Front cover: Head of Mithras

Back cover: Temple of Mithras. Visitors watching excavations in progress, 1954

Full details of membership and other publications can be obtained from the Honorary Secretary, London & Middlesex Archaeological Society, c/o Museum of London, 150 London Wall, London EC2Y SHN, or 3 Cedar Drive, Hatch End, Pinner, Middlesex HAS 4DD. The Roman Art Treasures from the Temple of Mithras

THE ROMAN ART TREASURES FROM THE TEMPLE OF MITHRAS

By j.M.C. Toynbee

SPECIAL PAPER No.7 LONDON AND MIDDLESEX ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY 1986 The Society is grateful to the Historic Buildings & Monuments Commission for England and the Museum ofLondon for grants towards the cost ofthe publication ofthis report.

ISBN 0 903290 31 6

1~~~E51 Printed in Great Britain by IX"U Page Bros (Norwich) Ltd CONTENTS

Page Preface IV Introduction: the Archaeological Background, by \\". F. Grimes I List of Abbreviations 4

PART I

Catalogue Second-century icorks in imported marble (Xos. 1-9) I. Head of ~lithras 5 2. Head of Minerva 10 3. Head of Serapis 13 4. Xlercurv group...... 18 S. Colossal hand of Mithras Tauroctonos 21 6. Small torso of Bacchus from narthex area 23 7. Small torso of Bacchus reused as building-stone...... 24 8. \Yater deitv...... 25 9. Genius 27 Third-century u.ork in imported marble (:\"0. 10) 10. Relief of Mithras Tauroctonos 29 Third-century icorks in British stone (Xos, 11-13) 11. Left hand and forearm of Mithras Tauroctonos 31 12. Relief of Cautopates 32 13. Relief of Dioscurus 34 Thirdt:')-century works in importedmarble (:\"os. 14-15) 14. Roundel 36 15. Bacchic group 39 Third andfourth(?)-century importedsilverwork (Nos. 16---17) 16. Silver casket and strainer 42 17. Silver bowl, by Joanna Bird...... 52

PART II

General considerations 55 Appendix I. X-ray fluorescence analysis and metallographic examination of the Roman silver casket and strainer from the Mithraeum, by M. J. Hughes and J. R. S. Lang 63 .lppendix II. Report on the stones from the Mithraeum, by the late S. E. Ellis 64 :\"otes 65 PREFACE

The Temple of Mithras, discovered in the late S.E. Ellis of the British Museum 1954, was the most outstanding Roman (Natural History), M.J. Hughes and building excavated by the Roman and ].R.S. Lang of the British Museum Medieval London Excavation Council Research Laboratory for specialist con­ during the 1954 season. Noteworthy tributions to the work; toJoanna Bird and amongst its finds was the collection of Sarah Macready over matters to do with marble sculptures which had been deli­ details of the text; to John Edwards for berately buried, and to which had to be the photography of the sculptures; to Nick added three further marbles known as Griffiths for the artwork for Figures 1 & the Ransome Collection. Found in 1889 5; to Catherine Johns and Don Bailey of during building operations, they are now the British Museum and Francois Baratte known to have come from the temple. of the Musee du Louvre for photographs; All the sculptures are now housed in the to Hugh Chapman, past Editor of the Museum of London. The interest of the Society, and Jenny Hall for seeing the marbles was such that it was decided that work through the press. Above all, thanks they should, with the silver canister, be are due to the late Professor Tovnbee for made the subject of a separate publi­ making available her unrivall~d know­ cation. ledge of the subject and it is regretted that The Council is grateful to the London for various reasons (none of which were & Middlesex Archaeological Society for the responsibility of Professor Tonybee), making it possible to publish the City's she did not live to see the final publication. post-war excavations. Thanks are due to W.F. Grimes

EDITOR'S NOTE

The text of this publication is that com­ unfortunately produced until after her pleted by the late Professor Toynbee some death on 31 December 1985. The respon­ years ago and last seen in an edited form sibility for any errors and omissions must by her in September 1980, at which time therefore lie with myself. she made some final amendments and corrections. The first proofs were not Hugh Chapman INTRODUCTION: THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

W. F. GRIMES

The discovery of the Walbrook oriented east to west, with a heavily but­ Mithraeum was the chief outcome of an tressed apse at the west end. The interior investigation the original purpose of was divided into nave and side aisles by which (whatever else might result) was to sleeper-walls which carried stone col­ obtain more precise information about onnades. Entrance was by a double door the stream which has given the site its in the east wall from a narthex which was name. Though long since lost to view the only partly seen and may have fronted a Walbrook played an important part in Roman predecessor of the present Wal­ the Middle Ages as a parochial and brook street. The floor of the narthex was administrative boundary; in Roman times higher than that of the nave, perhaps it divided the walled city into two approxi­ indicating that the temple was built on the mately equal parts and must have affected lip of the Walbrook valley. This involved a living conditions in ways which can now stone sill and two steps down to the floor only be guessed at. Its scale and the of the nave, creating the sense of descent behaviour of its flood-water (if any) would which is a feature of many Mithraea. At doubtless have been important. the western end the floor of the apse was But of this part of the work it need only raised on a solid drum of masonry above be said here that as expected the stream all other levels. Before it were two steps, was smaller than had previously been the upper tread wider than the lower, thought. At the one point where it was presumably to allow space for altars. It is possible to examine it, about 360m back tempting to see in the seven columns of the from the present river-frontage, though colonnades some reflection of the seven incompletely seen it could not have been grades that made up the cult membership. more than 5-6m wide. But the exigencies Other features of the building in its origi­ of the situation made it necessary to con­ nal form were a square timber-lined well centrate effort on the building which pre­ or water-container in the south-west cor­ sented itself in the easternmost of the ner and the remains ofwooden structures, cuttings which were all that time and the floors and benches in the aisles. general conditions allowed. The evidence of coins and pottery com­ The presence of the stream was no bined suggests a date of AD 240-50 for doubt a factor in the establishment of the the building of the temple. In subsequent temple at this point, with its west end years the main changes were of two kinds. about 17m back from the channel. By the There was in the first place a gradual time of its building the shallow valley building up of the floors, in part perhaps had acquired a filling, mainly man-made, a reaction to the damp conditions which which hereabouts was up to 2.5m deep. seem to have prevailed throughout much The shrine itself was of slightly irregular of the building's history and which were basilican plan, about 18 by 8m. It was responsible for the later preservation of 2 J. M. C. Toynbee many timber elements which otherwise sleeper-walls in particular were solid and would have perished. The process seems undisturbed. to have been fairly rapid, judging by the Given the early fourth-century date for relatively shallow intervals between sur­ Floor 5 the alternative conclusion is ines­ faces. The temple was in use until about capable: that the two events, the removal AD 350 or a little later. In a period of of the colonnades and the concealment of about 120 years the nave acquired eight the sculptures, were yet another example successive floors. The resulting accumu­ of the hostility that existed between the lation on the original surface was rather emerging Christians and the Mithraists more than 1m deep. at this time, with the former attacking the One result of these changes was inevi­ temples and the latter seeking to protect tably to modify the internal arrangements their sacred possessions by hiding them. of the building. The steps both at the This view receives support from the entrance and before the apse were gradu­ belated recognition of the fact that the ally covered and finally eliminated. There Mithras had been damaged in antiquity. were corresponding alterations in the The neck, as found broken from the head, levels of the aisles. For a variety of reasons carries a scar which is due to a heavy blow it was not possible always to correlate the from an axe or other sharp implement. intervening surfaces and there were some In accepting this interpretation, however, differences in the treatment accorded to there is some danger of over-simplific­ the south aisle as compared with the ation, for the laying of Floor 5 must have north. preceded the burial of the marbles in it. The second, more disastrous change is The two cannot therefore be strictly con­ equated with the fifth floor in the above temporary; and there is no evidence as to succession. It is dated on coin evidence to the time-interval between the damaging the early fourth century, perhaps about of the head and its burial, or between the AD 310-20. It involved the removal of laying of the floor and the burial. the stone colonnades and therefore the In the confused conditions that must dismantling of the whole structure of the have prevailed during this period (added building apart from the outer walls. But to which is the possibility ofevidence that Floor 5 not only overlay the colonnade may have been lost because ofdifficulties sleeper-walls and the column-settings; it in the excavation) it is perhaps not sur­ was also the floor in which the main group prising that the archaeological facts of marbles (Nos. 1-5) was buried. The reflecting such conditions should not fall hollow containing them extended over the tidily into place. Coin evidence indicates north sleeper-wall; and the head and neck that Floor 5 was open down to at least of Mithras (No.1) and the head of AD 330. It is provided by coins of Con­ Minerva (No.2), slightly apart from the stantine II (AD 320-4) and a Con­ others, rested on the wall and on the stantinopolis (AD 330-5) from a pit dug concrete 'pad' or setting for the first in this surface at the east end of the nave. column from the east. During the period covered by Floor 5 also It would be possible to argue that the some innovation had continued in the loss of the columns may have been due to neighbourhood of the apse, particularly structural failure. But although there had in the introduction ofwhat may have been been collapse at the south-west corner a pair of unusual pedestals set on the floor (see below) there was no sign of move­ in front of it. ment elsewhere in the building. The But from this time on the building must The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras 3 have presented a somewhat bedraggled character of other details. The long beams appearance. With colonnades and entab­ referred to above were re-used; a secon­ latures gone and the replacement roof dary altar later employed to support one presumably carried on the outer walls, of them had been contrived from a dress­ it was probably reduced in height. The ed-down column capital; and the support interior would have been more open than for the final altar in the apse, itselfa rough previously, but a series of wooden posts, block, rested on a loose arrangement of sometimes in clusters but not all of the pieces of wood-a state of affairs in mar­ same date, along the line of the southern ked contrast to the original building with colonnade is unexplained. They were at its architectural pretensions and fine one stage thought to be roof-supports sculptures. replacing the columns, but there was no It does not appear that in its degraded corresponding series along the north aisle; state the temple had passed into other and the final result would have been lop­ than Mithraic hands. There was no sign sided, while some ofthe timbers appeared of Christian usage. The last sculpture to too light for such a purpose. The division be found within the building, the Bacchus of nave and side aisles was maintained (No. 15) had not apparently been delib­ down to the final floor. It was marked by erately buried, but it was above rather two beams along the lines of the long than actually on the final floor and cannot since buried sleeper-walls. They provided therefore be said to have been in its origi­ support for the timberjoists which carried nal position. This floor was level with the plank floors for the aisles while the nave surface of the apse. It had the effect of floor continued to be of mortar or similar dividing the interior longitudinally into material. two parts. To the west, covering the This and other evidence combined to beams, it eliminated the lateral division demonstrate that the building continued of nave and side aisles, being continuous in use after the marbles had been buried. as far as could be seen over the full width The three floors that succeeded Floor 5 of the building. To the east the division were of the same type as the earlier ones, had been maintained for about half the though their material varied. In the make­ length of the former nave, with the floor up for Floor 7 there were more roofers cambered to the beams which continued and building debris than usual, but to support the aisle floors. The junction nowhere was there an accumulation of between the two parts had not survived mixed rubbish that would be expected on later disturbance, but was perhaps repre­ an abandoned site. sented by a patch of stones set in mortar There were other indications of the surviving on the north side. The block for poor state ofthe building in its later years. the support of the last altar on the chord The collapse of the south-western corner of the apse was the last structural feature. has already been noted. The main wall From amongst the underlying timbers leaned outwards slightly, the southern came coins ofConstantine I (AD 310-12) buttress of the apse had been reduced and and Licinius I (AD 313-18). Several coins a hole in the wall behind it had been filled of the same period were found in the with a column-drum. There was no way area immediately in front of the apse. of dating this event, but the rough nature Doubtless votive offerings, taken in con­ of the work, with the possibility that the junction with a coin of Constans or Con­ drum was derived from the original build­ stantius II (AD 341-6) from the make­ ing, was in keeping with the make-shift up of the final floor they show that the 4 J. M. C. Toynbee temple continued to be used down to group of sculptures (Nos. 8-10). If the about AD 350, perhaps later. assumption that they were found together The filling over the last floor of the is correct they were probably buried like temple consisted of mixed building debris Nos. 1-5. The good condition ofthe river­ and black soil which included much god (No.8) and of the Mithraic panel decayed mortar with stones and frag­ (No. 10) would support such a view; per­ mentary tiles. It made up the whole of the haps not the headless Genius (No.9). It deposit to the underside of the modern has been suggested that they were floor and appeared to be the result of revealed in the course of sewer exca­ stone-robbing. It was presumably in the vations which were being made in the course of this activity that the scattered area at about the time of the discovery. sculptures were dispersed: the Cautopates More complete knowledge of the con­ (No. 12), two plain altars and an incom­ ditions on the site indicates that this could plete column immediately outside the not have been so. There were three mod­ south wall; and the Dioscurus (No. 13), a ern foundations in the area of the nave, separate find some distance away to the which penetrated at least the upper floors. south of the building. Ofthe two figures of (Shortage of time prevented their Bacchus, one (No.6) came from amongst removal.) They were the only modern debris similar to that in the nave on the disturbers of the temple deposits. The south side of the narthex; the other (No. foundation immediately to the west of 7) was built into a late Roman square the hollow containing the main group of foundation of uncertain purpose 30m to sculptures occupies the position that is the north-west across the Walbrook perhaps most likely to have produced stream. Nos. 8-10. But the true facts will not now It remains to be added that no direct be known. light was shed on the finding of the 1889

List of Abbreviations Grimes, ERML \\'. F. Grimes, The Excavation ofRoman and Medierol London (1968) JRS Journal ofRoman Studies LRT London in Roman Times. London Museum Catalogues. :\'0. 3 (1930) Merrifield, RCL R. Merrifield. The Roman Cit» ofLondon (196j) RCHM, RL Royal Commission on Hist';rical1\[onuments (England). London. \"01. Ill. Roman London (1928) Tovnbee. ARB Art in Roman Britain (1963) Ve~maseren, CLI4RAf 1\1. J Vermascrcn, Corpuslnscriptionum et Monumentorum ReI(~ionis Mithriacae. I (19j61. II (1960) PART I

CATALOGUE

Second-century works in imported marble on the head the ends of the side- and back-locks, (Numbers 1-9) where they touch the shoulders (PI. 2). The two parts, head and neck, are now joined together by 1. HEAD OF MITHRAS a dowel inserted into opposing holes drilled in the (Pl. 1; PIs. 1-3) fractured surfaces. The carbon residue found in the iron incrustation suggests that the marble may ha ve been exposed to altar fires I. Xlusrum ofLondon .Ace. ::\0. 2000j Dimensions Height. 369mm (14!in); width at base of Since the whole of the face and most of the head neck. 168mm (6#in). and neck are in a very good state of preservation, Material Fine-grained saccharoidal marble. with with the nose intact, the Mithras must have been polygonal grains. probablv from Carrara. Find-spot The head and neck. found sundered and very carefully buried by persons who valued it and separatelv. but lying close together and who cannot have been responsible for the gash in fitting one another perfectly when reunited. the side of the neck mentioned above. Yet this had been deliberatelv buried in a hollow. gash was certainly made in antiquity, deliberately, overlying the dismantled stone colonnades of the temple and afterwards sealed over before burial, and with a blunt implement, perhaps by the later. fourth-century. floors of the an axe; and the only explanation of it that comes temple. just east. and slightly north. of to mind is that it was the work of Christian (?) the site of the easternmost column of the iconoclasts, who got into the Mithraeum and northern colonnade. Date ofdiscover, Head: 18 September 19j4: neck: 21 Sep­ attacked the Mithras with a view to decapitating tember 19j4 it, but were prevented from doing further damage JRSxiy (19j4)pl. 44, fig. I; R. L. S. Bruce­ to it. The gash may well have been the cause of Mitford (ed.), Recent Archaeological Exca­ head and neck splitting apart. It was possibly such lations in Britain (19j6), pI. 28; Verrnaseren, CI.\fR.\f ii (1960), p. 37, no. 81j, fig. 2j2; an attack on the Mithraeum that suggested to Tovnbee, ARB, pp. 141-2, no. 36, pI. 42; the Mithraists the advisability of burying all their Merrifield, ReL, pI. 78: Grimes, ER.\fL, p. precious marble sculptures. This hypothesis is not 106, pI. 44. inconsistent with the fact that the floor (No.5) in which the sculptures were buried dates from c. AD Description and aesthetic appreciation. Mithras is por­ 320. traved as a handsome beardless youth, with long, Below the lower edge of the polished neck the curlv hair and characteristic Phrygian cap. The bust terminates in a kind of tenon, more or less twist ofthe neck shows that his body, now vanished, triangular in shape and roughly surfaced. Head, veered three-quarters towards the spectator's right, neck, and tenon thus form together a separate while his head was turned back over his right entity; and the tenon, which was obviously never shoulder more than three-quarters towards the meant to be visible, must have been let into a spectator's left. When the head was found, most of hollowed-out cavity between the shoulders of the the face and large portions of the hair were dis­ body to which the head and neck once belonged. figured by dark smears of iron incrustation and The carving of the head and neck of a statue in a staining. These have been cleaned ofTthrough the separate block, apart from the body, was a common skill of Dr Plenderleith in the British Museum practice among sculptors of the Roman imperial Research Laboratory, leaving a light yellow colour­ period". In many cases the finest marble was ing and a slightly roughened surface. But originally reserved for the head and neck, and often for hands the flesh parts were smooth and highly polished, and feet as well, the draped parts of the figure as can be seen on part of the right cheek, near the being rendered in some inferior material, which hair, and over the whole of the neck, which comes might be coarser marble, stone, or even stucco. down to a point in the centre. The clean break A marble head resting on a stucco body would between head and neck cuts across just below the undoubtedly need some extra support to bear its chin. But at the base of the head on the left-hand weight; and in the base of the tenon of our head side there is a gash which has severed from the hair there is an ancient hole, about 20mm Wn) wide 6 ] . M. C. Toynb ee

Plate I. Head of Mi thras; full face. The Roman art treasures from the Te mple of Mithras 7

Plate 2. Head of Mithras; detail of break across neck. and roughly square (PI. 3), into which a vertical hand , we suppose that it was fashioned in this metal bar or spike may have been inserted. island, we must envisage the act ivity in Britain of Assuming that the head is that of Mi thras Tau­ a craftsma n sufficiently skilled to produce a body roctonos ('Bull-slayer'), suc h a bar could have tha t exac tly fitted this costly ma rble head and also passed down invisi bly through the bodies of god a bull an d other accessory figures that provided a and bull to the floor on which the group rested; wort hy and suitably proporti oned setti ng for it. and were this group, apa rt from its surviving head , T he Walbroo k head of Mi thras was clearly not of stucco, its complete disappearan ce would be intended to be viewed from the rear. Not only was very readily explained.'. At any rat e we have no it always relatively flat an d unworked behind, but knowledge of the details, ma terial, an d provenan ce the back of the cap has been shave d down still of the remainde r of the monumen t of which the fur ther , leaving a heavily tooled surface, from Walbrook head was apparently the most dis­ which the hai r on the nape of the neck and behind tinguished feature. It migh t have been worked the right ear projects somewhat. T his criss-cross abroad by the sculpto r who carved the head , or by tooling does not extend to the top of the peak of a member of the same workshop, an d impor ted the cap in front ; and it looks as .if the head had along with it into the province. If, on the other been reconditi oned to fit a grou p placed a short

Plate 3.Head of Mith ras; revealing hole at base of head . 8 ]. M. C. Toynbee

distance in front of a background that curved up On the left side a deep running groove emphasises slightly over it from below. Furthermore, the god the line of junction between hair and cap; it con­ was meant to be seen neither full-face (PI. I), tinues under the peak of the cap, which flops over nor even three-quarter-face, but almost in profile towards the left eye, but it ceases on the right side. towards the spectator's left (PI. I). For not only is The surface of the cap is rough and unpolished this the view obtained when the tooled portion of and was almost certainly once painted, although the head is placed flush with some vertical surface, here again no trace of colouring survives. The soft but the line of the brows slopes slightly up, and material, wool or leather, in which this headdress that of the nostrils slightly down, towards the spec­ is conceived to have been fashioned, is suggested tator's right, producing a distinctly asymmetrical by two shallow diagonal grooves, denoting folds or effect when the face is regarded directly from the creases, on the left side of the peak and by two fron t (PI. I), while as seen from the side the per­ more lower down on the left side of the bonnet. spective is perfectly correct and must have resulted Apart from the clean and easily mended break that from deliberate calculation. Again, the two creases sundered head from neck and may well have been that cut horizontally across the neck emphasise the occasioned by the aforementioned gash, Mithras sharp turn of the head in that they are aligned, not has sustained but little damage. He has lost a small with the chin, but with the central hollow that triangular portion of his hair on the left side, where separates the ends of the collar-bone. The hori­ the gash took place, a small piece of back hair zontalline which furrows the right temple, starting below the break, by the right side of the neck, and above the right pupil and ending just to the left of another small bit of hair just above the break, the nose, but not extending across the left temple, under the place of the right ear. There is a chip may reveal a small error, or change of idea, on the out of the margin of the bust above the tenon on part of the artist. the right side, a small abrasion just above the No attempt is made to indicate the hairs of the break on the left side of the chin, and three small eyebrows. The irises of the eyes are not incised and abrasions on the back of the head. A shallow crack were probably put in with paint. The pupils are extends over the right side of the peak of the cap, each represented by a deeply drilled-out, somewhat from the hair to the crown of the head; and the elongated hollow, with a small indentation in the surface of the top of the cap, just behind the peak, centre of its upper side, so that the effect is roughly has been badly eaten away by iron corrosion. crescent-shaped. Glass-paste or enamel may once Taken as a whole, the Mithras head can claim have filled these hollows, although no vestige of first place among all the Walbrook works of art. It any filling substance now remains. Between the combines a fine mastery of the technique of marble­ centre of the nose and that of the upper lip a deep, carving with the power to express an intense life circular depression has been drilled. The inside of and activity, both of flesh and spirit, which arrests the mouth has also been deeply drilled out, with the spectator's gaze and stirs him emotionally. In the suggestion of an upper row of teeth just visible the wide-open, far-seeing eyes with their large, between the slightly parted lips. The lower lip and dark pupils, in the slightly dilated nostrils, and in projecting tip of the chin are separated by a deeply the parted lips we can sense strength tempered carved 're-entrant'. with serenity and tenderness, and a deeply felt The hair is treated in an impressionistic manner, excitement and ecstasy linked with contemplation with deep circular holes and deep running grooves, and repose. It is the face of one who is enacting, all drill-made, flecking the rough surface and part­ with quiet triumph and even with buoyancy, the ing lock from lock. This now results in a lace-like role for which he has been cast. look, with black and white vividly juxtaposed and Parallels to art-type. The backward turn of the head setting off most effectively the burnished polish of towards the spectator's left and the slightly upward the flesh. That the contrast was originally accented glance of the eyes, recalling the type of the inspired by colouring the hair is very probable; but no Alexander, leave little room for doubt that this is traces of paint can be detected. The working of the the head of Mithras from a variant of the famous individual locks is more complete and careful on scene that portrays him as Tauroctonos. In that the visible left side of the head than it is on the scene is depicted the great elemental and symbolic almost hidden right side. There the drilled holes act of sacrifice whereby the god brought life out of and grooves cease a short distance behind the death, good out of evil, light out of darkness for presumed position of the right ear. Both ears must mankind. These opposing forces are normally be imagined as completely covered by the falling represented by the flanking figures of Mithras' two side-locks, from which a tiny wisp of hair runs attendants, Cautes with torch erect and Cautopates forward horizontally onto the edge of each cheek. with torch reversed (No. 12). Mithras is believed The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras 9

1,2 3,4&5 15 .11 (Approx.)

x W I ~ a: -c z

.6

12• (Approx.) I 14 13

o 5 10 15 m. I",' .. ,' " o 10 30 50ft.

