred to as Yeshua from Nazareth.
71
Geza Vermes, “From Jewish to Gentile: How the Jesus Movement Became Christianity,” Biblical
Archaeology Review 38, no. 6 (November/December 2012): 53-58, 76.
72
Gerhard Rempel, The Rise of Christianity
http://mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc1/lectures/13christianity.html (accessed April 19, 2012).
73
Gerhard Rempel, The Rise of Christianity,
http://mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/wc1/lectures/13christianity.html (accessed April 19, 2012).

1271
 Roman authorities executed Yeshua, when he was 30 or 33 74, while he was in and around

Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. 75 His last meal with his disciples, commonly called the Last

Supper today, had a very familiar ceremony in it, though Jesus gave it even more potential

importance when he said: “Take, eat; this is my body [referring to unleavened bread and]…drink

ye all of it; for this is my blood [referring to wine].” 76 By saying these words Jesus gave the

ceremony new meaning, suggesting that those who ate the bread and drank the wine were in fact

partaking of him. A short time later he was condemned to death by crucifixion. Tradition holds

that it was for blasphemy; however, it is far more likely that the Romans saw him as an

insurrectionist for his teachings. 77 After his death, his disciples continued to spread their

recollections of his teachings. They were the Judeo-Christian movement within Judaism—the

ultimate origin of any faith centered on the teachings attributed to Yeshua ben Yosef of

Nazareth. The Judeo-Christians started allowing gentiles (non-Jews) to convert in ca. A.D. 40,

with a Roman centurion named Cornelius and his family. Thus, the Judeo-Christians under the

leader of the Church of Jerusalem, James the brother of Yeshua; chose Saul, who would take the

name Paul, to reach out to gentiles. 78

74
There is dispute on this point; Michael Baigent in The Jesus Papers gives compelling evidence to put the
age of Yeshua’s death at the earlier age. Tradition however holds that Yeshua was at the later age of 33 at his death.
75
A Jewish Holy Day, which commemorates the passing over of the Angel of Death in Egypt, which
spared the first born in the Jewish families at Goshen and took the first born of all Egyptians. Subsequently,
Pharaoh, who has also lost his first born, allows the liberation of the Jews from slavery, from the Books of Moses,
Exodus 11:1-12:36.
76
Bible, American Standard (Matthew 26-28).
77
“Crucifixion,” in Oxford Companion to the Bible (Oxford University Press, 1996), webpage, Jeanie C.
Crain, Crucifixion, http://crain.english.missouriwestern.edu/john/crucifixion.htm (accessed July 15, 2012).
78
B.A. Robinson, “Brief Summary of Christianity: Consolidation of Christianity and its Later
Fragmentation,” Religious Tolerance http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_brief3.htm (accessed April19, 2012);
B.A. Robinson, “Christianity: A Brief History,” Religious Tolerance
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_intr1.htm (accessed April19, 2012); Geza Vermes, “From Jewish to Gentile:
How the Jesus Movement Became Christianity,” Biblical Archaeology Review 38, no. 6 (November/December
2012): 53-58, 76.

1272
The Great Melting Pot; Pauline, Later Orthodox Christianity

It would eventually be Paul’s interpretation of Jesus’ teachings and his own teachings

that would dominate the Roman Empire, and later the world. However the road to Pauline

Christianity as a modern concept did not materialize overnight, nor was it a pleasant road. Jesus

(an English corruption of the Latin, which corrupted the Hebrew-Aramaic form), as mentioned

before, taught to an exclusively Jewish audience, as far as can be determined. 79 When he was

executed his followers only numbered about 120, “including the 11 apostles,” 80 his mother and

siblings. Mass conversion at the following Pentecost celebration swelled the Judeo-Christian

numbers to about 3,000. 81

Peter and James headed the first Judeo-Christian religious community, and led an

exclusively Jewish congregation. In 40 Anno Domini Barnabas, at the behest of James and Peter

took over the ministry associated with the Judeo-Christian movement in Antioch. On the way