Fig, I. Site plan; showing findspots of art treasures.

by some students of the cult to have performed the from the Palazzo dei Musei di Roma Mithraeum 6 deed at the bidding of the Sun, who seems to have in Rome, excavated in 1931 , and a stucco head sent a raven as his envoy. He is shown holding the found in 1954 in the Mithraeum under the Church mouth of the bull with his left hand and with his of Santa Prisca on the Aventine? The focal point right hand plunging his knife into its right shoulder. of almost every Mithraeurn was the cult-image He averts his gaze from the sight of his victim's of Mithras Tauroctonos erected in sculpture, or anguish because he takes no delight in slaughter occasionally painted, at the termination, whether for its own sake, but his face, if sometimes sad and straight or apsidal, of the nave: it occupied a place 'pathetic', seldom, if ever, expresses horror and of honour comparable to that accorded to the revulsion; he is generally, as here, the strong, yet Crucifix above or behind the altar of a Christian pitiful, the inspired and transfigured sacrificant, church; and since our marble is far superior to both who fully comprehends the holy purpose that of the two other versions of the episode that have underlies this bloodshed', come to light in Walbrook (Nos. 10 and II: PI. X; Mithras Tauroctonos was portrayed in sculpture Pis. 16, 17), it is almost certain that the group which sometimes in the round, more often in relief; and it crowned was the cult-image and stood on the since every Mithraeum possessed at least one ver­ platform in the apse at the western end of the sion of the scene, while many shrines boasted sev­ London temple (Fig. I). That this group was not eral versions of it (both cult-image and ex-votos), meant to be seen three-dimensionally from all sides, the known representations run into many but formed, as it were, a 'relief in the round', hundreds. Parallels to the London Mithras head would appear to be proved by the flattened back of are therefore legion. But a few of the more striking, Mithras' head, which, however, shows no signs of or more recently discovered renderings of the theme having been in contact with a surface close up may be cited as typical examples: for instance, the against it: the curving wall of the apse would, in marble relieffound near Aquileia in northern Italy fact, have served as its background. What access­ in 1889 and now in Vienna", two marble reliefs ories this version of the scene shared with that on 10 J. M. C. Toynbee

Ulpius Silvanus' dedication in the temple (No. 10, resembles a diadem, being at its broadest in the PI. X), we do not know''. centre, above the nose, and tapering to a relatively Date and area ojproduction. The general style of the narrow strip for the remainder of its course (PI. 5). Mithras head and, in particular, the manner and The second strange feature is the crown of the technique in which the hair is worked, point to a head, or rather the absence of a crown, since the date for it between about AD 180 and 2009. Both skull as viewed in profile, looks as though it had its craftsmanship and its material strongly suggest lost its top by being cleft in a slightly curved that it was carved in an Italian studio. diagonal line from the centre of the diadem towards the rear. The upper surface of the cranium is very roughly tooled and completely unfinished and is pierced by two circular holes, each 13mm (!in) in 2. HEAD OF MINERVA diameter, set one behind the other (PI. 7). The (Pl. II; Pis. 4, 5, 7) front hole is about 13mm deep and lies just to the spectator's left of the axis of the face; the hole Museum of London Ace. ='10. 18491 behind is about 19mm Wn) deep and lies roughly Dimensions Height, 253mm (lOin); width at base of neck, 152mm (6in). on the centre-line. These holes must have been Material Fine-grained saccharoidal marble, with drilled to hold in place a metal headdress of some polygonal grains, probably from Carrara. kind, concealing the whole of the top of the head, Find-spot Deliberately buried in a hollow overlying which was clearly never intended to be visible. the dismantled stone colonnades of the temple and afterwards sealed over by the It is these two apparent oddities that furnish the later, fourth-century floors of the temple, key to the identification of the head as Minerva's. just east, and slightly south, of the site of We have only to place a profile view of the Wal­ the easternmost column of the northern brook head (PI. 5) and one of the head of the colonnade, close to ='10. l. Date of discovery 26 September 1954 Varvakeion statuette of Pheidias' Athene Par­ Bibliograph» JRSxlv (1955), pI. 44, fig. 2; Toynbee, ARB thenos (PI. 6) 10 side by side in order to be convinced pp. 134-5, no. 24, p]. 28; Grimes, ERML, that the former's marble band represents the seat­ pp. 107-8 pl. 46. ing for a now vanished metal 'Attic' helmet, of which the upturned peak was slipped over the Description, aesthetic appreciation, and parallels to art­ diadem-like portion above the brow, while the type. This is the head ofa cold, classic beauty, finely raised edging of the neck-guard rested on the nar­ carved and attractive in respect of its majestic air row strip that runs behind the ears and across the of Olympian detachment and serenity, but lacking back hair. The bonnet of this metal helmet was the sensitiveness and spark of inner fire that ani­ presumably held firm by two metal bars, attached mate the Mithras. The face and neck show a to its interior, which were fixed in the two holes brightly polished surface, somewhat marred, as we drilled in the upper surface of the marble. Mounted now see it, by the black staining, due to iron deposit on the metal helmet would have been a metal crest, (PI. 4-), which spreads over the side of the left cheek, either single or triple. The lower end of this crest under the chin, and over the left ear and the portion probably rested, as in the case of the Varvakeion of the head immediately behind it, while a few statuette, against the coil of hair that hangs down isolated dark streaks and patches are apparent on the neck, since the back surface of this coil is the right side of the chin. Under the lower edge of flattened and unworked, whereas on the sides of it the polished neck there is a roughly surfaced tenon, the individual locks are lightly indicated with the rounded in shape and somewhat shallower than is chisel. The Walbrook Minerva lacks the tresses the tenon of the Mithras head, and without a hole that fall forward on either side upon the breast of in its base. In this case, therefore, the supporting the Varvakeion Athene. But both versions of the body, into which the head was let, would seem to goddess show the same triangle of hair coming have been of some more solid substance, stone or down in front of each ear from below the peak coarser marble. Whether this head crowned a full­ of the helmet. There can, indeed, be no doubt length figure or a bust or a herm, we have no means whatsoever that the London head presents us with of knowing. a Roman version of a fifth-century BC Greek This head presents two obvious peculiarities. Athene. The helmet was probably removed and, if The first is the plain band of marble that passes of bronze and not of precious metal, abandoned at over the brows and behind, and a little way below, the time of the concealment of the marble, on which each ear, and then turns at a right-angle to run no sign of contact with metal can now be detected. across the thick, rope-like coil of hair that falls The two triangles of hair that frame the face of down the nape of the neck. In front this band the Walbrook Minerva consist of series of crisp, The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras I I

Plat e 4. Head of Minerva; at correc t angle of view. 12 J. M. C. Toynbee

This head , too, is slightly asymmetrical , although less so than is the case with the Mithras. T he line of the brows rises a little towards the spectator's right; the left eye is higher and more deeply set tha n the right eye; an d the sea ting for the neck-guard of the metal helmet descends con­ siderably lower beneath the left ear than it does beneath the right ear. It seems that the head was meant to be turned very slightly towards the spec­ tator's left, with the face tilted a little upwards. That, at any rat e, provid es the most pleas ing and satisfacto ry view-po int for it (PI. 4). T he Minerva is perfectly preserved, apart from the loss of a small portion of the outer margin of the upper part of the righ t ear and som e slight chipping along the edge of the neck above the tenon. Date and area of production. T here was probabl y no time du ring the first and second centuries of our era when there was no de ma nd for copies and ada pta tions of class ical Greek sta tuary. But hel­ lenising taste among the imp erial Romans had its special booms, as in the Hadrianic and early Antonine periods; and it is to the second qu arter of the second century that it would be natural Plat e 5. H ead of Minerva; profile view. to assign a work so particularl y c1assicised and idealised as the Walbrook Min erva. Ifwe dated it round curl s, carved with the chisel and picked out with a number of small, circular dri ll-holes, of which there are more on the right side than on the left. The broken effect of the surface of the hair is also indi cat ed by several perfectly stra ight, deeply incised lines cutt ing this way and that across the triangles. T he hairs of the eyebrows are not rend ered. The eyes are perfectly plain , as in all classical and H ellenistic Gr eek sculpt ure and in pre-Hadrian ic large-scale sculpture of the Roman age: they lack the plastic rend erin g of irises and pupil s that came into fashion during the second qu arter of the second century and which appea rs, from that time on, alm ost invari abl y in portraits and often, although by no mean s always, in the repr esent ations of deities, personifications, and the like. The clear- cut brows, long, straight nose, short upp er lip, small, neat mouth, oval cheeks, and full, bu t not unduly fleshy, chin combine to produce an idealised and gene ralised, typically classical cast of countena nce. The marble's only distinctively non­ fifth-century BC traits, apart from the highly bur­ nished surface, are the treatment of the hair and the very emphat ic overla pping of the lower by the upp er eyelid. Two horizont al creases cut across the neck, which is, perhaps, a trifle too powerful and Plat e 6. Pheidias' sta tuette of Ath ene Par­ stocky. thenos, Var vakeion. The Roman art tr easu res fro m the T emple of M ith ras 13

Italv may be inferred both from its stvle and from its l~ at el: i al. . R epresentations oj Minerua in other Mithraea. While Xlinerva in her funer ary aspec t as conq ueress of death is fun ction ally akin to M ithras, the Walbrook head is undoubtedl y unique as bein g the only large and impressive rep resentati on of the goddess that any Mithraeum in th e Rom an world has yet pro­ du ced . From the Palazzo dei Musei di Rom a M ithracum comes the lower portion of a sta tue tte of Minerv a, wearing a long tunic and resting her left hand on the shield at her side''; an d the M ith raeum at Heddernheim has vielded a ston e relief on whi ch she sta nds facing the spec ta tor, dr essed in a long tunic, hold ing a spear in her right hand, and resting her left hand on the rim of her shield, while her helm et rests on the gro und besid e her!", As part of the official Sta te-cult to which Mi th rai sts had to subscribe, Minerva appea rs in Mi thraea, along with th e ot her Ol ympian s, on a sma ll marble plaqu e from the temple at Veles in Serbia I{, and in a sma ll pan el above the main Mithras T au rocton os scene on the great relief from O sterburken 15. She seems to be represent ed as a Plate 7.Head of Minerva: revea ling holes member of the Ca pitoline Triad on a terracotta in cranium. vessel fro m the Mitreo delle Sette Porte at O sti a 16; and possibl y in th e sa me ca paci ty on a Mithraic not la ter than c. AD 150 we sho uld have to suppose relief from Virunum in Nori cum!". And it is also tha t th is marble, cons ide ra bly ea rlie r th an the as a member of the Triad that she is honoured in third-cent ury Mi thraeum, had' graced some con­ the only inscription known to the pr esent writer in tine ntal tem ple or conno isse ur's collec tion before wh ich her nam e is directl v link ed with tha t of it was imported into Britain and dedi cat ed in the Mi th ras, on an alta r oflate tbird-cen turv date from lB \\'albrook shrine, There is noth ing inh er ently Dian a (Ain-Zana) in Africa Proconsuiaris • For imp ro bable in suc h a supposition. On th e other the venera tion of Minerv a in her own right within ha nd, the philhelleni c interest s of both M ar cus a shrine of Mithras compa ra ble to tha t whi ch the Aurelius and Co mmodus ensured the survival ofa Walbrook head implies we ha ve as yet no oth er \'ogue for class ical G reek art-ty pes through out the evide nce. seco nd half of th e seco nd cent ury, alongs ide the new 'baroq ue' and pictori al developments that charac terised the port raits and reliefs of mid and 3. HEAD OF SERAPIS late Antonine times ; and it is not impossibl e th at (Pi. Ill; Pis. 8, 9) our head was carved as late as c. AD 180-90 . The Museum ofLondon Ace. :\0. 18494 peculiar trea tment of the hair a t the sides , with the Dimensions Height , 322mm ( 1 2 ~ i n) withou t modius, summa ry straight cuts across th e surface , does 431mm (l7in) with modius; wid th at base not sugges t the meticul ou s techniq ue of Hadriani c or neck 220mm (8!in). Materia! Fine-grained sacc ha roidal ma rble, with craftsmanship, whil e th e brilliant burnishing wh ich polygonal gra ins, probably from Ca rrar a. the Xliner va shares with the Mithras and with the Find-spot Deliberat ely buri ed, along with Xos. 4 and Sera pis (:'\0. 3), is most closely paralleled in such j , in a shallo w pit in a fourth-century floor a la te second-ceritu rv work as the Co nservatori overlying the disma nt led colonnades, south-east of th e pit containing X 0 5 . 1 and Co mmodus! ', altho ugh it mu st be born e in mind 2 on the north side or the nave and just tha t polished sur facing is also cha rac teristic of west of the entrance from the narthex. some H adr ian ic sculpture. But in view of the Date ofdiscovery 4 O ctober 1954 ext remely eclect ic nature of the work of Rom an Bibtiography JR S xlv (1955), pl. 45, fig. I; Vermaseren, C1MR M ii (1960), p. 37, no. 818, fig. 253; imperial copyists, it is best to avoid attempting to Toynb ec, ARB pp. 143- 5, no. 38, pl. 43; date our head too precisely betwe en the yea rs c. Merrifield , ReI., pis. 74, 76; Gr imes, AD 130 and 190. T hat the Mi nerv a was carved in f;RMI., p. 108, pis. 47, 48. 14 ]. M. C. Toynbee

Description and aesthetic appreciation. As compared representations of Serapis. The summit of this with the Minerva, the Serapis head has liveliness curious headdress measures 81mm (4in) across; and movement, warmth and even drama; and the and is pierced at its centre by a small, round hole, hand that carved it was technically more 25mm deep, which is likely to have held a metal accomplished than any other whose work has come bunch of corn-ears, to complete this picture of to light at Walbrook. Yet in it we miss again that material and other-worldly bounty. The modius of dynamic spirituality which differentiates the face the Walbrook Serapis is unusually tall and slender. of the marble Mithras from every other face in this The locks of the hair that hang upon the brow, group of sculptures. and those that descend in thick, vertical masses on The first thing that impresses the beholder of either side to frame the face and hide the ears, are this piece is the outstandingly brilliant polish of all deeply undercut and heavily drilled, with long, the flesh surfaces. The effect is, in fact, more strik­ running grooves distinguishing the lateral tresses, ing than in the case of the Minerva, since here the some of which, on the right side, are connected by resplendent burnishing is offset by the broken, small, transverse 'bridges' of marble left between dark-on-light masses of cascading hair and foaming the grooves and for some reason not removed (PI. beard. Once more the neck terminates in a roughly 8). The similarly drilled hair of Mithras has a surfaced tenon, triangular in shape, like that of the sketchy and impressionistic appearance. But here Mithras, and cut into its base, just to one side of the overall effect is one of painstaking virtuosity. the centre-line, is an unevenly shaped, deepish slot, Apart from the little 'bridges', every detail has a about 38mm (Hin) sq, into which there may have finished look; and we note that exact repetitions fitted some corresponding projection on the top of have been studiously avoided. For instance, on the the body, bust, or herm that once supported this left side there is a gap of 13mm (hn) between the head. downward-pointing tips of the locks and the top of The Serapis resembles the Mithras in not having the shoulder, while on the right side the upward­ been intended to be viewed from the rear, at least curling ends of the corresponding locks meet the in the last stages of its history in ancient times (PI. shoulder, and the main mass of hair projects further 9). The back of the head was always relatively flat forward over the beard than does the balancing and it was originally covered, from the crown to mass on the left. It is clear that the brow was once the upper edge of the tenon, by a kind ofwaterfall overshadowed by four dangling forelocks; bu t ofthe of sinuous, rippling locks, summarily carved in low two central ones, which must have been completely relief. But the centre of this area has been reworked undercut, so as to hang quite free of the surface of by the removal of a thin layer of marble, an opera­ the forehead, only the stumps remain, and the two tion that has left a bare patch, from which all traces unbroken forelocks to right and left respectively of these locks have vanished. The purpose of this merge slightly with the side locks. There is the mauling we do not, or course, know; but we may same heavy drilling in moustache and beard. Below surmise that it was done with a view to squeezing the centre of the chin the beard is dressed in large the head more easily into a niche, or against some corkscrew ringlets, the lower parts of which are other form of background, when it was dedicated modelled in the round, with flanking tiers ofspiral in the Walbrook temple. curls arranged in patterns that vary somewhat as The crown of the head was flattened from the between the two sides. It may be claimed that in first so that it might give a steady foothold for the the treatment of the hair, moustache, and beard the kalathos, the modius or corn-measure, a symbol of Walbrook Serapis represents a triumph ofpictorial fertility, by which Serapis is always distinguished. and colouristic sculpture. This cylindrical object shows a smooth, but not There is no indication of the hairs of the evebrows brightly burnished, surface and at top and bottom beneath the sensitively rendered temples. The it carries a plain, rounded, and projecting mould­ pupils of the eyes are represented by small round ing. The drum between these two mouldings splays depressions, the irises by lightly incised circles. out slightly towards the top and it is adorned These devices produce an air of vivid alertness, with three conventional, but not precisely identical, which is wholly absent from the Minerva's blank olive-trees, with leaves and berries sprouting from a eyeballs: and indeed the entire face, if lacking the central trunk-a further allusion to the fruitfulness force and inspiration of the l\lithras, is instinct that the god was expected to bestow both on dead with life. "·e can almost sense the breath issuing and living (p. 61). These three trees, ofwhich one from between the rows of teeth, the upper one of occupies the front of the modius, the other two its which the parted lips clearly reveal; and we seem sides, are worked in very low and delicate relief; to feel the softness of the strongly marked hollow and they have their counterparts on many other above the upper lip, beyond which the fuller lower T he Roman art treasures from the T emple of Mithras 15

Plate 8.Head of Sera pis; profile view. 16 J. M. C. Toynbee lip projects, as it sags slightly out of line towards the left. It is partly to these sma ll irregul arities and indiv idual traits in the features, combined with those alr ead y noted in the hair and beard, that this version of Serapis owes its special freshn ess and flavour. The mu tilat ion of the two cent ral forelocks is the only substantial dam age that the marble has susta ined. There are a number of chips along the edging of the neck, above the tenon; one large chip and a few small abrasions on the upper moulding of-the modius; and on the surface of the rear of the modius near one of the olive-trees some pitting and a few more slight abrasions can be seen. The tiny break in one of the locks on the left side of the face is modern. T he bright brown stai ns on the beard and on the hair above the brow, and the dark er brown stain on the edge of the right side of the neck, are vestiges of iron incru station. Parallels toart-type. The Walbrook head is a version of a well-known type of Sera pis, of which two of the most famili ar exa mples are a colossal marble bust in the Sala Rotond a of the Vati can 19 and the dark greenish-grey basalt head in the Villa Albani collection in Rom e/". The hall-m ark of the type is the fringe of normally four or five vertical forelocks, which in most representations dangle over the brow Plate 9.Head of Sera pis; rear view, revea l­ in straight, stiff lines, 'like icicles', to quote H . ing reworked area. P. L'Orange's apt com pa risorr", and are sharply demar cat ed from the main coiffure, bu t which in the case before us seem to have worn a less hierat ic, second half of the second cent ury AD an d which clear- cut, and rigid aspect. It has been sugges ted might, for that reaso n, be termed 'Roman-age' or that these overshadowing curls were int end ed to 'Rornan'i" . Whi ch type of hair-style reflects that of denote the darkness of the und erworld in which the original cult-image of the god which, according Serapis reigned'". But whatever their mean ing may to some scholars, an early Hellenistic sculptor, a have been, these curls clearly distinguish the heads hypoth etical Bryaxis the Younger, created for the that bear them from those of an oth er series in Sera paeum of Alexandria'", we do not know. The which the hair , instead of fallin g forward over the 'Hellenistic' type would seem to be the more likely brow, either rises up from it, in what has been candida te, although the forelocks type, exa mples called an anastole ('crest'), leavin g it free and of which are by far the more numerous, has been uncovered, and then strea ms down on either side common ly attributed to Bryaxis. The great fourth­ in waving tresses or, less frequ entl y, is waved lat­ century sculptor Bryaxis, an Athenian, according erally on either side of a centra l partin g. Serapis to Clement of Alexan dria, may well have made the head s belonging to this second series certa inly go sta tue of Plut o-H ad es at Sinope in Pontus, which 23 back to the Hellenistic age ; whereas there is no was brou ght then ce to Alexandria to serve as the example of the forelo cks type that can be definitely original cult-image of Serapis' ". dated so early. But throughout imp erial times both When precisely the ' Roma n' Sera pis type with series ran side by side . The British Mu seum pos­ the forelocks, which the Walbrook head sesses a good exa mple of the anastole type, a Roman examplifies, whether going bac k to Bryaxis or not , work executed in a manner that dat es it not later beca me the fashionable and standard one, we can­ than the time of Ant oninus Pius, but which could not tell. Amongst its earliest certa in appearances well have been carved severa l genera tions before/", are those on an Alexandrian tetrad rachm of ~ ero, This type may, for convenience, be lab elled ' HeI­ on a Hadriani c relief in the Louvre, and on a frontal lenistic/", as opposed to the forelo cks type, of which bust of Serapis on an Alexandrian coin of Marcus relat ively few sculptural exa mples would appea r, Aurelius'". But general conside rat ions would sug­ from stylistic and techni cal criter ia, to anteda te the gest that the grea tly increased popularity of the The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras 17 forelocks type in late second-century AD Roman representations of Serapis known to have been sculpture had some connection with the history of dedicated in other Mithraea the most impressive the cult-image of the Serapaeurn of Alexandria, the in many ways is that from the temple at Merida mother-temple, and always the centre of the god's (Augusta Emerita) in Spain.". It is a marble head, worship. Excavations made in 1943-5 at now about 300mm high, and broken off in ajagged Alexandria have, indeed, revealed the remains of line,just below the chin, from the bust or body that a large Roman Serapaeum replacing the original it once surmounted. Its identification as Serapis is and smaller Ptolemaic building". A. Rowe and rendered certain by the flat cut across the summit A. J. B. \Vace suggested that the Hellenistic temple of the crown, which can only be explained as the was destroyed during the Jewish insurrection and seating for a modius, carved, it would seem, in a that the grandiose new shrine was the work of separate piece of marble-unless it were of bronze Hadrian:". But we have no record ofany such early or stucco-s-and balanced upon the level surface. second-century destruction. On the other hand, we The nose is broken and the hollowed-out eye­ have got a record ofthe burning of the Alexandrian sockets, which must have held glass-paste or Serapaeum under Commodus in AD 18332; and enamel eyes, are now gaping cavities. There is a Commodus, whose devotion to the gods of Egypt glint of teeth between the parted lips. The hair, was notorious", is a likely emperor to have spon­ which is confined by a circlet, flares up above the sored the replacement of the burnt temple on new centre of the brow in an anastole and then ripples and more ambitious lines". It is, as we have seen, down to frame the finely modelled face and short, in the age of Commodus that many of the 'Roman' square-cut beard. Here we have, in fact, a version heads of Serapis fit both in style and in technique: of the 'Hellenistic' Serapis, without dangling fore­ and it is at least a reasonable hypothesis that locks; while the sparing use of drilling and under­ Bryaxis' original statue (if Bryaxis' it was) may cutting points to a date in the early Antonine have been lost in such a disaster and that, of the period, as it also does for several other sculptures two existing types, that with the forelocks was from the site. It may be noted in this connection chosen for a new cult-image made under Com­ that a marble group of Mercury, the only precisely modus for a new Alexandrian Serapaeum. The dated piece of sculpture from the Merida type was certainly well established in that city by Mithraeum, bears an inscription recording its dedi­ AD 199 to 201, when Septimius Severus, during cation to Mithras in AD 155 (p. 21). his famous tour of Egypt, became an enthusiastic Two sculptured representations of Serapis have devotee of Serapis and adopted for himself the come to light more recently on the Aventine, in the forelocks hair-style of his patron deity'". The exist­ Mithraeum found beneath the Church of Santa ence of these two distinct types ofSerapis hair-style Prisca. One of these is a marble statuette, standing is anyhow a puzzle. For the original image would on a rectangular base, with a short, square-shaped have been a single new creation and cannot have support behind the god's left foot and ankle39. combined both styles. One of them must have Serapis is wrapped in a heavy mantle, which veils been created at a different date and by a different the head and is swathed round the waist, leaving sculptor. the chest exposed, but enveloping the back, against Among the many versions of the 'Roman' Serapis which the left hand rests as it raises a fold of the type that offer parallels to the olive-decked modius drapery. The right fore-arm and hand are lost; the of the Walbrook marble are the Villa Albani head head, now replaced upon the shoulders, was broken already cited and two heads in the British off; and the face has been severely battered. A Museum.". The modius worn by the colossal Serapis modius, partially preserved, crowns the head and in the Vatican is modern, apart from a small por­ the brow, so far as its damaged state permits us to tion directly in contact with the head. But the judge, appears to show traces of the forelocks falling circlet that passes beneath the modius is ancient and over it. If the forelocks are indeed present, they is pierced by holes for holding metal rays-an might date the statuette to the late second or early interesting piece of evidence for the assimilation of third century. Serapis to Sol and hence to Mithras (p. 61)37. More closely related to the Walbrook marble is Date and area of production. The Serapis may be the stucco head of Serapis from the Santa Prisca dated, on grounds of technique and style, to c. AD site!", It measures about 500mm in height and 185 to 200. As in the cases of the Mithras and the shows the god wearing a blue veil and a modius Minerva, both material and workmanship indicate which splays out towards an upper moulding and that Italy was the ultimate source from which the carries traces of olive-tree decoration. Here again sculpture was brought to Walbrook. the parted lips reveal a row of teeth between them. Representations of Serapis in other Mithraea. Of the In this case distinct traces survive of the forelocks 18 J M. C. Toynbee dangling freely OYer the forehead, as on our head; probablv disappeared before the marble was delib­ and in the rendering of the thick, billowing curls erately concealed, the sculpture is intact, since the of the beard the plasterer has sought to imitate the portions of it that had become detached from one drilling and undercutting practised by the marble­ another were found lying all together in position carver. This head belongs to a series of stucco and could at once be reunited. figures with which a niche, added to one end of the The god is naked and lounges in an easy attitude temple, was decorated during either the last years upon the top ofa projecting lump of rock, between of the second, or early years of the third, century; which and his person he has interposed his folded but its place in the scheme of decoration is not easy cloak to serve him as a cushion. He is hatless, but to establish. The excavators' first theory was that two little wings sprout directly from his hair, which it belonged to a colossal reclining figure ofa Water­ covers his head with a mass of tight, round curls, god, which occupies the niche, and that this figure in which no trace of drilling or ofundercutting can thus represented a conflation of Serapis and be detected. Mercury is here portrayed as very Oceanus!'. But when parts of the head of the youthful, with full lips, rounded cheeks, and a \\'ater-god had been recovered, that theory was mild and somewhat pensive expression, as he gazes rejected in favour of the view that the Serapis head dreamily towards the spectator's right with eyes of may have been fixed on or near the upper margin which the pupils are marked by tiny drill-holes. of t'he stucco relief of Mithras Tauroctonos which Trunk and limbs are soft and slender, well knit fills the back wall of the niche, behind the reclining and well proportioned. The group was certainly 2 \\'ater-deitv-l • Such, indeed, is the position occu­ meant to be viewed all round, since the back (PI. pied by a draped bust of Serapis, rayed and wearing II) and sides are as sensitively and exquisitely a modius, above a large relief of the bull-slaying modelled as is the front, although the sculptor has scene, worked in white gypsum, which figured skilfullv contrived so to utilise his block that the prominently in the niche at one end of the Dura­ greyer 'parts of it could be restricted to the rear. Europos Mithraeurn": Xow, however, it is seen All the flesh is brightly burnished; the drapery is that the Santa Prisca Serapis head is too large to smooth, but not polished; while the surfaces ofrock have occupied the margin of the niche; and that it and other accessories have been left slightly rough, would, if placed in the niche itself, have detracted no doubt for contrast. attention from the head of Mithras'": The Serapis Mercury's left hand rests on the end of his rugged head's position must therefore remain unknown. seat and' grasps by the neck a long money-bag, These four monuments from Spain, Rome, and presumably ofleather, which dangles downwards. Syria give ample proofthat there is nothing abnor­ In the palm of his right hand, which is supported mal in the finding of the head of Serapis in the on his left knee, is cut a diagonal groove, into which Walbrook Mithraeum'" must have fitted the stem ofa small metal serpent­ staff (caduceus), once held in the missing fingers and projecting forward from the group. His right foot is set on the ground, his left on a fold of drapery 4. MERCURY GROUP bunched upon the back ofa tortoise. Below his left (PI. IV; Pis. 10, 11) knee a ram crouches towards the right against the vertical face of the rock. These attributes are, of Museum ofLondon Ace. :\0. 18493 course, symbols of the god's diverse functions. The Dimensions Height, 254mm (lOin); base, 203mm (8in) long, Illmm (4iin) wide. wings and herald's staff befit him as the traveller Material Fine-grained saccharoidal marble, with who guides the dead from earth to paradise; the polygonal grains, probably from Carrara. purse denotes his patronage of commerce; the ram Find-spot See :\0. 3. his gift of fertili ty to flocks and herds and so to Date oj discovery See :\0. 3. Bibliography JRS xlv (1955), pl. 46; Toynbee, ARB, pp. man; while the tortoise alludes to the well-known 132-3, no. 20, pl. 31; Merrifield, ReL, pls. tale of his invention of the lyre, which, as a token 74,77; Grimes, ERML, p. 108, pIs. 48, 49. of celestial harmony, hints at the after-life bliss of the Mithraic mystes. Description andaesthetic appreciation. This dainty little The piece is carved in two separate blocks of group of Mercury, seated on a rock and charac­ marble. From the larger of these is cut Mercury terised by a number of his well-known attributes, himself, his rocky seat, his ram and tortoise, and has, as will be seen, been severely fractured in the thin flat, oval slab that represents the 'ground' several places. But apart from the loss of the left on which the group is supported, The smaller block knee-cap, of part of the right hand, and the ends has provided the sculpture with a solid base or of two of the toes of the right foot, all of which stand, oval in shape and consisting, below, of a T he Roman art tre asures from the T emple of Mithras 19

Plate 10. Mercury group, revealing ancient fractures. 20 ]. :\1. C.T oynbee large concave moulding between two smaller con­ together, but only resulting in the knee-cap split­ vex mouldings, and above, of a thin and narrow ting off in two fragments'". These fragments, and collar of roughly modelled rock. This collar sur­ the portion of the right hand that they carried with rounds a shallow sunk area, desig-ned to receive the them, were not found with the rest of the mar ble; 'gro und' of the group, which originally fitted into and it seems almost certain that these losses were it with precision. The und er surface of the 'gro und' incurred before the Mercury was buried. The and the floor of the sunk area were both left slightly cementing-up of the major fracture must have come rough; an d thus the two worked blocks were neatl y unstuck while the piece was under ground, for keyed together without any form of faste ning . Fur­ when the sculpture came to light the two edges thermore, the under surface of the base is criss­ were lying in the closest contac t, but not adhering ; crossed with scra tches, presumabl y to obviate the and it is possible that the sna pping of the left leg danger of the marble slipping off a shelf or ta ble. was not contempora ry with that break, but was As the fractures already menti oned indi cat e, this du e to earth-press ure after the two halves of the Mercury has had a chequered history. Two of these gro up had ceased to be firmly held toget her. brea ks took place after the piece was buried; for it \ Ve can, of course, only spec ulate about the point must have been the press ure of the earth above in the Mercury's career at which the major fracture that snapped the head clean off at the neck an d took place. But it seems unlikely that the marble detached in a similar manner a flake of marbl e was already inju red at the time when it was from the righ t shoulder-blade. But the larger and bespo ken for the Walbrook shrine. We can visualise more serious frac ture, which caused the figure, its the dam age being done du ring its tran sit from the seat, and its 'ground' to split right in two, certai nly continent to Lond on and a hast y pat ching-up being occurred in Roman tim es and before the mar ble carried out by the temple authorities or by the 'went to earth' , since there is evidence that steps donor and dedicator. Alternatively, the marble were taken to repair it. This break passes through may have reached the Mi thraeum safely and then the god's right thigh and his left knee and bisects have fallen from its place at some point after its the rock, with the ra m and dr ap ery carved upon dedication. To this same acciden t, whenever and it. It may furt her have result ed in the sna pping of however it occurred, the loss of the two toes of the the left legjust above the ankle. In order to remedy extended right foot may reasonably be attribu ted . this dam age, both sides of the main fracture, from Parallels to art-type. The Walb rook Me rcury is a the 'gro und' to the summit of the rock, were typical example of Graeco-Roman genre art as scra tched with diagonal keying lines, smeared with cement, and stuck together. The breaks at the right thigh and left an kle then closed up automa tically and did not require cementing. But since the thrust of the god's body towards the right would have tended to pull the lower section of this fractur e, where it pas sed through the rocky seat , apart aga in, the und er surface of the 'g round' on the right-ha nd side of the break and the corresponding porti on of the floor of the sunk area in the base were clamped together with a sha llow cushion of cement. T he effect of this was to raise the right-hand portion of the group very slightly, so that it no longer dr opped neatl y into place on the base. Hence the joining­ up of the major fracture is not qui te exact and some tiny fragm ents of marbl e on and near its edges have been lost. This ancient repai r was, in fact, a clumsy, botched jo b; but the attempt to deal with the situation at the left knee may be described as desperate. Here the knee-cap has now vanished, disclosing two grooves which have been drill ed right through the knee, one from the front of the leg, the oth er from the upper sur face of the thigh, and which meet in the middle very slightly at an angle. Such grooves must have been mean t for Plate II. Mercury gro up; showing finished rivets, intend ed to hold the left leg and thigh sculpture at rear. The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras 21 applied to a religious theme. Its point is not so the wings at his ankles and the tortoise-shell lyre much cult as picturesqueness; and it stems directly that rests against his seat, below his left hand. This from the Hellenistic tradition which prettified the lyre is inscribed with the statue's most important gods and immersed them in the common human and interesting features-the record of its dedi­ round, so that Mercury figures here as a dainty, cation to Mithras by a pater (the highest of the graceful boy, conscious only of weariness, as he seven Mithraic grades of initiation) in the 180th flops upon his rock, and totally forgetful of his own year of the colony of Augusta Emerita, that is, in 51 divinity. Compared with our marble, the famous AD 155 • No evidence for the close association in bronze statue of the seated Hermes, found at Her­ the Roman mind between Mercury and Mi thras culaneum and now at Naples?", a Roman copy of could be more conclusive than this. a Greek original probably dating from the closing The four stone representations of Mercury found decades of the fourth century BC, has god-like in the Mithraeum at Stockstadt in Roman Ger­ dignity and poise, for all its slenderness and air of many are described below (p. 61). From the Die­ relaxation. This work has been assigned to burg Mithraeum come a headless stone figure of Lysippus on the score of its affinities with the the god, with cloak, purse, caduceus, wings at the Vatican copy of that sculptor's Apoxyomenos; and ankles, ram, tortoise, and cock; and the base of it is to a later, early third-century generation of another stone figure, of which the god's feet and Lysippus' pupils that the closest parallel to the the forepaws of his ram are alone preserved". It Walbrook group is attributed. This is a bronze remains to mention the standing figure of Mercury, statuette of Hermes seated on a rock in the Metro­ with winged hat, cloak thrown over his left shoul­ politan Museum of Art, New York'", which shows der, caduceus, and purse, carved, along with figures the same carefree turn of the head as does the of Vulcan, Jupiter, Hercules, Neptune, and London Mercury and represents, as it does, the Bacchus, in the frieze above the great Tauroctonos next stage, after that of the Naples Hermes, in the relief from Sarrebourg"; and the stone reliefs of humanising and dandyfying of the god. Mercury with head-wings, cloak, purse, and cadu­ Date and area ofproduction. The absence of drilling ceus, from Mithraeum I at Heddernheim" and from and of undercutting in the hair, combined with the the Mithraeum at Gimmeldingen". hard, drilled folds of the cloak, the plastic treatment of the eyes, and the burnished surfacing are all suggestive of the Hadrianic or early Antonine period. On the other hand, it is possible that a derivative work of this type was fashioned in a 5. COLOSSAL HAND OF MITHRAS conservative style at a date somewhat later in the TAUROCTONOS (Pl. V; Pl. 12) second century. Material and craftsmanship again Museum ofLondon Ace. No. 18492 point to Italy as the country in which the Mercury Dimensions Length, 257mm (Iotin); height, with knife­ was manufactured. hilt held vertically, 152mm (6in); width, across back of hand, 133mm (51in); length Representations ofMercury in other Mithraea. In this of iron shank, 114mm (4iin). discussion we are not concerned with the numerous Material Fine-grained saccharoidal marble, with instances of Mercury's appearance in Mithraic polygonal grains, probably from Carrara. 49 Find-spot See No.3. contexts as a planetary god . It is to his rep­ Date ofDiscovery See No.3. resentations in Mithraea for his own sake that we Bibliography ]RS xlv (1955), pI. 45, fig. 2; Toynbee, must turn for counterparts of the Walbrook group; ARB, pp. 142-3, no. 37, pI. 40; Merrifield, and of these the most significant is a marble statue RCL, pIs. 74, 75; Grimes, ERML, p. 108, from the Merida Mithraeum 50, about 1500mm pI. 50. high and as monumental and imposing as our piece is slight and refined. In this case the god is seated, Description, aesthetic appreciation, and parallels. The directly facing the spectator, on a rocky throne, thumb and fingers of this huge right hand, just over which he has draped his cloak. He has short, over twice life-size, are clenched to grasp a cyl­ curly hair, in which no wings are visible, and he is indrical knife-hilt, also of marble. The hilt has both more mature in features and more solidly a round pommel, slightly projecting beyond the built than is the Walbrook figure. His left hand contours of the shaft, and decorated on the top rests on a corner of the rock; his right hand, of with a deeply incised circle. In the centre of the which some of the fingers are damaged, seems to end of the shaft is drilled a circular hole 44mm have held some object, possibly a purse; and a (Iiin) deep, into which a metal blade, presumably large portion of his left leg and the front part of his of bronze, must have been inserted. Much of the left foot are lost. His distinguishing attributes are surface of the hand is polished, with a few tooling- 22 J. :VI. C. Toynbee mark s visible on the back of the hand itself and on tenon merges with it (PI. 12). Here, then, we have the backs of the fingers. But the shaft of the hilt, a detachabl e marbl e hand, to which at least an the palm of the hand, and the under-sid e of the arm once belo nged . For the ugly iron shank mu st wrist are tooled all over, and on the hand and wrist have been embe dded in an arm of another mat eri al, the purpose of it seems to be to reprodu ce the whether of coarser marble, sto ne, or stucco; and myriad tiny creases tha t appear in natu re. Deeply embedded in a draped arm, since the end of a drilled-out grooves separate the fingers , which, sleeve must have fitted over and concealed the with the thumb, are most sensitively modelled , the roughly surfaced tenon. utm ost care having been expen ded on the finger­ T he hand holds the knife with its blad e pointing nai ls and transverse creases at thejoints. The large downwards and exa ctly reproduces the attitude of crease tha t runs between the palm and the wrist is Mithras' right hand as he stabs, or is about to stab , also beau tifully rend ered . T he hand pr esent s, in his v~c t i m in the endlessly repeated bull- slaying fact, a qui te exceptiona lly fine combination of deli­ scene .". T his, combined with the fact that the arm cacy and stre ngth. wore a long sleeve, leaves no roo m for doubt that It is clear that the hand is not a completely this collossa l hand is that of Mi th ras T auroctonos, isolat ed hand, nor yet one that had been acci­ Par allels are too numerou s and too familiar to be dent ally sna pped off from a marble sta tue. There quoted; but it may be menti oned that there ar e was never any break at the wrist , but the piece traces of a hole for a metal blad e in the end of the ends in a sha llow tenon which sta rts a short wav marble knife-hilt held aloft in the right hand of below the line of the wrist on the thumb side and Mithras in the grou p in th e round signed by Criton tapers away to merge with the edge of the wrist on of Athens from th e 'Term e di Mitra' at Ostia (p. the side of th e littl e finger. Into the base of this 56)57. tenon a very rough , irr egular iron sha nk has been But ifit is easy to identify the owner of the hand lapped with lead , a lar ge drip of which has spilt and arm, the problem of th e monument of whi ch itself slightly over the edge of the wrist, wh ere the they formed part, and of their place and purpose