Barnabas stopped at Tarsus to convince his friend Paul to join him. The Antiochan ministry

already had a number of gentile followers, but the Judeo-Christians and Gentile-Christians

maintained harmony betwixt themselves for the most part. From these days of looking after the

ministry at Antioch Paul seems to have decided to spread the teachings of Jesus to the larger

79
There is some debate about the ultimate origins of Jesus’ teachings. According to Some in the West,
Nicholas Nitovich and his followers, and certainly in the Far East, among oral traditions in India, Tibet, Kashmir
and surrounding area; they say that a young man named Issa, in the Eastern records (and supposedly identified as the
man Jesus) lived and learned in Tibet, India, and Kashmir for over 15 years. What is certain is that most of his
audiences in the Holy Land were Jewish, and he certainly aimed his teaching at his fellow Jews.
80
It is presumed that Judas Iscariot either hung himself as tradition holds in Matthew, was accidental
dismbowled from a fall on sharp rocks after a botched hanging attempt in Acts, or was murdered as some extra-
canonical sources suggest, such as the Gospel of Judas, which states he was stoned to death.
81
Geza Vermes, “From Jewish to Gentile: How the Jesus Movement Became Christianity,” Biblical
Archaeology Review 38, no. 6 (November/December 2012): 53-58, 76.

1273
gentile population. Paul would also add in his interpretation of Jesus, though he never met Jesus

during the latter’s lifetime. 82

Figure 14: Paul of Tarsus Writing

Thus, Pauline Christianity came into existence. Given that Paul was a Roman and a

persecutor of the Jews and Judeo-Christians before his conversion, it is not surprising that many

of the religions of the Roman world that got displaced during Pauline Christianity’s rise, found

some form of expression within it. Pauline Christianity was acutely conscious that they had a

weak history, independent of its Jewish roots, compared to the rest of ancient faiths, and the best

means of growth would be to bring people from other religious followings into it.

Increase of Christianity as preached by Paul and later his followers probably ensued by

means of fusing the ideas and iconography of some of the other faiths into Christianity. It is

always easier to teach people new ideas if you draw parallels to what they already know. It is

important to keep in mind though that one of the most influential early Judeo-Christian writings,

the Didache, “contains none of the theological ideas of Paul about the redeeming Christ or of [his

82
Vermes 53-58, 76.

1274
contemporary (who supposedly knew Jesus)] John’s divine Word or Logos. Jesus is never called

the ‘Son of God.’” 83 Jesus’ only assigned title was that of pais. 84

It does not then seem outside the realm of possibility that parallels from the Imperial,

Mithraic, Cybelean, Isaic, and Bacchite religious groups are within the traditions and symbols of

the Pauline Christians and their descendants through to the present. The Christians took the place

of the Romans as the common melting pot of tradition and symbology, though they almost

certainly manipulated what was fused a bit more than the Romans had. The metamorphoses were

done out of fear by its leaders for the survival of the faith, and the need of more followers thus

insuring its growth.

From the Imperial State religion of Rome they took the idea of a visible head. The first

expression of this may well have come with the elevation of their teacher, Yeshua/Jesus. It

settled with the consolidation of power that came when Christianity replaced the Imperial cult as

the official faith of Rome. The replacement of one visible head was a slow process (for potential

converts from paganism), but it was definitely accelerated a few centuries after the death of Jesus

with the rise of the Emperor Constantine in the early 300’s, and was so firmly rooted in Western

psychology that by the ascension of Julian the Apostate in 361, he could not re-instate a state

religion based upon neo-Platonic Paganism. As had happened in Rome before Christianity the

head of the faith became a rallying point. Jesus despite his death, still was the primary teacher,

but with the lapse of a few centuries adjustment to the concept had to be made. Jesus, somewhat

by his own words and certainly by later interpretation of them, became the god made flesh; who

had passed his powers of healing and prophecy as well as his teachings to the head of the