Plate 12. Colossa l hand of l\l ith ras Taurocton os; view of underside, revea ling iron shank and knife-hilt. The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras 23 in Xlirhraic worship in London. is extrernelv dif­ 130). Most of the face and shoulders of the bust ficult to solve. "'ere the hand all that has sur~'iwd are modern restorations. But the style of the curly to us of a complete bull-slaying group, in the round hair suggests that we have here the sorry relics of or in verv high relief that group could never have a portrait of Antinous-a subject that suits the site been dedicated in the "'albrook shrine, It would well enough. Upon the crown of the head rests an have been far too large to stand on the platform in enormous right hand measuring at its greatest the apse: nor could it haw stood in the nave, extent about 318mm (l6in). Thumb and fingers where it would haw seriously interfered with the grip firmly what appears to be the hilt of a sword movements of the congregation and where it would or dagger, the blade of which must be thought of have needed a solid emplacement, of which no as buried in the left side of the head. The hand is trace was found, to support it, given the moist and carved in a separate block of marble from the head, unstable nature of the ground in this area, Again, but fits the latter's curve perfectly and it seems to it is impossible to hold that a rendering of this have been finished off at the wrist as a self-con­ sacred and secret theme was erected in the street, tained hand, revealing no trace of an arm to which outside the narthex. Such a mammoth group, ifit it had once been attached. The hand is set more did exist, must have been set up at the end of at an angle to the wrist than is the case with the another and much larger Mithraeurn in Londi­ Walbrook hand, but otherwise its attitude is much nium: we should have to imagine the hand being the same as that of the latter. Does it symbolise the brought from that 'cathedral' for burial at hand of Death striking down Antinousi''v. \\'albrook; and we must suppose that the precious That an isolated right hand, with sleeved wrist marble left hand and head from the group still lie and forearm, grasping an attribute, was sometimes concealed somewhere in or near the Roman city. depicted in the Roman world to represent the On the analogy of Rome, Ostia, and other cities of power of a deity is proved by finds from Palmyra the Empire, it is highly probably that a big prov­ and other Syrian sites. An altar, discovered in the incial port like London had more than one 1963-4 Polish excavations in the forum area of Mithraeum. Yet London was, perhaps, hardly rich Palmyra and dedicated in AD 223, possibly to and populous enough in Roman times to produce Baalshamin (the god's name is not given), shows a temple of the quite abnormally large dimensions, in relief a right hand gripping a winged thunder­ even by Italian standards, required to accom­ bolt, with the wrist emerging from the cuff of an modate a group proportioned to this mighty hand. embroidered sleeve'". Fewer difficulties are raised by the view that the Date andarea ofproduction. The Walbrook hand may hand was never linked with an entire group, but be assigned to the second halfof the second century formed, together with its vanished arm, a symbolic on grounds of style and general probability; but object, in which the immediate agent of the holy data for a more precise attribution are obviously act of sacrifice was isolated from its context and not available. Its Italian provenance is suggested erected, as a token of the whole scene, for ven­ by both its marble and its craftsmanship. eration in the Walbrook Mithracum". We have no idea how, and in what place, within the shrine such a symbol might have functioned; and instances of 6. FRAGMENT OF A STATUETTE other Mithraic dedications of this nature are, to OF BACCHUS (?) (Pl. VI; Pl. 13) the present writer's knowledge, wholly lacking. Museum of London Ace. :\0, 18495 The great gilded right hand of stucco found in the Dimensions Height, 184mm (7tin); width across torso, Santa Prisca Mithraeum and grasping the stem of 133mm (5tin); thickness from back to some object, offers no parallel.", since it certainly front, 195mm (3~in). Material Fine-grained saccharoidal marble, with belonged to the reclining figure of the W ater-deity polygonal grains, probably from Carrara. (p. 27)60. The absence of Mithraic parallels is, Find-spot In the overlying debris in a room (?) on indeed, the chief weakness of this interpretation'". the south side of the narthex. But we can at least set it out as possible hypothesis Date ojdiscovery 23 September 1954. and hope that corroborating evidence may one day come to light, Description, aesthetic appreciation, and parallels to art­ The closest sculptural parallel to the Walbrook type. This is a fragment of a mutilated nude male hand, although it is one completely lacking, so it statuette. All that survives is a torso extending from seems, in Mithraic associations, is provided by a a short distance above the naval to half-way down colossal marble bust now standing in the circular the thighs; but this is enough to indicate that the ambulatory that surrounds the ground floor of the. weight of the body rested on the right leg and that Mausoleum of Hadrian (Castel Sant'Angelo: No. the left leg was placed slightly in front of the right. 24 J. M. C. Toynbee

The whole of the upper part of the body, with the ical, for instan ce, with the pose of Bacchu s in the head , and the rest of the thighs, with the legs and somewhat lat er marble gro up from Walbrook (No. feet, have been more or less neatl y, and appar entl y IS); and an even more str iking analogy is forth­ delib erat ely, chopped off; and at the back, above coming from the Santa Prisca site, where there was the buttocks, there is a large and ancient break (PI. discovered a marble sta tuette quite remarkably 13). The surfaces of front and sides are brightl y close to our torso in style, size, and pos ture '" , T here burnished and very well pr eserved, apa rt from a the head , most of the ar ms, the right leg from the few red stai ns du e to iron incrus ta tion. The model­ knee downward s, and the left leg from half-way ling of the back is finished ; but there the surface is down the thigh are lost. But chest an d shoulders not burnished and both the buttocks and the rear are intact; an d the latter shows two vestiges of the of the thighs show tooling-mark s. From the right long, falling tresses by which Bacchus is often buttock a lump of mar ble projects and extends a cha racterised. It mu st, however, be borne in mind short distan ce along the right side towards the that Apollo also is often represe nted with the same specta tor. It seems that the figures right leg was stance and hanging locks; and it should further be attached to a sup port an d that the marbl e as a noted that the find-spot of the Santa Prisca statu­ whole stood against some background. In the sur­ ette furnishes no proof that it was ever actually face of the front there are some small, shallow dedicated in the Mi th raic sanct uary'", crac ks and abrasions. Date and area ofproduction. In the case of this torso, What remains of the sta tuette is very com­ as in the cases of Nos. 5 and 7, we have not enough petently carved, with a fine sense of anatomica l to go upon for atte mpting a precise dating on struc ture and feeling for the textu re of naked flesh. stylistic and technical gro unds. We can only say Given the context, there can be little doubt that tha t the treatment points to the second century, this torso represent s a yout hful deity; and we can the marble to an Italian workshop . with some ass urance identify tha t deity as Bacchus. Representations ofBacchus in otherMithraea . Bacchus, T he stance of the figure, with the weight on the appropriate as he is in a Mith raic context, is seldom right leg and the left sligh tly adva nced, is the represented in Mithraea. He appears in his own normal one in which the god is repeatedly right in only one certa in instance, that at Wa lbrook portrayed, whether he is shown alone or sur­ (No. IS), already qu oted. O therwise he merely rounded by memb ers of his reve l-rout'" , It is ident- features as one of the O lympians , where thes e are introdu ced into Mi thraic monuments, as in the frieze above the bull- slaying scene from Sarre­ bourg'", In this he leans aga inst a huge bunch of gra pes, with his left arm, now lost, held behind his head and a beast-skin round his waist.

7. FRAGMENT OF A STATUETTE OF BACCHUS (?) (PI VII; PI. 14) Museum ofLondon Ace. :\0. 18015 Dimensions Height. 185mm (6!in); width across torso. 153mm (5!in); thickness from back to front, 96mm (3i in). Material Fine-grained saccharo ida l mar ble, with polygonal grains, probably from Ca rrara. Find-spot Foun d reused in a late Roman Foun dation block of masonry west of the \\'albrook strea m and ab out 183m (200 yards ) from the templ e. Date of discovery 1952.

Description, aesthetic appreciation, and parallels to art­ type . This torso is on the same scale as No. 6, and although not precisely identical with it, since the rendering of the private parts is sligh tly different , Plate 13. Fragment of stat uette of Bacchus (?) it is clearly of the same date, technique and sty le (No. 6); rear view, reveali ng anc ient break. and must come from the sam e workshop, if not The Roman art treasures from the T empl e of Mi th ras 25

Material Fine-grained saccharoidal marble, with polygonal grains, probably from Carrara. Find-spot Near the middle of the Walbrook, at a depth of 6.1-u. 7m (20-22ft), at a time when deep sewerage works were in pro­ gress in Walbrook, near Bond Court: infor­ ma tion suppli ed soon after the discovery byJ ames Smith, a London antique dea ler, to Mr W. Ransom of Hitchin, who pur­ chased the marble, along with Nos. 9 and 10, which came to light with it. T here can be little doubt that the find-spo t was, in fact, the Mit hrae um itself. [It seems likely tha t Nos. 8, 9 and 10 were found when the concrete-block foundation j ust to the west of the group Nos. 3- 5 was inserted­ W.F.G .] Dolt ofdiscocery Latt er part of 1889, at which dat e were erected the office-buildings that stood above the temple-site till World War [I. Bibliograph"r Archaeologia lx, I (1906), pp. 45-u; JRS i (1911), p. 163, pI. 22; ii (19 12), p. 152, pI. 9; RCHM, RL, pI. 10; LRT, p. 44, pI. 15; Vermaseren, Cl AlR.lf i (1956), pp. 284-5, no. 813, fig. 220; Toynbe e, ARB, pp. 137­ 8, no. 29, pI. 35; Merrifield, RCL, pI. 85.

Description and aesthetic appreciation. T he marbl e Plate 14. Frag ment of sta tuette of Bacchu s (?) before us consists of the upper ha lf of an elderly (No. 7); rear view. male figure, which, when complete, was reclining towards the spectator 's left, with its head turned three-qua rters towards th e spectator's righ t. Apart from a rather heavv abrasion on the tip of the nose, from the same hand. But unlike No.6 it has no the head is in tac t~ on the figure 's right side the tra ces of a su pport behind and no tooling-marks chest is pr eserved as far as the waist; bu t on its left appear on the buttocks or on the bac ks of the side the ches t is lost below a diagonal line that cuts th ighs. It wou ld seem that its rear was intend ed. to across the body from below th e left nipple to just be more exposed to view than was the case with below th e navel, from whi ch point the body ter­ No.6. T his piece has been chopped up in exac tly min at es in a slightly convex, horizont al line run­ the same way as was No. 6. T he up per cut is on ning to the right flank . Below these lines n ~thi n g roughly the same line, but is flat across the top, is left: abdomen and legs have wholly vanished. without the break behind that its fellow shows. The Gone , too, are the left ar m and shoulder , the ends lower cut occurs in about the same position in of the left-ha nd side-locks, and the upper part of the right thigh, but tr uncates the left thigh at a the left flank above the diagonal cut. T he right somewhat higher level. T he polish has vanished arm is broken off a short way below the shoulder. from the front an d sides , no do ubt as a result of Against the front side of what remains of the right the menial role to which the marble was degrad ed. upp er-arm is the thick, sa ppy,stem of a bu ll-rus ~, There is a large circ ula r chip ou t of the left buttock origina lly held in the figure's n ght han d. F.rom this and a rather large abrasion on the side of the stem two pointed leaves bran ch out to n gh t and right thigh. T he surfaces are somew ha t pitt ed ~ n d left and are rend ered in low relief on chest and rubbed an d th ere is a grey sta in down the left thigh . shoulder respectivel y. The section of the stem For the workmanship and counterparts of No. 7, above these leaves, and most of the thick, blunt see No, 6. rod of flowers and frui t, are worked in the round, Date and area ofproduction. See No. 6. with the top of the rod , and the tips of the two more spiky leaves that cup it, resting aga inst the head . From this attribute we may infer, without 8.WATER-DEITY (Pl. VII/) more ado, that the figure represents a Wat er-god . The god's hair flar es up like a mane above the Museum ofLondon Ace, :\0. A16931 brow twists itself into two horn-shaped curls, one Dimensions Height, 343mm ( 13!in); width , 266mm (lO!in); thickness from hack .0 front, above each tem ple, and then descend s on either 140mm (5!in). side of the face in long, sinuous tresses, the lower 26 J. M. C. Toynbee tips of which touch the shoulders. The moustache reclining figure which was let into a draped lower is heavy and completely conceals the upper lip; half worked in stone or stucco (p. 58); and the and the thickly massed locks of the beard fall like projecting roll of marble at the rear.just mentioned, water from the cheeks and from below the full may be the upper transverse fold of a cloak which lower lip onto the left side of the chest. The effect fitted into the main mass of drapery below it. is decidedly baroque, despite the absence of deep Parallels to art-type. The Walbrook marble is one of undercutting and of drilling, except in the side­ a very large and familiar series of representations locks, where drilled grooves part the individual of Sea- and River-divinities, which show the god strands of hair. The back of the crown of the head reclining to left or right, either completely naked is encircled by a fillet and there the locks, which or wearing his cloak wrapped about his lower radiate star-fish fashion from a central point, are limbs, holding water-plant, oar, anchor, or cor­ worked in very low relief, with incised lines between nucopiae, leaning against some object, such as an them. This work, flat and unplastic as it is, is urn, rock, or dolphin, and surrounded by accessory finished. figures and other adjuncts appropriate to a special The eyes are deep-set below beetling brows and locality. Of pictorial groups of this type in the slightly rubbed surfaces of the eyeballs show no round the most famous instances are the Vatican 68 clear traces of the rendering of pupils and irises. Nile , the Louvre Tiber'", and the Capitoline Between the temples, just above the nose, is a Oceanus70; while the coin-types of Hadrian and triangular-shaped depression; and a deepish longi­ Antoninus Pius, for example, provide a wide range tudinal furrow runs across the centre of the of personifications, in miniature relief, of Nilus", forehead. The face combines benignity and Tiberis", and Oceanus". The bullrush held by the strength; and the fineness of the modelling of brow Walbrook god suggests that he personifies, not the and cheeks is off-set by the powerful handling of Ocean, but a river, which is, perhaps, partly the the somewhat corpulent trunk, with its full breasts local Thames, partly the far-distant boundary-river and deep transverse crease in the flesh above the which divides the living from the dead, and partly navel, where the left flank and left thigh formed an the great primeval stream, the cleansing and fer­ angle. tilising source of life, both here and hereafter?". The surfaces are smooth, that of the flesh being Date and area of production. The treatment of the smoother than those of the hair and beard, but none surfaces, the relatively restrained use of drilling are brightly polished. This smoothness extends to and undercutting in the hair and beard, and the the back and suggests that, for all the unplasticity absence of, or, at the most, very slight, plastic of the treatment of the back hair, the figure could rendering of the eyes suggest that this figure was be viewed from the rear. The surviving portions of carved under Hadrian or Antoninus Pius, rather the marble, with the exception of the nose, are than later in the century. It would, at any rate, remarkably little damaged, with only a few slight seem to be earlier stylistically than the Mithras cracks and abrasions here and there. The iron hook and Serapis; and we must assume its erection in or rivet, which now pierces the left shoulder-blade, some other place before its dedication in the Wal­ is modern. brook temple. From the nature of the marble and The diagonal line cut across the torso, already from the high standard of its execution we may described, in the centre of which is a small hole conclude that it was imported ready sculptured partially filled with plaster, is completely smooth from Italy. and level and almost certainly denotes a trimming­ Representations of Water-gods in other Mithraea. We down of some uneven or broken edge carried out have a considerable body of evidence from else­ in modern times, after the piece was unearthed­ where for Water-gods in Mithraic contexts. perhaps to facilitate display. It presents a sharp Oceanus, reclining half-draped and grasping an contrast to the rough and slightly rounded surface overturned urn, figures as a cosmic power, with of the horizontal sector of the figure's present lower Coelus and Terra Mater, in the exergue on the line, seen on the spectator's left, a sector that meets reverse, depicting the myth of Phaeton, of the great the cut at an angle and carries at the back, under cult-slab from the Dieburg Mithraeum/". But it is the right shoulder-blade, a projecting roll of as a more immediatelv Mithraic svmbol that we marble. It looks as if the diagonal cut had sliced see him, reclining half-draped and'wearing crab­ away a kind of tenon which ran in a gently curving, claws on two reliefs, showing tiers of Mithraic convex line from under the left arm-pit to the navel scenes, from Virunum in Noricum"; and also at and which was continued by the line of the existing Heddernheim, where again he features twice: first, short horizontal sector. In other words, our marble reclining to the right in one of the small panels that may represent the detachable nude upper halfof a frame on the left the great bull-slaying scene on the The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras 27 obverse of the principal 'altar-piece'{'; secondly, 9. GENIUS (Pl. IX; Pl. 15) reclining to the left on rocks and holding shell and anchor in the lower panel on one side of a two­ Museum ofLondon Ace. No. AI6932 Dimensions Height, with base, 585mm (23in); height, tiered altar, the chief relief of which portrays without base, 528mm (20lin); width of Mithras' rock-birth.". It is again with this birth base, 255mm (lOin); thickness ofbasefrom that Oceanus is linked in a strange and fragmentary back to front, 178mm (7in). marble at Florence.". Surviving is the lower part Material Fine-grained saccharoidal marble, with polygonal grains, probably from Carrara. of the god's torso as it rises from a mass of rock; Find-spot See No.8. and below, on the rock-face, is carved a great Dateofdiscovery See No.8. Oceanus mask with streaming hair and wet beard. Bibliography Archaeologia Ix, I (1906), pp. 45-6, pl. 9; At the back of the piece is a hole for a water-pipe JRS i (1911), p. 163, pl. 23; ii (1912), p. 152, pI. 8; RCHM, RL, pl. 10; LRT, p. 45, communicating with the mouth ofthe mask, while pl. 16A; Vermaseren, CIMRM, i (1956), p. another pipe ran upwards through the body of 284, no. 812, fig. 219; Toynbee, ARB, pp. Mithras, who here seems to share the Water-god's 139-40, no. 32, pl. 25; Britannia ix (1976), role as fount of life-giving streams and as purifier. p. 130, pI. 20b. Further examples of Oceanus as a witness of the bull-slaying and other exploits ofMithras are on a Description andaesthetic appreciation. This statuette of badly damaged relief from Siscia in Pannonia, a half-draped male personage has unfortunately 80 where he reclines to the left ; and on a fragment parted with its head, which has been snapped off of relieffrom Callatis in Moesia Inferior, where he at the neck. The figure stands facing the spectator lies in the same position, but accompanied by an on a low rectangular and moulded base, with the urn and a boat, on a frieze that runs below the weight on the right leg, which is slightly advanced Tauroctony'". beyond the left leg. Arms, torso, and feet are bare, For independent, large-scale representations in but a thick cloak envelopes the back, hangs in Mithraea of Water-deities comparable to the Wal­ heavy, vertical folds over the left arm, passes in a brook piece, we must turn to Rome and Spain. The broad, diagonal swathe from the left wrist to just great reclining figure in the niche of the Santa above the right thigh, and then falls again in Prisca ternple'" is half-draped, with a blue cloak deeply-cut, vertical folds to reach the ankles. This wrapped round the lower part of the body, envel­ mantle must once have been drawn as a veil over oping the back, and veiling the head. The arms are the now vanished head, since it is difficult to see missing, but a lead pipe in the left shoulder suggests how it could otherwise have been held in position that the god once held in his left hand a bowl or at the back. The two necklace-like, semi-circular patera, from which water, forced through the pipe, objects that encircle the neck and dangle down, gushed into a basin in front of the niche. His one within the other, over the chest, are not, as has aquatic character, at any rate, is not in doubt. been suggested'", parts of the drapery, but appear Commensurate with this body are a large stucco to represent either metal torcs or two flower-gar­ hand, grasping the stem of some object, perhaps lands very stiffly and conventionally rendered. If an oar, and large stucco nose, both gilded. Among they are garlands, the individual blossoms may the Merida Mithraic marbles is a headless and once have been filled in in paint. The navel-hole is armless reclining figure of Oceanus, or of a River­ very deeply drilled out; and below the navel, almost god, wearing a cloak which covers his back and concealed by the transverse sweep of cloak, there legs, while leaving his chest exposed'". He leans are three small round drill-holes, the meaning of against a dolphin (suggestive of the sea) and holds which is obscure. in his right hand a cornucopiae (suggestive of a In the left hand, of which the tips of two fingers fertilising stream), the end of the stem ofwhich is are lost, the figure holds a comucopiae. Part of its seen in reliefagainst his thighs. On the base below stem,just below the hand, has gone; but the bottom the figure are undulating lines denoting waves. The of it can be seen adhering to the end ofa triangular­ left thigh carries an inscription which proclaims shaped 'bridge', which projects from the vertical the dedication of the sculpture by a Mithraist'". folds of the cloak on the left side in order to support 'No clear case occurs', wrote Haverfield in 1906, this stem. It would seem that when the statuette apropos of the Walbrook Water-deity, 'where such was found, the corner ofthe left shoulder, together a figure as the one now under discussion has been with the upper portion of the cornucopiae, had split found in a Mithraeum'v.' In the Roman stucco off from the rest, making a clean break, since this figure and in the Spanish marble statue we now fragment has been stuck on again in modern times. have the very parallels for which Haverfield was The cornucopiae is brimming with vine-leaves, seeking. grapes, and other fruits, but the topmost tip of 28 J. M. C.T oynbee

Parallels to art-type. The Walbrook statuette belongs to a well-known series of pers onificati ons of local­ ities (eg Genius loci)87, classes of society (eg Genius Populi Romani ), and abstract ideas (eg Bonus Eventus), by means of youthful male figures, either naked or partially draped, and distingui shed by a variety of attributes and adj uncts. Of these per­ sonificat ions an extremely frequ ent , although not universal, feature is the sac rificial act implied by the patera grasped in the outstretched righ t hand. Very often, but again not alwa ys, this gesture of sacrifice is supplemented by a flamin g alta r onto which the contents of the patera are being poured; while the left hand normally holds some symbol of fertilit y-a comucopiae or a bunch of corn-ears sometimes combined with poppies. For the Wal­ brook figure the name Bonu s Eventus has, ind eed, been suggesred'f; and Roman coins of the first and second centuries show a youthful male figure labell ed BONVS EVENTVS or BO NO EVENTVI, with a patera held in his extended right hand, generally over a flamin g altar'". But there the youth is always nak ed and holds a bunch of 90 corn-ears in his left hand ; whereas the Walbrook figure is, as we hav e seen, characterised by the draping of the lower limbs and by the comucopiae, Plate 15. Genius; rear view, not intended which , together with the patera and flaming altar, to be seen . are the hall-marks of a Genius. Geniu s is, in fact, a more acc ura te title than Bonus Eventus for this statuett e, although the absence of boots, the veiling these contents has disappeared. The vine-leaves of the head (?), the tore or garlands worn roun d are picked out with small, circular drill -holes . In the neck, and the ship's prow borne on waves , his right hand the figure holds a patera over a set it apart from the common run of local Genii. narrow, rectangular altar, with plain mouldings at Possibly our figure wore the modius, not uncom­ top and bottom and flames, also picked out with monly affected by these beings, under or over his dr ill-holes, curl ing up from its focus. The top of veil'" . Such Genii were minor deiti es, symbolising the altar is connected by a marble 'bridge' with the prosperity and fruitfulness ofa pla ce or district. the cloak on the right side. A snake rears up from In this case the locality thought to be represented behind the altar and twines itselfround the figure 's was presumably London itself, with ship, waves, right wrist; and on its coiled body incised lines, comucopiae, and tores or garlands alluding to the crossing one another at right-angles, summarily wealth and activities of a busy sea-port. But the indicate the creature' s wrinkled skin. To the spec­ snake suggests the living dead and hints at a 'fer­ tator's right of the figure's left foot is the prow of tility' that will endure beyond the grave, in a a ship riding over a pile of conventiona lly rend ered harbour beyond the waves of O cean , for those city­ waves . dwellers who hav e acce pted Mithraic initiat ion (p. The limbs and feet, and the toes in particular, 61). The patera could be for feeding the snake, as are plasti cally worked and sensitively mod elled; well as for holding sacrificial objects. but the drapery-folds tend to be harsh and mech­ Date and area of production. The loss of the head ani cal. The statuette was obviously not meant to makes the piece very difficult to dat e on grounds be viewed from behind (PI. IS), since its back of technique and style. The handling of the flesh presents a very much flattened, board-like appear­ and the treatment of the surfaces recall No.8; and ance , with the folds of the cloak and the lines of the Geniu s ma y belong to about the middle of the the waves but faintl y indi cat ed. The surfaces of second century. It must, in tha t case, have been both flesh and dr ap ery ar e smooth, but not venera ted elsewhere in Lond on , or in some con­ burnished. The front show s a lar ge number of black tinental port , before it reached the Walb rook stains due to iron incrustation. shrine. The workmanship sugges ts the han d of a The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras 29 competent, if somewhat undistinguished, Italian series starts with the ram on the spectator's right, carver. runs left, then right, and ends on the right with the Representations ofGeniiin other Mithraea.The evidence two fishes just below the ram. for Genii in other Mithraic contexts, if not abun­ In the roundel Mithras wears his usual cos­ dant, is clear. Not only is a Genius loci linked with tume-Phrygian cap, short, long-sleeved tunic, Mithras on the altar from Diana (Ain-Zana) in cloak and trousers. He turns his head three­ Africa Proconsularis'F, but the Dieburg Mithraeum quarters towards the spectator's left as he grasps has produced two provincial stone reliefs on each of the bull's nostrils with his left hand and plunges which a Genius is sculptured, half-draped, wearing his knife into its shoulder with his right hand. He boots, holding a cornucopiae and sacrificing from a kneels with his left knee on the creature's back, patera at an altar'". One of these reliefs shows on while his right leg is thrust straight down beside the ground, on the spectator's right, an unusual its rump, his right foot resting on the inner mould­ motif, a little slave-boy fast asleep on top of an ing of the zodiac frame. The god's cloak flies out overturned flower basket. Its meaning in associ­ behind him to touch the frame just below the lion ation with the Genius is not easy to determine; and in the upper left-hand sector. But a substantial it bears an inscription recording its dedication to portion of this garment has been broken off, leaving Mithras by three brothers'". Furthermore, a a small fragment adhering to the inner moulding. Genius wearing a mural crown, holding a cornu­ The horizontal sweep of the cloak is supported copiae, and sacrificing from a patera at an altar is partly by the corn-ears sprouting from the victim's depicted on one side of an altar dedicated to tail, of which the greater part is gone, and partly Mithras from Poetovio in Pannonia'". Haverfield's by the Phrygian cap of Cautes, who stands facing objection, that 'the combination [of Mithras and the spectator on the left of the scene, looking Genius] seems to be without proper parallel or towards the right, wearing a sleeved tunic, cloak, precedent'I", no longer holds. and trousers, his left leg crossed over his right leg, and a torch held erect in both hands. Cautes, the symbol of life, light, and day, is balanced on the right by Cautopates, the symbol of death, darkness, Third-century work in imported marble and night (not as unmitigated evils, but as the necessary prelude to immortality), also facing the (Number 10) spectator, wearing the same costume, looking down 10. RELIEF OF MITHRAS towards the right, crossing his right leg over his left leg, and holding in both hands a torch reversed. TAUROCTONOS (Pl. X) A snake, of which the head and tail alone remain, Museum ofLondon Ace. :\0. AI6933 and a dog rear up to right and left respectively Dimensions Height, 432mm (17in); width, 508mm against the bull's flank to drink the blood that (20in); thickness at top, 114mm (4!in). gushes from the wound. These represent the life, Material Fine-grained saccharoidal marble, with polygonal grains, probably from Carrara. both natural and other-worldly, generated and Find-spot See :\0. 8. nourished bv the act of sacrifice, as does also the Date ofdiscovery See :\0. 8. scorpion, which approaches the bull's genitals'". Bibliography Archaeologia ix, I (1906), pp. 46-8, pl. 10; Outside the frame of the roundel, in the upper JRSi (1911), p. 163, pl. 24, fig. I; ii (1912), pp. 142-3, fig. 14; RCHM, RL, pI. 10;LRT, left-hand corner, is Sol, driving his team of four pp. 45-6, pI. 17A; Vermaseren, CIMRM i horses up the sky towards the right. His head is (1956), pp. 283-4, nos. 810, 811, fig. 218; lost, and so is that of Luna, who, in the cor­ Toynbee, ARB, pp. 153-4, no. 69, pI. 73; responding corner on the right, sends plunging Merrifield, RCL, pl. 84. headlong down the sky, also towards the right, her pair of bulls. In the lower corners are the frontal Description and aesthetic appreciation. The central fea­ busts of two Wind-gods, each with a pair of wings ture of this rectangular reliefis the slightly concave in his flying locks. The god on the left is old, fierce, roundel or medallion which occupies the main and bearded, with bared teeth and staring eyes: he field. Within the roundel is carved the famous bull­ may be Boreas. His companion on the right is slaying scene in high relief, which, at its highest young and smiling, full-cheeked and beardless: he point, stands out some 83mm (3hn) from the back­ may be Zephyrus. ground. On the border of the roundel, which pro­ The central group, well composed within its jects 32mm (Ihn) from the surrounding surface of roundel, stands out effectively in highlight against a the slab, the twelve signs of the zodiac are worked shadowed background and is boldly and vigorously in low relief between two narrow mouldings. The drawn. But the modelling is crude and sometimes 30 J. M. C. Toynbee clumsy: and the features of Mithras and of his two Sol and Luna, are so abundant and familiar in companions are, so far as we can judge of them this context that parallels need not be 'cited here. in their abraded condition, naive and somewhat Representations of the winds, both in virtue of coarse. The figures in the zodiac frame are roughly their cosmic aspect and as wafters of the dead to and unplastically worked and poor in drawing. paradise, are a well-established, but less common, The two chariot groups are badly balanced, with feature ofMithraic iconography. For instance, four horses and bulls carelessly, not to say grotesquely, profile heads, two old and bearded (Boreas, Eurus) , rendered. The Zephyrus (?) bust, which is in itself two young and beardless (Notus, Zephyrus) attractive enough, is much too large, both as a occupy the four corners, outside the zodiac circle, counterpart to Boreas (?) and for the corner that of the Modena relief II. Similar heads fill the four it fills. corners, outside the zodiac circle, on the rock-birth l 12 Into such empty spaces as are left on the slab relief from Trier . On the Mithras Tauroctonos between the sculptured elements an inscription has altar, dedicated by Cnaeus Arrius Claudianus, in been squeezed in four separate parts. On the left, the Mithraeum under the Church of San Clemente below Sol, we read Ulpi / us/ Silvanus; on the right, in Rome, busts of the four Wind-gods in the round below Luna, emeri/tus leg(ionis)/ll Aug(ustae)/ project from the four corners of the upper plinthI 13. votum/solvit; to the right of Boreas (?),fac/tus; and Of the major Mithras Tauroctonos reliefs, the to the left of Zephyrus (?), Arau/sione. This is best Neuenheim 'altar-piece' shows two profile busts interpreted as 'Ulpius Silvanus, veteran of the of winds in the two upper corners11+; that from second Augustan legion, paid his vow: he was Heddernheim has four profile busts, each in a initiated at Orange.' The reading factus emeritus, roundel, in the four corners115; while that from 'discharged', is as insipid in the present context as Sarrebourg has a frontal bust in each of its four factus in the sense of 'made a Mithraist' is pointed. corners116. Parallels toart-type. The components ofthe central Date andarea ofproduction. Style and technique both group are all of standard pattern and need no proclaim the Walbrook slab to be provincial work. special comment. But the scheme of the compo­ As such, it is impossible to date precisely on sition, with the main scene enclosed within a internal evidence; and the inscription, which is not rounded border, is relatively rare. A zodiac oval necessarily quite contemporary with the sculpture, frames the relief of Phanes Aion's egg-birth at provides no fixed chronological data. The eyes of Modena'" and the rendering of Mithras' birth from the Wind-gods are plastically rendered by tiny an egg found in the Vercovicium (Housesteads) drill-holes; and the absence of heavy drilling and Mithraeum'"; and a zodiac circle encompasses his of undercutting in the hair would suggest a mid rock-birth on a relieffrom TrierlOo• The bull-slaying second-century date in the case of a product of an scene appears in a laurel-wreathed medallion (the Italian workshop. But western provincial carvers laurel presumably alluding to the god's victory) on were often technically conservative or unequal to reliefs from Heddernheiml'" and Friedberg'F in adopting immediately the latest Mediterranean Germany, from Sarmizegetusa103 and Potaissa fashion; and this reliefmay have been carved quite (Turda)10+ in one time Dacia, from Kumanovo in late in the second century or even during the first Serbial'", from Kiistendil in Bulgaria'!", and, in a halfof the third. It would, in fact, have been carved corn-wreathed medallion, from Siscia in one time for this Mithraeum. Pannonial'"; it is found in a circular frame dec­ According to Haverfield, Mr J. Allen Howe, orated with a bust of Sol, two snakes flanking a sometime curator of the Jermyn Street Geological vase, and a variety of animals on a relief from Museum, stated that the relief is carved in sand­ Salona in Dalmatial'". But the present writer stone.'!" that 'might have come from the Wealden knows of two examples only, possibly one from area, while, on the other hand, a rock which could Stockstadt in Germany, and certainly one from not be distinguished from it might readily be found Siscia 110, in which, as on the Walbrook slab, in the neighbourhood of Orange'!!", But a new Mithras Tauroctonos is framed within a zodiac investigation of the material has revealed it to be circle. The zodiac itselfdenotes apotheosis, the sky marble, probably from Carrara. It would seem, where Mithras dwells and where his devotees will then, likely that the un worked slab was imported find eternal life. It may be noted that a number of into Britain and was carved there either by a Briton the reliefs displaying this medallion-composition or by a Gaul, or perhaps by a Danubian (p. 55), come from the Danubian area. who was plying the trade of sculptor in this Supporting groups of the great cosmic powers, country I 19. Plate I. Head of Mi thras (No. I); at correc t angle of view Plate II. Head of Minerva (No. 2) Plate II I. Head of Serapis (No. 3) Plate IV. Mercury group (No. 4) The Roman art treasures from the Templ e of Mithras 31 Third-century works in British stone object which is gripped between them and the (Numbers 11-13) palm . This object broadens toward s the break at its lower termination , and two parallel lines are diagonall y incised along it. It is the upp er lip of a 11 . LEFT HAND AND FOREARM OF bull , forced apart from the lower lip, which together MITHRAS TAU ROCT ON OS with the rest of the crea ture's head , has wholly (Pis. 16, 17) vanished: Ou r fragment is, in fact, the left arm and hand of a Mithras Tauroctonos. That the scene was, in this case, not a bas-relief, .llustum ofLondon Ace. No. 18497 but a free-standing group in the round is clear from Dimensions Length 190mm (71in); width at greatest extent, 70mm (2i in). the fact that the left, or back, sides of the arm and M aten al Pisolitic limestone of Jurassic type, prob­ hand , which on a relief would be in contact with abl y from the Cotswold area . the background and invisible, are carefully and Find-spot Just outside the temp le, on the north-west. sensitively carved with some feeling for anatomical Dolt ofdiscovery Sep tember 1954. Bibliography JRS xlv (1955), pI. 48, fig. 2. struct ure and for the soft flexibility of the sleeve's material , wheth er of wool or linen. Furthermore, from the rough and incompletely worked state of Description, aesthetic appreciation, and parallels to art­ the right sides of the arm and hand, it is obvious type . T he frag ment before us is the left hand and that they must have been concealed by some other forear m, broken off well below the elbow, of an porti on of the group that came close up against under -life-sized human figure. The arm is envel­ them. This porti on was probably the profile of the oped in a long, fairl y tight-fitting sleeve, ter­ bull's head from brow to nostril s, which was forced minating in a narrow wrist-b and and pulled taut back by the god's acti on into a slightly convex line along the ar m's upper surface, while on its left side running at an acute angle to his left arm. A free­ a series of deeply-cut diagonal grooves repr esent standing marble group, found in Rome and now the looser folds of the material converging on the in the Va tican (formerly the Lateran) Mus eum , band at the point where it passes beneath the wrist. shows precisely this arrangement, with the bull's On the right side of the arm no folds are rendered head completely covering the right sides of and the wrist-band presents an unfinished ap pear­ Mithras' left arm and hand120, while on the T au­ ance (PI. 17). Arm and hand meet at a very obtuse roctonos relief from Walb rook the animal's head , angle , with the wrist at the lowest point of the dip alt hough exposing the god's left hand , partially between them. The main part of the hand is intact; hides the right side of his left forea rm (PI. X). But but only the little finger and a portion of its neigh­ this variation in the scheme is very uncomm on. bour survive, the two other fingers and the thumb Norma lly the left arm and hand are well above the havin g been snapped off. Originally fingers and victim's head, with their right sides in full view of thumb were all bent inwards round a thick, fleshy the spectator.

Plate 16. Left ha nd and forearm of Mithras Taurocto nos; front view. 32 J . M. C. Toynb ee

topates, carved in high relief in a deep, curve d niche hollowed out of the thickness of a block of stone. The height of the relief reac hes 127mm (Sin) at the point of its greatest projection from the background. Below the floor of the niche is a low, rectangular plinth; and plain , narrow, vertical bor­ ders, now almost totally destroyed, fram ed the niche on either side. T he bro ken upper edge of the piece is irregular and jagged, rising to a kind of Plate 17. Left hand and forearm ofMithras peak above the figure's right flank and then Tauroctonos; rear view. descending in a diagonal line to the side of the niche on the spectator's righ t, to a point lower than The Vatican group also parallels an other rare that from which it sta rts on the left side. The feature of the Walbrook fragment, namely the fact, monument was either hacked carelessly, not to say already mentioned, that the forearm and hand both viciously, in two, or it snapped asunder as a result slope slightly downwards to the wrist. According of being hurl ed to the gro und very violently. The to the standard pattern, forearm and hand slope fat e of the upper half we do not know. It may have gentl y upwards to the wrist, both on reliefs and in been carried off for use as building stone in late free-standing statues. But a very provincial Roman times, for no frag ments of it came to light Tauroctonos relief from Jajce in Yugoslavia, now near the temple in 1954. in the Sarajevo Museum, reproduces the Walbrook Cautopat es stands facing the spectator, with his position of arm and hand exactly although there righ t leg, seen in profile, crossed over his left leg, their right sides are not concealed 121. shown frontally, on which his weight rests . He It may be safely assumed tha t the surfaces of the holds diagonally across his person, and revers ed, Walbrook group were originally painted, despit e a great torch, the flam es of which merge into the the fact that on the surviving portion no vestiges niche's left-hand bord er. Faint traces of his right of pigment now remain . The red stains visible here forea rm and hand, grasping the stem of the tor ch, and there ar e due to iron incrustation. are visible above the righ t knee. He wears a tuni c, Date and area of production. As in the case of No. reaching to his knees, tro users, boots , and a cloak, 10, this provincial piece may be assigned to the which hangs down his back and forms behi nd his late second or earl y third century, but cannot be calves a kind of curtain, worked in low relief on the dated more precisely. It would have been carved curving backgrou nd. Quite apa rt from its major expressly for the Walbrook temple. Its mat erial loss, the piece has suffered conside rable battering, proves that the group from which it came was for the surfaces of the stem of the torch, ofthe right produced in this country, either by a native British, hand and forearm, and of most of the right calf, or by an immigrant Gaulish , artist-a competent are gone. The stem of the torch, below the bottom provincial carv er, who has done his best with the hem of the tuni c, is connected with the background rough and ugly stone in which he was acc usto med by a ridge of sto ne; an d higher up on the relief this to work and which was all that the dedicat or could stem, near its bu tt-end , was presumably gripped afford. again by the now vanished left hand. T he missing half can be readil y completed in imagination , on the ana logy of sim ilar figures from other Mithraea. 12. RELIEF OF CAUTOPATES (Pi . 18) Cautopates would have worn a Phrygian cap ; and his head would have been bent dow nwards, with MuStum ofLondon Ace. :'\0. 20006 Dimensions Height , 915mm (36in); width across base, his doleful gaze fixed upon the gro und. He rep­ 584mm (23in); width from back to front, resents the pain ful and dr eadful aspect of the 265mm (lOiin). sacrifice thro ugh which alon e life can be created. Material Pisolitic limestone of Jurassic type, prob­ In view of its severely da maged state, the monu­ ably from the Cotswold area. Find-spot Just outside the south wall of the templ e, ment's artistic value is hard to estimate.But from towards the east end. wha t survives we can see that the pose is somewhat Date ofdiscovery 24 September 1954. stiff and wooden and that the treatment of the Bibliography JRS xlv (1955), pI. 48, fig. I. drapery tends to harshness and lifelessness. The feet and , in particular, the foreshortened left foot Description, aesthetic appreciation, and parallels to art­ are the best drawn portions. But when the piece type. This stone shows the lower half, from just was new, defects in carving were no doub t largely below the waist downward s, of the figure of Cau- compensated for by lavish ap plicat ion of paint. The Roman art treas ures from the Te mple of Mithras 33