83
Vermes 53-58, 76.
84
Vermes 53-58, 76. Pais is Greek, meaning either “servant or child.”

1275
Church, who took the title Pontifex Maximus, also called the bishop of Rome, and by the sixth

century simply called the pope. 85

Christianity also likely borrowed several key concepts from the followers of Mithraism,

from the idea of immortality to the idea of a vita, as Mithraism reached its zenith in the third

century and had been around since well before the first century of the Common Era. The first

concept that Christianity may have borrowed was the mediating duties of Mithras between

mortals and Ahura Mazda. This transferred as Jesus mediating between the followers of

Christianity and their God. Not only did both act as mediators but both were considered powerful

enough to move the cosmos, offered a sense of immortality (especially Jesus in Heaven which he

more fully developed out of the Judaic concepts), and their superiority to the fates. Jesus most

obviously displayed this with his supposed bodily resurrection three days after his death. Jesus,

similar to Mithras, also had a vita, or a chain of events important for the world’s drama, but also

provided an example in lifestyle, word, and action for his followers. This chain of events found

expression in, what today is identified as the, New Testament Gospels. 86

Many other distinctive features found in Mithraism have Christian echoes. Some of the

most noticeable echoes are in the imagery of both religions. The common images that have

Mithras, later replaced usually by Jesus in similar situations, as the central figure are;

Mithras/Yeshua being born out of a rock, or cavern, sometimes witnessed by shepherds, a source

for later Christian nativity paintings. Mithras, later in his Roman following, became associated as

a god for abundant rain and water, “…it[,meaning art representations,] is strikingly similar to the

85
Though used by people to describe others, and retroactively later, Pope Gregory I was the first to use the
title in the formal sense in which it is used today.
86
Everett Furgeson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 2nd Edition (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmand
Publishing Company, 1993); John Michael Greer, “Mithraic Mysteries.” The Element Encyclopedia of Secret
Societies, 2nd Edition (Harper Element, 2006), 328-329.

1276
 87
portrayal of the water miracle in Christian art,” such as his turning water into wine at the

wedding in Cana 88, or his calming of the storm and walking upon the waters. 89

Figure 15: The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan

Mithras also held the name sol invictus, or the “unconquered sun.” A slip of the pen

makes s-u-n into s-o-n, and for the followers of Christianity Jesus is the unconquered son of their

god, Jehovah. A further strengthening of the connection between Mithras and Jesus could be that

their followers celebrated their “birthdays” on December 25th. 90

As much emphasis was placed on Jesus the Christians also acknowledged the some

power of the feminine. Mary, his mother, took on aspects of the Great Mother of Isis and Cybele,

just as any woman might if she proclaimed as Mary did to Gabriel, “Behold the handmaiden of

the Lord.” 91 The image of motherhood just as with Isis’ followers took on personification in

87
Everett Furgeson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 2nd Edition (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmand
Publishing Company, 1993).
88
Bible, New American Standard, (John 2:1-11).
89
Bible, New American Standard, (Matthew 14:22-33).
90
Bible, New American Standard, (Matthew 14:22-33).
91
Bible, Authorized King James Version (Luke 1:38).

1277
Christianity as Mary nursing her infant son Jesus—the image commonly referred to as the

Madonna and child. Other frequent themes seen with Isis and the Christian faith are the ideas of

baptism as an initiation rite, service to others, resurrection and bereavement (though these

switched from a wife and husband relationship to that of a mother and son), both also embraced

followers in life and acted as intercessors after death on their behalf. Isis also held hope of

eventual salvation for her followers, and her temples were seen as safe and clean places; these

ideas translated into Christianity in the ideas in life after death and Heaven, and in the aura

surrounding temples, Churches, and the like.

Unfortunately, as revered as Jesus’ mother Mary was, another Mary became equally

reviled. Mary Magdalene became known as a repentant prostitute by the middle ages, and

significantly, Isis had her detractors as well. Where these two women intersect, as far as their

critics are concerned, are in their very natures. Both are seen as women of easy virtue, and

enjoying the act of lovemaking, as well as other sexual enjoyments. There is also another

uncomfortable image that Isis’ religious leaders conjure and that is martyrdom. Many of her

priests were crucified at the behest of the Emperor Tiberius just as Jesus and many of his

followers were crucified or martyred in other ways before the legalization of Christianity under

Constantine.