Plate 18. Relief of Ca utopa tes. 34 ]. M. C. Toynbee

It would seem to be almost certain that the slab is intact, from the base to a point roughly level Walbrook temple once possessed a balancing figure with the Dioscurus' raised right hand. But above, ofCautes, standing in his niche, similarly clad, but the relief has been smashed and a ragged, jagged with upward gaze and torch held erect. We can, line runs diagonally from where the left-hand ver­ indeed, visualise Mithras' two attendants facing tical edge now ends to the crown of the god's head; one another across the nave from positions at the and on the right the background is broken away eastern ends of the two lateral aisles or benches. round his head and left shoulder, while of the figure For figures in the round stood on pedestals in just itself the extended left arm and hand, the top those positions in the Procolitia (Carrawburgh) surface of the left thigh, the whole of the left leg Mithraeum on Hadrian's Wall122, and similar pairs from the knee downwards, and the right leg from were found in corresponding places elsewhere, the middle of the shin downwards are lost. while in Rome the Santa Prisca Mithraeum was The Dioscurus stands facing the spectator, in equipped with two niches, rounded at the top, front of his horse's belly, with his weight thrown standing against the ends of the benches and con­ mainly on his right leg. He is naked, save for a taining figures ofCautes and Cautopates'F'. In all cloak, which is fastened on his right shoulder, his details the Walbrook Cautopates is of standard passes across the left side of the chest, envelopes type and calls for no special citing of parallels. the left shoulder and upper-arm, and hangs like a Date and area ofproduction. The same wide bracket curtain behind the back. He wears the charac­ of dates may be suggested for the Cautopates as teristic pointed cap (pilleus) , from under which for Nos 10 and II. Once again the stone points to appear the thick curls of his hair, framing the Britain as the country in which the relief was face and falling onto the shoulders. The left-hand sculptured, in the workshop of some British or eyeball is damaged, but the pupil of the right eye Gaulish carver. And once again, it could have been is marked by a drill-hole. The face is round, full, carved for the Walbrook Mithraeum. and heavy; the neck and right hand are clumsily drawn and somewhat thick-set in proportion to the torso. In his right hand, which has been snapped off at the wrist, the Dioscurus grasped the shaft of 13. RELIEF OF A DIOSCURUS his spear, of which the major portion is in good (Pl. 19) condition, apart from abrasions near the god's right Museum of London Ace. No. 20736 arm andjust above the ledge; the head of the spear Dimensions Height, 555mm (22in); greatest remaining has gone; and the shaft is not undercut, but is width, 355mm (14in); overall thickness, joined to the background by a thin wall of stone. 114-129mm (4i-5in). With his extended left hand (the left arm is bent Material Oolitic limestone ofJurassic type, probably from the Cots wold area. sharply at the elbow) he must have held the bridle Find-spot By the east bank of the Walbrook, some of his horse, which faces towards the right, but of 20m (60ft) south of the temple, 5.80m which the head, fore-parts, and fore-legs have now (19ft) below street-level, and between 3.35 completely vanished. All that is left of the animal and 3.65m (II and 12ft) above the primary deposits of the Walbrook stream. There is its rump, tail, right hind-leg, and a small bit of can be little doubt that the piece came from its left hindleg visible behind its master's spear. the Mithraeum. Part of the crupper is seen passing round the base Date of discovery May 1955. The relief was found by Stephen of the tail. The hind-quarters and, in particular, Greenway, an amateur collector, some six months after the official investigations on the long, sweeping tail, which reaches almost to the site had ended. the ground, are vigorously modelled; but the right Bibliography JRS xlviii (1958), pI. 21, fig. 2; Toynbee, hind-leg terminates in a feature that looks more ARB, p. 151, no. 61, pl. 69; Merrifield, like an elephant's foot than a horse's, since, in RCL, pI. 79. contrast to the profile leg, the hoof is turned fully towards the spectator. Description and aesthetic appreciation. This frag­ The back of the slab is roughly hewn and was mentary sculpture shows one of the Dioscuri and clearly not intended to be viewed. his horse carved in relief, the greatest height of Parallels to art type. The scheme of grouping here which is 50-60mm (2-2!in), against a flat back­ exemplified, with the middle part of the horse ground. From this background there projects by concealed behind the standing figure of the god, is 82mm (3~in) a heavy ledge or base, nearly 76mm not uncommon in Roman-age representations of (3in) deep, on which the figures stand and along the Dioscuri. We find it, for instance, in the reverse­ the top of which a narrow, grooved line is cut types, with the legend Aetemitas Aug(usti) N(ostri) horizontally. The extreme left-hand edge of the on bronze coins of Maxentius, where the Twins The Roman art treas ures from the Templ e of Mithras 35

Plate 19. Relief of a Dioscurus. 36 J. M. C. Toynbee stand confronting one another in a heraldic design, Aion is a lump of rock, above which a second each holding a spear in his outer hand and his Dioscurus with his horse, facing left, is very likely horse's bridle in his inner hand; there the figures to have stood; but at this point the stone is broken are not strictly frontal, but turned three-quarters off. to right and left respectively, with the weight rest­ Assuming that the Walbrook Dioscurus was also ing on the leg that is nearer to the horse's head 124. once accompanied by his brother on the lost right­ A very similar pair of confronted Dioscuri appear hand side of the relief, we cannot, obviously, tell in the upper part of the marble relief dedicated whether the Twins confronted one another directly, to Jupiter Dolichenus in the Dolichenum on the as on the Maxentius coins and on the relief from Aventine in Rome by Publius Egnatius Fructus; the Aventine Dolichenum, or from the opposite there the bodies of the Twins are wholly frontal, sides of a central figure, as they probably once did while their heads are turned slightly towards one on the relief at Vienne. another, and the hind-quarters of the horses are, Date and area ofproduction. The rather lumpish and as on the coins of Maxentius, invisiblel/". Closer stumpy proportions of the Dioscurus and his to the Walbrook relief is one from Corbridge, on uncompromising frontality suggest a third, rather which both the fore-parts and the hind-parts of the than a late second-century date for the Walbrook horse, facing to the right, are shown, although most fragment. Since it came to light unstratified, its of the figure of the Dioscurus, who stands firmly find-spot is of only very general value for dating facing the spectator and conceals the central por­ purposes. The use of local stone and the relative tion of his mount, has been cut away; but we have coarseness of the workmanship indicate that the his left hand holding the bridle and the upper part piece was carved in Britain by a native, or north­ of the spear that his lost right hand once grasped126. west provincial craftsman. It ranks with the left By far the nearest parallel to the Walbrook Dios­ arm and hand of the small Mithras Tauroctonos curus, as regards art-type, material and context, (No. II) and with the reliefofCautopates (No. 12) is the relief at Vienne, found on the site of an as one of the humbler dedications in the shrine. underground building, clearly a Mithraeum, to And, as in their case, it was not circumspectly the south-west of the Halle Neuve and certainly buried, but left to be smashed and thrown out by Mithraic in its contentl'", This relief is also of intruders. Hence its recovery from a relatively late limestone and fragmentary; and it measures level. That it did indeed come from the Mithraeum, 507mm (20in) in height and 610mm (24in) in there can, as has been said, be little doubt, despite width, so far as it is now preserved. The fragment its lack of specifically Mithraic content. It need comprises the left-hand side and centre of the com­ not, however, have been carved in the final instance position; and a narrow, projecting band of stone with that shrine in view. framed the picture on all four sides. In the centre, Representations of the Dioscuri in other Mithraea. The facing the spectator, stands the Mithraic Aion, importance of this discovery in the neighbourhood with lion's head, four wings, claw-like feet, and a of the Mithraeum may be gauged from the fact snake twined round him from feet to chin; he that only one example of the Dioscuri on an clutches a key in one hand and hook-like object in unequivocally Mithraic work of art, that on the the other. To the left of Aion is a flaming altar, and relief at Vienne described above, is known to the on a high pedestal behind the altar there stands, present writer. For the Near Eastern counterparts in front of his horse, which faces to the right, one of the Dioscuri in Mithraic contexts, see the discus­ of the Dioscuri. Both the horse and its master, sion of No. 14 below. worked in low relief, are intact, and the former has one of its fore-legs raised and pawing the air, as on the Corbridge panel. The god is completely frontal; but whereas the Walbrook Dioscurus holds his Third(?)-cen~ury works in imported marble head erect, his Gaulish conterpart inclines his (Numbers 14-15) slightly towards the right. Furthermore, the Vienne Dioscurus throws his weight mainly on his left leg 14. ROUNDEL (Pl. XI) and wears no cloak, while a headdress more like a Museum ofLondon Ace, :\0. 18218 Phrygian cap than a pointed pilleuscrowns his hair. Dimensions Diameter l l l mm (4~in); thickness. 7­ With his left hand he holds his horse's bridle and 3mm (l-kin). his right hand is raised and must have clutched a Material Coarse. cream-coloured marble. spear, of which no trace now remains. This spear Find-spot In the south-west cornerof the temple. in a post-hole in a masonry block built over was possibly of metal, since there appear to be no the well (p. I) at a late stage in the history signs ofa stone spear broken away. To the right of of the shrine. The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras 37

Date ojdiscovery 30 July 1954. it might be the head and fore-parts of some animal, Bibliography J. M. C. Tovnbee, Art in Britain under the perhaps some kind of feline, clambering towards Romans (1964), pp. 167-8, pl. 42, b; D. Tudor, Corpus Monumentorum Religionis the left over the mouth of the vase. Equitum Danuuinorum i (1969), pI. 79, no. The roundel was presumably dedicated as a 181. votive gift in the Mithraeum; and there can be no doubt of its belonging to the cult of the local Description andaesthetic appreciation. This broken cir­ Danubian Rider-gods, now comprehensively stud­ cular plaque is blank on the reverse and decorated ied by D. Tudor, and represented sometimes singly on the obverse with figure-scenes carved in low (on the earliest monuments of the cult, mainly from relief and encircled by a narrow raised border Dacia), most often as a pair and normally, in running round the circumference. The upper and the latter case, as attendant on a centrally placed larger scene, of which about a third is lost, is Goddess who faces the spectator'j". The two Danu­ separated from the lower and smaller scene by a bian Riders on our roundel would appear to have horizontal ground-line, so that the effect resembles been influenced iconographically by represen­ that of a coin or medallion with the main type tations of the Graeco-Roman Cabiri and Dioscuri, above and the subsidiary motifs in the exergue but were not their equivalents religiously; and the below. The surface of the obverse is somewhat Goddess between them has been identified, some­ worn and the carving lacks fineness and sharpness: what unconvincingly, from the fish on the table it was probably once completed in paint. But apart before her (her most conspicous attribute), as the from a few details, of which the interpretation equivalent of the Syrian Fish- and Nature-Goddess, 129 remains uncertain, the general sense of both Atargatis Derket6 , while Tudor prefers to designs is clear. describe her as the local Danubian Great Goddess In the centre of the upper scene a long-robed whose name we do not know. In fact, the Danubian woman stands facing the spectator from behind a Rider monuments carry no inscriptions giving the low, three-legged table, on which is laid a large names either of the Gods and Goddess or of their fish. Approaching the woman from the left is a votaries. Our knowledge of their cult is entirely cantering horseman, with large, hooked nose, long, derived from the figures, scenes and symbols por­ pointed beard, Phrygian cap, short tunic, and prob­ trayed. And from these we may infer that the deities ably trousers and boots. His left arm and hand are were, like Mithras, 'saviours' and worshipped in invisible behind his horse's head: his right arm is mysteries. Aesthetically the Walbrook roundel is raised and bent sharply at the elbow; and in his oflittle value; but as a religious document it is one right hand he brandishes some object, perhaps an of the most interesting and intriguing relics that axe or dagger. Behind the horse's rump stands a the temple has yielded. small human figure, acting as a groom to the rider, Parallels to art-type. A Palmyrene relief shows two and on the ground, beneath the horse's belly, confronted oriental 'Dioscuri', named Abgal and writhes a long, coiled snake. The break in the Achar, flanking the figure of the dedicator, who plaque begins just above the horseman's head and stands between them behind an altar130. In the runs down in a roughly diagonal line towards the Anatolian region these riders feature in a series of right, where it ends at the right-hand termination reliefs in stone or marble on either side of a of the ground-line. The resultant losses are the Goddess, who sometimes assumes the guise of the woman's head and the whole of the figure on the Ephesian Artemis 131. Various versions of scenes righ t of the design, apart from the left fore-leg of a much more closely related to those on the London horse, which proclaims that vanished figure to have roundel occur on the small votive plaques mainly been another rider, approaching the woman from of lead, very occasionally of bronze, and depicting the right. The object beneath the belly of this horse the Danubian deities that have come to light in the is probably a naked human form, lying on its Danubian provinces. For instance, a lead plaque face. We might reasonably infer that the second in the National Museum at Zagreb shows four horseman had the same nose, beard, and costume zones of figure-decoration-at the top, Sol in his as the first. quadriga, facing the spectator, between the busts of The design in the exergue consists of three Sol and Luna; next, the central Goddess and the elements. On the left is a large, bushy-tailed dog two Riders, of whom that on the right has a fish, running towards the centre. On the right we see a that on the left, a prostrate man, beneath the long-beaked bird, facing away from the centre. horse's belly; in the zone below that, a ritual meal Between the dog and bird a large vase (crater), in progress and the skinning of a ram hung on a standing on a low foot, can be plainly distinguished. tree; and in the bottom zone a fish on a three­ But the meaning of the object above it is obscure: legged table, a flaming torch, a lion, a large vase, 38 J. M. C. T oynb ee

l32 a snake, a cock, and another lighted torch • the main zone is virtually a replica of the cor­ Another two almost identical lead tablets, in the responding picture on our roundel, with the central National Museums . in Budapest and Zagreb Goddess and the right-hand Rider fully preserved respectively, carry the same four zones with similar and two busts filling the spaces between the head scenes similarly arranged in tiers, but with a fish of the Goddess and the tall, poin ted caps of the below and the left-hand Rider and a prostrate Riders. These busts, the details of which cannot human form beneath the Rid er on the right, and now be discern ed, are most likely to be those of Sol l33 with no torches in the lowest zone . Yet another and Luna, and we can restore them with some plaque, this time of marble and preserved in the assurance on the Walbrook roundel, since the sma ll Fransiscan Convent at Sinj in Yugoslavia, has raised lump visible just below the break , above the three zones-above, a central vase flanked on eith er left-hand horse's head, is alm ost certainly the lower side by a sna ke, a star, and a bust; in the main termination of such a bust. On the Cluj disc the zone, the central Goddess approached by the two left-hand Rider bends his right elbow and bran­ Riders, each with a star beside his head (remi­ dishes some object, in his right hand: a groom niscent of the Dioscuri?) and a crouching human stands behind the horse's rump and the very inde­ form beneath his hors e's hooves; a bird , three terminate object below its belly might be a writhing loaves, a ram's head, a fish on a stand with three sna ke, ifnot a prostrat e man. The right-hand Rider triangular legs and three lamps above it, and thre e has no groom: his right hand is concea led behind fruits on a three-legged table of the normal type, his horse's head: his left arm and hand are swung l34 all in the lowest zone . But of all the 232 Danubian behind him over the animal's hind-quarters; and Rider-gods monuments known to Tudor so far, the almo st indistinguishable object below its belly by far the most striking parallel to the Walbrook might be either a lion or a crou chin g human form. roundel is a circular marble plaque, complete but The Cluj roundel chiefly differs from the Walbrook for a chip out of the right-hand side, in the National one in the contents of its exergue, in which, passing Museum at Cluj (Klausenburg, the anci ent from left to right, we see a bird, a man struggling Napoca) in Romania (PI. 20)135. The workmanship with a ram, and a large vase (crater). There are also of this piece is even clumsier and rougher than is on the Cluj piece two snakes writhing horizontally that of its London counterpart. But it shows pre­ between the exergue and the main scene. All the cisely the same scheme ofdesign , with a main zone accessory motifs on these Danubian votive plaques, divid ed from an exergue by a horizontal line; and wheth er round or rectan gular, fit into the general theme of cult and mystery. The prostrate hum an forms, sna kes, and occasionally fish and lions tram­ pled by the hors es' hooves or crouched beneath their bellies are symbols, possibl y, as Tudor holds, of evil and enemy forces overcome, more probably ofl ife through death, real or feigned, for the initiate, since in the Roman tradition fish and sna kes are tokens of life beyond the grave l36 and a lion, like the dog, can be the helpful companion ofa 'saviour' god as a symbol of vital strength-a capacity in which it features on numerous Thracian Rider-god reliefs':". Sol, Lun a, and sta rs are cosmic powers, animals and birds represent Nature's teeming life, while vases , torches, lamps, tabl es, loaves, and frui t ar e ritu al objects. Scenes of sacrifice an d ba nquet feature mystic rites. Date and area of production. The incom petent and und istinguished style of the Walbrook roundel, combined with a find-spot that links it with the temple's final ph ase, sugges ts that it is rela tively lat e in date, perhaps carved in the mid or lat e third century, but probably not dedi cat ed in the Lond on shrine until the period of its fourth-century Plate 20. Marble plaque, depictin g a Gr eat rehabilitation. Its Danubian belonging is ma nifest, Godd ess and two Rid er-G ods; Nati onal as we have seen , and it is in the Danubian are a Museum at Cluj , Romani a. that we must place its origin. Most certainly it is Plate V. Co lossal hand of Mithras Tauroctonos (No. 5)

Plate VI. Fragm ent of a sta tuette of Bacchu s Plat e VII. Fragm ent of a statuett e of Bacchu s (No. 6) (No. 7) co o Z

->

~ Plat e X. Relief of Mith ras T auroctonos (No. 10)

Plate Xl. Round el (No. 14) Plate XII. Bacchic grou p (No. 15)

Plat e XIII. Silver casket an d strainer (No. 16) The Roman art treasur es from the T emple of Mithras 39 not a Brit ish work, but represent s a pr ovin cial Find-spot In the north aisle of the temple, close to imp ort into Lon diniurn, carved in the Danube the north wall. j ust to the west of the region in marble that may well have been imported wooden box-like struc ture ( p. 3) and on or just above the level of the latest floor. the re. There is evidence tha t the cult of th e Riders Date ofdiscorerv 7 October 1954. last ed unt il the fourth century. Bibliograph» jRS xl\" ( 1955), pl. 47; Toynb ee, ARB, pp . Representations ofthe Goddess and the Rider-gods in other 128- 30, no. 12, pl. 34; Merr ifield, RCL, pI. Xlithraic con texts. The sculptur al evidence, listed 80; Grimes, ER.\fL, pp . 109-1 0, pl. 51. below, for the venerat ion of a Godd ess in Mithraea is definite, if scanty ; and the Grae co-Rornan Description and aesthetic appreciation. The central and Dioscur i are depicted on Xo. 13 and on at least by far the largest figure in thi s group is that of one other unequivocally Mithraic relief ( p. 38). Bacchu s, who stands nak ed and facing the spec­ T he interaction of the cult of M ith ras with the cults tator , with his head turned slightly towards the of the Thracian and Danubian Rider-gods has been specta tor' s righ t. His weight is thrown on his right noted by R. Pettazzon i'P and there are three so­ leg, sending his right hip curving outwa rds, his left called ~ii thr ai c gems , whi ch, if we can acce pt them knee is slightly bent, and his left foot is advanced as genuine, are int eresting in that they rep eat som e a fra ction beyond his right foot. The eyes ar e blank, of the motifs of the Cluj and Walbrook roundels the tip of the nose is abraded , but not broken, the and of the recta ngular Danub ian plaques. One thick, und rilled hair is pa rte d in the centre and of these gems shows, ind eed , Mith ra s' rock-birth massed on either side of the face, while a long, flan ked by two horsem en, each with his star and corkscrew curl falls forw ard over each shoulder each atte nded by an enormous sna ke and a pair of onto th e breast. In the hair ab ove the brow the god tiny grooms; while among the accessories are busts wear s a triangular-sha ped diad em . The cheeks are of Sol and Luna , an eagle with a sna ke in its beak, lull, the mout h is sensuous, the general expression another bird , a dog, and several vessela'" . The of the face is mild and dr eam y. second gem displ ays a long-robed, bearded figure Bacchu s' right arm is raised and bent across the (possibly an error for a Goddess) standing between top of his head , so that his shoulders slope down two confront ed Rid ers, each br andishing an axe towards his left and his head is gently inclin ed in an d each accompa nied by a groom, sna ke and sta r. the same direction. With his right hand he grips Above are a bird and busts of Sol and Luna, while the exergue conta ins, among other motifs, a fish and a birdHo. On th e third gem a Godd ess stands between two Rid ers, each of whom flouri shes an axe and rides over a prostra te human form . The accessories in th e mai n scene are two minute female figures , two snakes, bu sts of Sol and Luna, a bird , and stars; and th e exergue holds a fish , a dog, a three-legged ta ble, a bird , and various ritual obj ects!". At all events , the mystery-cult s of both Godd ess an d Rid er-gods were closely akin in func­ tion to the cult of Mithras, in whose templ e th e Walbrook roundel could be most appropriately offered H2 . Morcover , M ithras himself was occasionally figured as a Rider-god. In general, Tudor (op. cit. in note 127, p. 171) accords 'great import ance to the part played by the influence of the Mith raic religion on tha t of the Dan ubi an Riders' (c1 ibid., p. 276).

15. BACCHIC GROUP (Pl. XII; Pl. 21) Museum ofLondon Ace. :\0. 18496 Dimensions Height, 343mm (l3!in); width at base, 293mm ( 1Il in); thickness at greates t extent, 63mm (2!in). Material Fine-grained saccharo idal ma rble with Plate 21. Bacchic group; rear view, not polygonalgrains, probably from Ca rra ra. intended to be seen. 40 J. M. C. Toynbee

the body of a large snake, the tail of which twists to the left in the direction of the god and Satyr. itself round his arm, while its neck and body are This beast lacks a right eye and nostril and teeth backed against a vine-branch, which follows in the right-hand half of its maw. The Maenad's roughly the line of the god's arm and then ter­ robe consists of a pouched, sleeveless tunic reaching minates in three large, flat, heavy, and summarily to the feet and with folds very summarily marked. rendered clusters of grapes that hang down beyond A snakey lock of hair dangles on each shoulder; his left shoulder. The branch shoots out more or there appears to be a collar round the neck; the less horizontally from a gnarled tree-trunk, seen on hands are clumsily drawn and disproportionately the spectator's left: this is either the vine-stock itself large, and the skirts of the tunic, where the leopard or the tree on which the vine is trained. The upper conceals them, are unworked. portion of the tree-trunk has disappeared, carrying The back of the group was not intended to be with it most of the figure ofa Pan, who was perched visible (PI. 21); for while the naked bodies of upon it and of whom one shaggy leg and hoof and Bacchus and the Satyr are at any rate partly mod­ the lower part of the shaggy torso alone remain. elled at the rear, the three standing figures and the Backed against the lower section of the tree­ tree-trunk are very much flattened behind; and trunk is a bald-pated Silenus, wearing a long, there, too, the hair of Bacchus, the Satyr's right pointed, silky beard and seated facing the spectator hand, the tree-trunk, the vine-branch and the Mae­ on the back of a little ass, which stands quietly in nad's drapery are all unfinished and covered every­ profile towards the spectator's left, with its head where with tooling-marks. The work is, in fact, in turned back towards its rider. The upper half of all essentials, not statuary in the round, but a the Silenus is naked, apart from a collar round the pictorial relief without a background; and it is, neck; but below he wears a garment knotted round perhaps, an instance of religious sculpture designed the waist, pulled taut across the legs, and then for silhouetting against a glow of Iamp-Iightlt". gathered tightly round the ankles. Against his chest The nude forms of Bacchus and the Satyr are he clasps a large wine-cup in both hands, the quite plastically and competently modelled. But fingers of which are awkwardly and stiffly drawn. Bacchus' head is somewhat overlarge: his torso is His face is asymmetrical; his right eye is blank, too broad and thick-set; and his general effect is while there is a tiny drill-hole in one corner of his one of top-heaviness and stumpiness. The Maenad left eye. The beard is undrilled; and the drapery is is virtually two-dimensional; the Silenus is far too flat and unplastic, with very sketchily indicated big and weighty for his little ass, and the treatment folds. The ass has no right eye, since this would of the hands in the case of both of these figures have been invisible; and there is an ugly, lumpy betrays the inexperienced or poorly-gifted 'bridge' attaching the creature's muzzle to its neck. draughtsman. The flesh surfaces are smooth, but The left forearm and hand of Bacchus, and any not burnished. Faint traces of red paint can be object that he may have held in that hand, are lost. detected on the vine-branch, above the head of Those portions of him once projected horizontally Bacchus, and on the back of the latter. The red forward and the left elbow rests against the chest stains appearing here and there are the results of of a young, naked Satyr, who stands on the god's iron incrustation. left, with legs wide apart and frontal, while his The group has taken punishment on no less than trunk is thrown back and turned three-quarters three occasions. First, there are a very few ancient towards the spectator's left. His function is to sup­ breaks-a chip out of the Silenus' right elbow and port his master, who is swaying visibly and seems the loss of part of the right leg of the ass. Secondly, to be none too steady on his legs; and the Satyr's the pressure of earth and debris accumulating in right hand is placed against Bacchus' back, while the temple on top of the sculpture caused the his left arm is extended towards some vanished tree-trunk to snap across immediately above the object (possibly once supported by his lost left Silenus' head, the torso of Bacchus to split asunder hand), of which nothing now remains but a chunk just above the navel, his left arm to crack through of marble seen between the god's left hip and the a short distance above the elbow; and the neck of Satyr's abdomen. The latter's head is snapped off the snake, and the two right-hand grape-clusters at the neck and so is that of his companion standing behind it, to become detached from the rest. But on the right, a frontal, long-robed Maenad, who apart from the very minor ancient losses and the holds in both hands and hugs against her breast a post-Roman-period breaks, which could easily be cista mystica, or sacred casket, adorned at top and repaired, the group was virtually intact when bottom with slightly projecting horizontal bands unearthed. It was not until the moment of its and closed by a dome-shaped lid. In front of her discovery that the piece incurred its third and most skirts, a leopard crouches to the right and looks up disastrous series of damages. New, raw breaks The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras 41 betray quite modern losses, which are:- the top of with his right hand, as it writhes across the top of the tree-trunk and the upper part of the Pan; the the picture. A vine-branch and grape-cluster can right elbow and adjoining portion of the right be seen beside the god's head, carved in low relief forearm of Bacchus; Bacchus' left forearm, hand, on the background; and on the spectator's left is and attribute (?); the head, left hand, and attribute the tree-trunk, on which is perched a bearded Pan, (?) of the Satyr; the Maenad's head; and the head holding a.syrinx (Pan-pipe). At the foot of the tree of the snake. All these portions are utterly lost. The is a bald-pated, half-draped Silenus, this time not find-spot and its neighbourhood were searched for mounted on an ass, but walking, with the aid of a them in vain. Only the Satyr's right elbow and a staff, towards the right. The leopard crouches to small scale of marble from the back of the tree­ the right behind the god's left foot and looks up to trunk, both of which are modern breaks, were the left at its master. The Maenad is not present; retrieved and replaced. [The modern damage and but the faithful Satyr is at hand, striding towards consequent losses were due to the unwarranted the left, wearing a short cloak, holding a pedum introduction of two workmen, who were not mem­ (shepherd's throwing-stick) in his left hand, and bers of the excavation team, with the avowed object supporting with his right hand the back of Bacchus, of hastening the final stages of the work. The whose left arm is thrown round the Satyr's shoul­ missing pieces were lost because they were ders. On the Bulgarian relief Pan is perched on a discarded unrecognised into a waiting skip. It was tree-trunk in the left-hand upper corner, but below an unfortunate episode in what was in general a him a Maenad beating on a tympanum and a Satyr satisfactory relationship with the main site-con­ playing with a leopard take the place of the Silenus. tractors-W.F.G.] On the extreme right appears the Maenad with the The base of the group carries an inscription in cista mystica; while Bacchus, who rests his weight rough, irregular lettering, which could be, but need upon his right leg, raises his snake-entwined arm not be contemporary with the sculpture. It runs above his head, and wears a nebris, throws his left HOMINIBVSBAGISBITAM; and there can be arm round the shoulders of the Satyr standing no doubt that the late Dr Stefan Weinstock was between him and the Maenad. The last-mentioned right in pointing out that b stands for v in the gesture of the god is, indeed, normal in scenes of second and third cases in which it occurs and that this type 148;and the Walbrook group is exceptional the text should read hominibus vagis vitam, 'life to in that it shows a variation at this point. What wandering men'144. This use of b for v is normally Bacchus and the Satyr had between them on the a sign of lateness, although an unpublished Walbrook piece we do not know. Possibly the god graffito---a workman's scrawl-in the Severan dangled a bunch of grapes over a bowl or dish held Basilica at Lepcis Magna, in Tripolitania, carries by his henchman. the practice back to the first decade of the third Closely akin to the Walbrook marble group in its century'P, The meaning of this enigmatic text is lack of a background, suggestive of its silhouetting discussed at length below. against a glow of light, but differing from it in Parallels to art-type. Scenes of Bacchic revelry, with containing two human figures only and in being the god half-drunk, or almost unconscious, sur­ carefully finished at the rear, is a miniature amber rounded by members of his train, and often being group, 102mm (4in) high, depicting the same saved from imminent collapse by the supporting theme. It was found in 1960 in a grave in a Roman arms and shoulders of a Satyr, are a common theme cemetery at Esch in North Brabant and is likely to of art in many media, above all in sepulchral have been carved in, and imported from, Aquileia, contexts, where they serve as allegories of para­ the leading centre of amber-carving at the head of disiacal happiness (p. 62). But the particular the Adriatic Sea. Backed by a grape-laden vine, arrangement of divine figures and accessory motifs, whose stem rises from the ground to the right of which the Walbrook group displays, are not wide­ the group, are Bacchus on the left and a Satyr in spread through the Roman world; and the closest the centre, whose right arm and hand support the parallels known to the present writer are two stone god's back. Bacchus, who faces the spectator, is reliefs, each portraying the Bacchic scene within a wreathed, but otherwise completely naked, rests shallow, arched niche, from Turda in RomaniaU" his weight on his right leg, and holds a drinking­ and Hissar in Bulgaria!"? respectively. Here again, horn in his laterally extended left hand (another Bacchus occupies the centre of the field. But on the variation on the usual scheme: see above) and a first relief his nakedness is modified by boots and wine-cup in his lowered right hand. Leaning a nebris (fawn-skin) and his weight is on his left against his right arm is a vertical thyrsos, behind leg. His right arm is raised above his head and which a leopard crouches on the ground. Bacchus' entwined by an enormous snake, which he grasps head is inclined towards the Satyr, who is also 42 J. M. C. Toynbee completely naked, crosses his right leg over his left, must have been inserted in the wall in and turns his head towards the spectator's left. In Roman times with a view to concealing them. The fact that close to the casket and its workmanship and in the figures' proportions the strainer there were discovered fragments amber group is somewhat inferior to the Walbrook of a Roman silver bowl with late-looking marble, although the heads, bodies, and limbs are punched decoration (No, 17), presumably smashed by the modern building opera­ plastically modelled 149. tions, when the casket and strainer them­ Date and area ofproduction. The Turda and Hissar selves were mercifully missed by them, cer­ stones are the work of very ordinary provincial tainly suggests that all these pieces of carvers; and according to A. von Domaszewski at precious metal belonged to a deliberately least nine similar reliefs found in Danubian lands hidden cache--hidden possibly on the same 15 occasion as that on which five statues of were known in 1895 °.As a work of art the Wal­ Italian marble (Nos, 1-5), dating from the brook group is, on the one hand, superior to the second century AD, were buried in hollows Turda and kindred pieces, but inferior, on the other in the temple's later floors, probably at hand, to every other monument of marble statuary some date during the first halfofthe fourth century. But that would, obviously, be no in the round that the London site has yielded; and proof that the casket and strainer were in view of the provincial connections of its art-type contemporary with the marbles. and assuming that a block ofItalian marble might Date ojdiscovery 8 October 1954. have been imported into central Europe (p. 55), a Bibliography Toynbee, ARB, pp. 173-4, no. 110, pis. 111-12; Toynbee, A SilverCasketandStrainer Balkan origin may with some reason be ascribed from the Walbrook Mithraeum in the City of to it. Its freedom from the trammels of hieratic London (1963); Merrifield, RCL, pIs. 81-3; frontality, and the plasticity and movement of its Grimes, ERML, pp. 114-16, figs. 26-7. two leading figures, would seem to preclude a date much later than c. AD 250. Meanwhile, its flagrant Description and discussion errors in proportion, and the slipshod work­ (A) The Lid. Opposite the hinge is the slot for the manship revealed by the subsidiary figures and pin that fastened down the lid; and the pin itself, details, would seem to lift it well out of the second the head of which takes the form of the head ofan century onto the threshold of the Late Antique':". animal, probably a mastiff, is surviving. Round the Moreover, by the middle of the third century, the lid's circumference runs a very narrow beaded late second-century passion for heavy drilling and edging; and the whole ofits upper surface is covered deep undercutting, conspicuously absent from our with figure ornament, cas t in reliefand chased and marble, had already spent its force. revealing here and there traces of gilding (PI. 22, Representations of Bacchus in other Mithraea. See Fig. 2). No.6 These designs cons ist ofsmall figures ofmen and animals, with a few landscape accessories, and they fall into seven clearly defined groups:- (I) In the centre of the field, and orientated slightly off the axis of the hinge and pin, are the Third andfourth (?)-century imported silver­ head and fore-parts of an Indian elephant, standing work (Numbers 16-17) towards the right. Only its right fore-leg is visible, while its hind-legs and hind-quarters retreat into 16. CASKET AND STRAINER the background, out ofwhich it seems to be emerg­ (Pl. XIII; Pis. 22-25, 29; Figs. 2-4) ing. With its trunk and right tusk the elephant is Museum ojLondon Ace. :'110. 21579 mauling the head of an apparently shaggy-coated Dimensions Casket: circular; height. 63mm (2!in); cir­ animal, possibly a wild goat, which crouches on cumference, 254mm (lOin); diameter, the ground towards the left. A ridge represents the 79mm (3iin). Lid: circular; diameter, 17m ground-line below the elephant, but under the goat (3rt.in). Strainer: circular; height, 45mm (Hin); circumference, 216mm (8!in); dia­ (?) this is not continued. meter, 64-70mm (2!-2~in); length of each (2) Immediately above the head of the elephant 'arm', 32mm (Itin). in (I), and facing towards the right, is a winged Material Silver gilt. griffin, the fore-legs of which bestride a large, Find-spot Unstratified, in the top of what remained of the temple's north wall, towards its western oblong box-shaped object. The griffin appears to end. But it would appear that above the be attacking with its beak the right-hand end of place where the casket and strainer lay, this box. Near the rim of the lid, just to the right about 45cm (18in) of an ancient wall had of the griffin's head, a St. Andrew's cross is incised been removed when a pit had been dug at that point for nineteenth-century foun­ within a square. This mark, of which the purpose dations, so that originally these objects is obscure, bears no relation to the ornament. The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras 43

Fig. 2. Silver casket; lid with part of wall and base. (I II ) 44 ] . M. C. Toynb ee

Fig. 3. Silver casket and strainer; panoramic view of casket wall and details of strainer. (1/1) Th e Roman art treasures from the T emple of Mithras 45

Plat e 22. Silver casket; view of lid. 46 J. M.C. Toynbee

(3) To the right of (2) is a group of three human at this point are far from clear ; and it is not easy figur es. Above, a man stands towards the right, to decide whet her the boar 's (?) sno ut is facing bending down and with both arms extended in the straight ahead or is turned sha rply backwards to direction of a sloping edge of rock, from the right­ retaliate. hand end of whi ch project two heavy bould ers. He (7) Finally, below the goat (?) in (I) a feline appears to be balancing himself upon the left-hand crea ture, most probably another leopard , bounds upp er corne r of another oblong box, similar to that towards the right over rocks (?). Its tail swings out in (2). But the top of its right-hand end is open; behind , its head is turned three-quarters towards and thr ough this aperture emerge, toward s the the left, and beneath its fore-paws sp rawls another right , the head and trunk of a second man . His animal, perhaps a deer, seen from behind , with its arm s are extend ed before him and his hands are head toward s the left, its body bent long the lid's grasped by those of a third man , facing to the left, curving line, and its tail flying up towards the rock with both knees bent as he lunges eagerly forward . in (3). This man is obviously pulling the second memb er (B) The Wall. The exterior wall of the casket (PI. of the trio out of the box-like objec t. 23, Fig. 3) is, like the upper surface of its lid, (4) Opposite (3), on the left-hand side of (2), is completely filled with figures of men and animals another winged griffin, standing towards the left set in a landscape of trees and rocks. Here, again, on a third oblong box, the end of which, as in (2), the ornament was produced by casting in a mould, is closed. Like its counterpa rt in (2), this crea ture followed by chasing. The relief-work is bounded at is pecking vigorou sly at the top of the box, and its the top and bottom by a pair of convex mouldings, long tail curls up round the right hind-paw of of which the upper one, encircling the lid, takes the beast in (2), with which it is otherwise quite the form of a laurel-wreath, while the lower one, unconn ected. girdling the base , is incised with a row of ,tongu es' (5) Below (4) is a leafless tree, the trunk of which projectin g downwards. T his frieze-like design is, in curves to follow the line of thelid's circumference, general effect, continuous all the way round the while its branches spread inwards towards the vessel. But it breaks up , on closer view, into four centre of the field. At the end of the longest bran ch main scenes or episodes , the beginnings and end s there perches what appea rs to be a very large bird, of which are ma rked either by trees or rocks or by shown vertically, with its head reachin g up beside ab rupt cha nges in the direction of the figures . The the right-hand end of the box in (4) and its tail most strongly accented of these lines of demarc­ thrusting downward s between the tree-trunk and ation is a tree which reaches right across the frieze, the eleph ant as in ( I). From the foot of the tree a from bottom to top, a short distance to the ground-line runs out towards the right and sup­ spectator's left ofthe fastening-pin on the lid (near ports an animal, probably a leopard , the fore-parts the right -hand end). T his tree, which has a gnarled of which are seen creeping from behind the tree­ trunk and large, flat leaves, or open flowers, at the trunk, as it looks back furti vely towards the left. ends of its spreading branches, may be taken as Here, again, the hindquarters of the beast dis­ intend ed by the artist to indicate the start and finish appear into the background. of the story; and our description may conveniently (6) Below the fore-leg of the eleph an t in (I) begin with the scene on its immediate righ t. another animal, possibly a boar, is advancing (I) The first scene (the right -hand end) is fram ed towards the right. Onl y the legs in the foreground on one side by the tree just described and on the are rendered. A sna ke has twisted itself round the other by a barren tree-trunk reaching half-way up creature's body and bites it in the neck. Th e details the frieze (the left-hand end ). It is arranged, as are

Plate 23. Silver casket; panoramic view of exterior wall. The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras 47 also the three other scenes, in two superimposed his left foot; (d) the vertical body of a beast shown tiers or storeys. Above, on the left, a man strides with its head downwards and its tail in the air; this towards the right along a ledge of rock, with his animal would seem to have overthrown the third left leg advanced. He wears a conical helmet and man and to be the second man's target; (e) a probably a close-fittingjerkin and breeches; and at hippopotamus standing unconcernedly towards his waist swings a sheathed knife. Facing him and the right, with a snake in its mouth and its back striding upon the roof of a rocky cave is another turned upon the scene of conflict, in front of the man, probably also clad in a jerkin and breeches, wall of boulders. Portions of the background are but with a hood (?) instead of a helmet. His right lost beneath the bellies of the griffin and the feline leg is advanced and his left leg and left hand in the upper tier, and there are two large corrosion are concealed behind a large oblong contraption, perforations in the background below, extending which he seems to be dragging diagonally after him from the second man to the middle of the or out of which he is stepping. On its lower edge hippopotamus' back. are two round blobs; and the only explanation of (3) Here the tiers of figures are more closely it that the present writer can offer is that this is a related than in scenes (I) and (2). Above, on the box, generally similar to, but of a somewhat dif­ left, a man is standing on a ledge with his legs set ferent type from, those described on the lid of the wide apart. He wears a flat, round cap, a jerkin or casket, of which we see one side with small wheels tunic, breeches (?), and a cloak floating out like a or castors attached to it. Above the box towers sail towards the right. With his right hand he aims what looks like a pinnacle of rock or a branchless a stone at a lion, which occupies the right-hand tree-trunk. The two men are joining right hands portion of the lower tier and is rearing against the and are clearly not in combat, but are either greet­ oval shield of a second man, shown immediately ing one another or conversing on some urgent below the first, wearing a flat, round cap and a matter. Just below their hands is a small round jerkin, holding a long knife in his right hand, and object, probably a stone. Beside the first man's being forced to the ground, with his right leg right leg a small corrosion hole pierces the back­ doubled up under him, by the impact ofthe animal. ground. In the lower tier, on the left, a large, coiled Below the belly of the lion lies a large stone that snaked rears itself up towards the right. On the has missed its target. To the right of the first man, right, facing the snake, there cowers at the entrance above the lion's head, is yet another oblong box, to the rocky cave a long-snouted, thick-set, short­ seen in perspective and seemingly open at one legged, thin-tailed creature, probably meant to end. A narrow rectangular object, possibly the represent a mongoose (ichneumon), the snake's invet­ detachable door for closing the aperture, leans erate enemyl52. diagonally beside the box; and a gnarled tree with (2) The second scene is terminated on the right spreading branches, one of which ends in a large by a tree-stump below and by a chimney-like rock, leaf, or open flower, rounds off the scene. or branchless tree-trunk, rising from a wall of (4) This section of the frieze is the longest of the boulders, above. The upper storey is divided from four and consists entirely of animals, shown singly the lower by a ledge or ground-line. At the left end or in groups, ranged in two quite separate tiers, of the ledge a winged griffin crouches towards the and interspersed with trees and rocks. The upper righ t. Facing it, in the centre, is a rearing snake, seen against what is either a tree-trunk or ajagged spur of rock and apparently opposed to the con­ undf7'[iJlt of !t'nge. fronting griffin; and on the right the griffin is bal­ ("?) anced by a feline-a tiger or a leopard-standing, ----- with waving tail, towards the right, but looking =------backwards over its shoulder towards the snake. , ) Below, from left to right, are (a) a man wearing a • conical helmet, ajerkin or tunic, breeches (?), and flying cloak, who stands with his body facing the spectator, but looks to the right, with both arms stretched out before him; (b) a second man, simi­ larly clad, striding towards the right, holding a small, oval shield on his left arm, while his right Ilo... hand is raised to hurl a stone; (c) a third man, who has fallen to the ground, with his head towards the Fig. 4. Cross-section of casket and left, and kicking legs and a large stone visible below strainer with details of catch. (1/2) 48 J. M. C. Toynbee zone cont ain s, from left to righ t: (a) the fore-parts ano ther beast that it has rolled upon its back; (c) of an eleph ant sta nding towards the right , with its a tree-stump; (d) a lion sta nding towa rds the left. hind-quarters van ishing int o the background, as in The scene is bounded on the right by the large (I) on the lid, and with a howd ah-like object on its tree that form s the starting poin t; and ther e are back, and, aga in as in the lid scene, mauling with corrosion perforations in the bac kground to the its tusks and trunk the head of another animal, right of the elephant, an d beside the hind-quarters here a leopard-like creature, that crouches on the of the first feline in the upper tier. ground towards the left; (b) a tree, with lar ge Both on the lid and on the wall of the Walbrook leaves, or open flowers, at the ends of its spreading casket the figures of men and animals are essen­ branches; (c) a feline bounding towards the right tially three -dimensiona l, natu ralistic, well-pro­ over rocks (?); (d) an oth er feline bounding towards portioned, plastically modelled, and instinct with the left, with a leafy tree in the background behind life and vigoro us movement. T rees an d rocks ar e, it; (e) a lion prancing towards the left and devour­ in general, conventionally treated, although the ing an animal of ind eterminat e species . In the gna rled trun ks of the trees between the first and lower tier ar e seen , from left to right: (a) a lion fourth, and third and fourth, scenes are drawn leaping towards the right over the body of a deer, with the realistic fidelity to nature that marks the which lies with its head towards the left; (b) poss­ rend erin g of man y of the anima ls. The individual ibly a bear, or mor e probably another hippo­ figures and groups are, in fact, stylistically, as well potamus, standing towards the right and mauling as techni cally, in the full stream of Hellenistic art