Finally, like the Bacchants, Christians celebrated their idea of partaking of the god, and

fasting to experience god. Just as Bacchants would fast in the winter before their major

celebration, so too Christians developed a habit and codified it that fasting was to take place in

the spring before the Easter celebrations, a time known as Lent. Along with this yearly fast and

perhaps a few others of shorter duration for various reasons Christians perform regularly the rite

of the Eucharist. Based on the passages quoted from Jesus above, Christian followers take bread

1278
or a wafer as the body of Christ and wine as his blood. 92 These acts hold strong parallels with the

rites of communal eating in Judaism, but most importantly in the Bacchus festival rites. Granted

the Christian Eucharist is not as messy or physically unsafe as the Bacchanal rites, in the

consuming of raw animal flesh or blood, and the imbibing of the god’s essence is there; as the

Eucharist is designed to bring one into direct contact with Christians’ god, and remind them of

Jesus’ sacrifice to make that contact possible.

Figure 16: Summation Table of Christianity and its Similarities with other Religion in the Late Roman Empire

PAGAN SOURCE CONCEPT/SYMBOL POSSIBLE CHRISTIAN RE-INTERPRETATION

IMPERIAL STATE Visible Head Jesus as the “Son of God” and later the pope.
RELIGION
MITHRAISM Mediator Jesus mediator between God and mankind
Water manipulators Water miracles; water to wine; walking on water
Superior to the fates Rose from the dead
Offer of Immortality Heaven and the concept of an after-life (heavily
based in Judaic customs)
Vita and Example Gospels
Sol Invictus “Cheated” death because he is the “Son of God”
Consistent Iconography Birth in a cave, witnessed by shepherds,
halo/sundisks
CYBELE Great Mother Mother Mary
ISIS Baptism and Service Initiation into the faith, key idea preached by Jesus
Eventual Salvation Heaven and after-life
Bereaved/Resurrection Bereaved mother, and the resurrection of the divine
(or semi-divine) individual; Jesus
Life-Giver Mother Mary nursing her infant son
Places of Worship Churches have an air of cleanness and safety
Embracer/Shelter Mother Mary intercedes on peoples’ behaves
Personal Vices Mary Magdalene repentant prostitute
Martyrdom Jesus and some of his early followers
Bacchus Winter Fast Spring fast of Lent just before Easter
Imbibing the god Holy Communion and the Eucharist

92
Depending upon which denomination of Christianity you deal with today there is the ongoing debate
over consubstantiation and transubstantiation; and others choice not to perform a communion/Eucharistic type
ceremony.

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 The parallels between Pauline Christianity and the ancient religions that were also

accessible to people during the late Roman Empire appear quite strong. That does not mean that

these ideas, concepts, symbols came from these sources, but it is a possibility that is worth

acknowledgement until definitive proof ever becomes available. The adaptability of the Romans

as a people and state allowed other gods and their followers to flourish side-by-side, and when

Christianity arose as a force it most likely saw the wisdom in this approach and adopted it. So,

from this myriad of thoughts, ideas, and traditions mushroomed a hybrid, which developed

strong roots based in the paganism around it, but turned it and manipulated it to fit monotheism.

Because of this probable manipulation Christianity did not grow in a vacuum, and its very

existence stood and continues to stand as a testimony to the enduring and amalgamating abilities

of the ancient religions that came before it. With the revival of paganism in modern neo-pagan

movements it may be worthwhile to find a common ground among these faiths of ancient and

modern times. It is important to recall that the ancient religions discussed (and quite possibly

many more that were not) are a large probable reason that Christianity contained the diversity it

needed to appeal to many, and thus ensured Christianity’s and to some extent these other

religions survival into modern times.

Figure 16: The Final Events in the Life of Jesus the Christ; his death and resurrection.

1280
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