OVAL 1

Plat e 24. Silver casket: view of underside, revealing three points where feet may have been attached (arrows) and two areas of repair (ovals). see Appendix I (British Museum). T he Roman art treasures from the T empl e of Mithras 49 traditions, an d they could, if ta ken in isolation, Research Laboratory . The result s ar e given as an ran k as the products of an early-to-mid imp erial appendix ( p. 63). Apart from techni cal details the workshop.But as compositions these designs, on report revealed evidence for repairs in the base of both lid and wall, are completely lacking in orga nic the casket, and for the form er existence of three coherence; and the effect is that of an 'all-over' feet for which the attachment marks survive (PI. carpet or tapestry pattern with loosely linked , self­ 29)- W.F.G.] contained units strewn across the field, with a view (D) TheStrainer. Inside the casket as found was a to covering every scra p of the surface with sma ll­ silver cylindrical strainer or filter (PI. 24), not scale filling ornament. In th is respect the casket's fitting it tightly, but conforming to it generally in affinities are, as we shall see, less with the first and sha pe and size and presumably int end ed for use second centuries than with the Lat e Antique as with it. Within the strainer ar e three horizontal exemplified particula rly on fourth- and fifth-cen­ 'a rms' springing from the wall just below the top tury mosaic pavements; alt hough much more and meetin g at the centre; and on the outer surface organic 'all-over' designs had alrea dy appea red in of the wall can be seen the three rivets by which the purely decorat ive 'free-style' wild beas t scenes, these 'a rms' were held in place. The under side of with or wit hout hunters, of the second-century the strainer's base is slightly convex; and this base 'samian' potters' repertory. is perforat ed by a series of small holes that form an (C) The Base. On the under side of the very slightly attractive and highly decorative geometric pattern convex base (PI. 29) are four lightl y incised con­ (PI. 25). In the middle is an eight-petalled rosett e, cent ric circles, the two inn er on es close togeth er, with a dot at its centre, a group of four dots on the other two mu ch more widely spa ced. They were each petal , and an external dot continuing the line draw n with the compas s, one point ofwhich pierced that divides each petal from its fellow. Outside the a tiny hole in the metal at the centre. There is also rosett e is a circle of dots and then eight curving, a long corrosion perforati on through the base on scroll-like lines that combine to make a cushion­ one side of this central point, between the third sha ped squa re, with eight spirals curling alter­ and fourt h (outer) circles ; and near this perforati on natel y inwards and outwa rds and two groups of is a faintly scratched grafJito reading ISlA VI , prob­ dots flank ing each spiral. The whole is finally abl y a personal na me in the genitive case, between enclosed within anot her circle. the second an d third circles 153. A close par allel to this strainer is afforded by a very slightly larger silver cylindrical strainer found [Note. Since the above was writte n the casket an d at Straze in Czec hoslova kia, which has the same strainer were subjected to X- ray fluorescence and thr ee intern al 'a rms' , bu t with a knob at their point metallogra phic analysis at the British Mu seum ofj unction, and perforati ons in the bottom that ar e set out in a series of simple concentric circles. It was found in a grave and is dated to the third cent ury AD 154. Assuming that the Walbrook casket served as a container in Mi thraic ritual and that the strainer functioned with it, its contents must have been liqu id. This liquid can hardly have been blood for smearing on initiates, since blood would have congea led and have been anyhow too thick to pass through the perforati ons in the base of the strainer. The filter might, on the other hand, have been used for straining thin hon ey into the casket. Porphyry tells us that those who were initiated in the grade of Leones had honey instead of wat er poured over their hands for cleansing purposes and that their tongues were purifi ed by honey from every stain of sinm . An alternative possibility is that the strainer was used for infusing a concoction of herb s which served lUI1, to induce a ritual hypn osis in Mithraic (or some other) mystery-cult; tha t the three 'a rms' were to mark the limit of the amount of drug to be infused; Plate 25. Silver strainer. and that this strainer or infuser was the really 50 J. M. C. Toynbee themes sprea d across th e field of the great, probably '" sixth-cent ury , pavement tha t adorns the ambu­ ~0...... ) .. ~ latory of the peristyle of the Byzan tine pa lace at ... •••• :··· -, "~ Istanbul'V. But the genera l effect of those un con­ , .•... - - :.: .. .. . ',' , . ~ .. : ". nected, self-contained groups, somewhat hap­ ::. ~.-:: ; :; :-: "~.". hazardly ar ra nged in tiers (in this case , in three :,:;".. ' '; " ~ , .~"" ' '.:- '; " tiers) to form an 'all-over' design, is strikingly • ,,',=: : e: ~ : :.' .'~ \ similar to that of th e wor k now under disc ussion; ,•: •-.:rr>:•.::: It. .,' . .: I, and there, as here, the indi vidual motifs have all r _ ." ~. ~ .--II':..:: •',.;- ',. ' .',••'.••.:.:. :.:••. the plasticity, liveliness, and natura lism that are _ ••••,~ ••f j • •• ' • :: ' the familiar hall-marks of Hellenistic and early to \ '.. ':. ••". •••~ .l;· .':" : : :••, • l '. '.: -.,:.' .'': : : .:; mid imp erial art. Precisely th e sa me conflation of . ... " .... ' ' .' . earlier naturalism an d Late Antique schemes of ..:.... ,::;." ::;:..' .:': ... composition characterises three fifth- to sixt h-cen­ . '. ..'.:'.: . ' '- . '.. .' tury hunt mosaics from Antioch-on-the-Orontes, '" .. . . ' :,.'~ , '''c • • •• :~ ••••• ~ ••- . ~' the Magalopsychia pavement in the 'Yakto Complex' P", the Dum barton Oaks pavemen tl' ", and the pavement in the 'Ho use of the Worcester Plat e 26. Silver stra iner; int erior view, Hunt' 160. revealing perfor ations forming pattern in It is however, to the now famous country villa base. near Piazza Armerina in centra l Sicily, of con­ important ritual object, the casket being merel y its troversial, but certa inly four th-century, date that containerl'" . But the elaborate decorati on of the we mu st turn for the most striking analogies to the casket suggests that it was meant to hold something relief-work on our cas ketl'", There, on the mosaic ritually preci ous , such as honey for annointing floor of an immense corrido r, 63.7 m (210ft) long hands and tongues, for at least some leng th of tim e; by 5.46m (18ft) wide an d terminating in an aps e and one may wonder wh eth er a herb infusion would at either end, is a truly ama zing array of illus­ hav e rem ain ed efficaceous if kept for long in the trati ons of the hunting, capturing, and transporting casket after being strain ed-always supposing that of wild anima ls and bird s for exhibition in the the small amount of drug that the casket could arena shows and uenationes. T his pavement ta llies hold would have been sufficient for producing in exac tly with the cas ket scenes , first, in its tiered, an adult human being an hypn otic sta te. And 'a ll-over' pa tterning with separate episodes, would not the 'arms' have been needed for holding relat ed, ind eed, in their general theme, but care­ the strainer in the fingers when it was being placed lessly, sometimes even crudely,j uxtaposed without in the casket and lifted out of it? any atte mpt to weld them into a single, unified The figured scenes on th e lid and walls of th e picturel62; secondly, in the verve, viva city , and Walbrook casket are, as we have seen, hunting realism with whi ch , in particular, the individu al scenes, with men, some of them armed with defen­ birds and beas ts are rendered . Furthermore, it is sive shields and helmets, engaged in catching ani­ this Sicilian mosaic that provid es use with counter­ mals, and with anima ls confronting, pulling down parts of two of the most arresting items in the and slaying other beasts. The landscap e elements casket's repertory of motifs-the winged griffins of trees and rocks suggest th at these hunts and and th e large, oblong, box-like objects. animal contests are in the field , in some distant Reference to Piazza Ar merina leaves no room African or Asiatic land, rather than examples of for dou bt that the oblong objects ar e crates or thos e staged oenationes and beast-fights which were cages, set by the hunt ers for catching the beasts among the most popular forms of spec tacle in the and also used as travelling boxes for transporting arenas of the Roman world . It is, ind eed, in the them alive across the M editerranean to the places great hunt mosaics of th e later Empire, of which of public entertainment for which they were desti­ the primar y purpose was to portray the purs uit ned 163. One such cage appears on wheels and and ca pture of wild creatures for such uenationes dr awn by oxen 164; another is slung on a pole and and displays in city amphitheatres, that the casket carried along by a pa ir of hu ntsmen165; oth ers, reliefs are most closely paralleled, both in subject­ again, are ranged on boar d a cargo boatl66. More­ matter and in style and composition; and of these over, the motif of a griffin clamb ering over one of lat e mosaics five are of outstanding interest in these boxes, shown twice on the lid of the Wa lbrook our pr esent context. Hunting scen es and an ima l casket (scenes 2 and 4 ab ove, PI. 22, Fig. 2), comba ts are only some of the man y, heterogeneous appears at the right-han d end of the mosai c, where The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras 51 a great winged griffin, facing towards the left, those of the other works of art from the Walbrook sprawls on top of a slatted crate, out of the left­ Mithraeum; and the casket's date,judging by style l 67 hand end of which there peeps a human face . It alone, is, as we have seen, not immediately obvious, would seem that men were sometimes immured in while no deity or motif linking it directly with these boxes as baits; the quarry would sense their a specific cult, appears in its embossed reliefs. presence and try to tear the cages open in order to Certainly these vessels, the only distinguished reach them, and then, while thus preoccupied, be 'minor' works of art that the London temple has the more easily taken captive by other hunters. produced, were Mediterranean imports; and it Scene 3 on the casket lid represents the succeeding might seem natural to assign their importation to stage in such an episode: the human bait has served the wealthy third-century Mithraists who intro­ his turn and is being released from his confinement duced from abroad the mid-imperial marble sculp­ by two companions. That the griffin was popularly, tures. They must have been comparatively costly at least, believed to exist in the East as a creature objects, not, apparently, in keeping with the shabby that could be hunted is clear from Philostratus' structure of the shrine as restored during the fourth Lift of'Apollonius ofTyana (iii, 48): 'For these animals century after its original stone colonnades had been (sc. oL ypvn£f;) do exist in India and are held to removed, probably earlier in the same centuryl/''; be sacred to the Sun...In size and strength they and, as has already been pointed out, the elegant resemble lions but having the advantage over them plasticity of the casket's craftsmanship might be that they have wings, they will attack lions and get thought indicative of second-century work. But its the better of elephants and dragons.' There is, then, closest affinities are, as we have also seen, with no need to read any particular mystic meaning into Late Antique mosaic pavements; and that is the the griffin. But under the Empire hunts and animal main consideration which must be set against the combats often carried more than their face-value difficulty, on social and economic grounds, ofcon­ significance when reproduced in a religious (as on necting such fine vessels of precious metal with the the casket) or funerary context, where they feature latest phases of the temple's history and which as allegories, partly of the fertility, and even of the appear to weight the balance in favour ofdetecting pleasant pastimes, of the world beyond the grave in them the products ofa late third- or early fourth­ and partly of the chasing and overpowering of the century, possibly east-Mediterranean, workshop. forces of wickedness by those of goodness. If the above dating of it is correct, the casket Parallels in metalwork to the style and some of illustrates that persistence of good craftsmanship the details of the Wal brook casket are afforded by in contemporary silver-work, in pagan as well as 177 vessels in the fourth-century silver treasure from in Christian circles, to which the Mildenhall , 178 Mildenhall in Suffolkl'", On the great Oceanus Traprain Law , Esquiline/'', and other late dish'", on the two Dionysiac platters170, on the Roman silver treasures, and such isolated pieces l8o hemispherical cover!", and on the flanges of four as the Parabiago patera, now at Milan , bear bowls 172 we are confronted with human and animal striking testimony; and given the means to pay for figures that are as vivid, naturalistic, and springy them, or the devotees able and willing to present in movement as any on the London piece. The them, the Walbrook silver vessels, with their 'neu­ four last-mentioned items also show, interspersed tral' reliefs and modest dimensions, could have among the human heads and beasts on their been smuggled unobtrusively into the recon­ flanges, trees with spreading branches that ter­ ditioned temple, if they did not arrive at Walbrook, minate in large, flat leaves, or open flowers, of the as seems, perhaps, more likely, a relatively short same type as those that have been noted on the time before the dismantling of the shrine's col­ casket 173. The technique of the latter, with its scenes onnades in the earlier fourth century (p. 2). cast in relatively high relief, is quite different from Assuming that the casket with its strainer served that of the Suffolk vessels, the ornament of which, a ritual purpose, it is probable that its animal worked in very low relief, was produced by ham­ groups and hunting episodes carried a generally mering down the background from the front 174. But symbolic meaning for those who used it, as allud­ other techniques, repousse, for example, were also ing, as has been already said, partly to the teeming employed in the late Roman period": and on every life of paradise and partly to the hunting down of count the Walbrook casket would appear to be evil by divine power. The man drawn from the thoroughly at home in the milieu of the Late cage as a human bait might possibly suggest a Antique silver-worker's craft. ritual death and resurrection181. Furthermore, The social and religious implications of the cas­ these designs may even have conveyed to the initi­ ket and the strainer, in the context in which they ated a specifically Mithraic connotation, since came to light, are less easy to define than are Mithras figures in art as a mounted hunter, pur- 52 ]. M. C. Toynbee suing and slaying the forces of wickedness and more compelling than argument from general pro­ l87 death, as on the obverse of the two-sided slab from babilities . Similarly, all that we can say about Dieburg'", on the reverse of a similar slab from the Walbrook casket is that the provenances and l83 Riickingen , in one ofthe small scenes that frame affinities of the late mosaics, with which we have the great bull-slaying relief from Osterburken184, related its decoration, are southern and eastern; and in a couple ofmural paintings from the Dura­ and that it is at least a possibility that its maker Europos Mithraeurnl'". There can, again be little worked in, or hailed from, one of the southern and doubt that Mithras the hunter is depicted in the eastern provinces. As for the strainer, we can, unmounted figure that wears a Phrygian cap, has again, only say that it is likely to be of Medi­ crosses and stars. embroidered on the skirt of his terranean, rather than of northern or western prov­ tunic, and holds a bow, worked en barbotine on one incial, origin. side of a 'Castor' beaker from Verularnium'I", As to where the casket was manufactured, no conclusive internal criteria are forthcoming from the piece itself. We know virtually nothing oflocal 17. THE SILVER BOWL (Fig. 5) styles in silverware under the later Empire, if, indeed, such styles existed; nor have we any notion By Joanna Bird of the extent to which silver-workers may have Museum ofLondon Ace. No. 21552 travelled from centre to centre in the service of Dimensions Diameter of nm 120mm (4tin) approximately their patrons. There is not a piece in the Mildenhall Material Silver treasure, for instance, of which we can do more Find-spot See No. 16 than guess the origin, basing our guesses on nothing Date ofdiscovery 8 October 1954 1 F===

0 0 00 0 o 0 o 0 o 0 o 0 o 0 o 0 o • 00 ••• 0QOOO~OVOQ.'.;; OQOqOQOQO 00000 •••• 00000 .:)QOe::;, OD0 ~ ~ ~ ~~~ GOO 00000

0 0000 ••••••• 000000 ppp~p"~,,,~~~~~~ 000 00 •••••••• 0000 00 0 Fig. 5. Silver bowl; reconstruction of decoration. (1/1) The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Xlithras 53

point for eac h circle of dots, has been pun ched right thro ugh to make a sma ll hole, suggesting the need for a lining, perh ap s of glass, to make the vessel serviceab le. Below the circles is a row of chevro ns bordered by dots. There are indications of a second row of circles lower down on the body, and perhap s directly beneath the chevro n band; it is pro babl e that they too would be faceted. Beneath comes a narrow band of tear- shaped motifs bord ered by dots, above a row of probable astragalus ornaments. The base of the bowl consists of a dott ed circle, approxi­ mately 4-0mm in diameter, agai n probably ind ent ed, bordered by a band of diagonal hat chin g and dots. Plate 27. Silver bowl from Chao urse (Brit­ T he bowl belongs to a small gro up of closely ish Museum ). similar vessels, likely to be of Gaul ish manufacture (Strong 1966, 162), ha ving stylistic links with con­ Fragments of a small bowl in thin sheet silver tem porary glassware. Four bowls from the were found with the canister (Xo. 16) in the north Chao urse T reas ure are close in size and style, wall of the temple. The rim , which is approxim at ely and sha re faceted circles, pun ched hat chin g, tear ­ Imm thick and the th ickest part of the vessel, was shaped motifs, astragali and a similar foliage orna ­ all present but had been bent and broken into five ment (PI. 26)(Walters 1921, nos. 157-60). A some­ strips. The surviving pieces of the body consist what larger bowl (diameter 180-190mm) from of small, bad ly damaged fragments, but enough Water Newton has two rows of faceted circles with remains to allow most, possibly all, of the design central holes, and shows a similar banding of nar­ to be res tored. row friezes above the base; these consist of astraga­ Beneath the plain rim are two turned grooves, Ius and chevro n wrea ths (PI. 27). It also has a and below , the main decoration of the bodv con­ more elaborate version of the stylised foliage motif sisting of various mot ifs punched on to the e~te rio r between the circles (Painter 1977, 11- 12,30 no. 4, of the bowl. At the top is a band of vert ical lines and frontispiece). T hese bowls are all approx i­ bordered above an d below by dots; benea th is a mately hemisph erical in sha pe, and it is likely that row of circles, 26mm in diam eter , outlined in dots the Walbrook one is too. However, the example an d alternating with crude foliage motifs. It is from Notre-Dam e-d 'Allencon (diameter 175mm ) likely, from parallels with other bowls of the same is in the shape ofa shallow dish, with a single band type and from indications on some of the larger of six dotted and ind ent ed circles and one on the fragments, that the circles were inde nted , or base , and a rat her more natu ralistic version of the faceted. The centra l dot, marking the com pass foliage motif composed of pu nched dots (PI. 28).

Plate 28. Silver bowl from Water Newton (British Museum). 54 J. ~1. C. T oynb ee fourth century, but inclu ded vessels of third-cen­ tur y type, to which cent ury Painter assigns the faceted bowl (1977, 12, 21). The bowl found in an early fifth-century pirat es' hoard near Coleraine was described by Strong as a lat e exa mple of the type (Strong 1966, 204); the same basic repertoire of circles and pun ched dots and lines is used, but in a much simplified arrangement, with only the basal circle ind ent ed (British Mu seum 1964, pI. X, no. 48). The ava ilable evidence for these bowls would thu s seem to indi cat e a third-centu ry date for the Walb rook bowl. Alth ough the number of bowls in this distinctive style is relatively few, it is perhaps of int erest tha t most of the other well-do cumented ones also come from religious contexts . The Chaourse T reasure is appa rently a deposit of domestic plate , but the Berthouville find comes from a temple of Mercury, the Notre-D arne-d 'Allencon hoard contained num erous dedicati ons to Min erva, and the 'V ater Plate 29. Silver dish from Notre-Dame­ Newton hoard included vari ou s Christian d'Allencon (Musie du Louvre ). dedicati ons.

Acknowledgement On this bowl, the decorati on begins imm ediatel y I am most grateful to ~l i s5 Catherine J ohns and [0 the late Professor Donald Strongfor discussing the \\ "albrookbowl; their suggesti ons have been below the lip (Baratte 1981, 49-53, pI. XXI ). incorporated in the text. I would also like to thank ~ lr D . ~ 1. Bailev. The Chao urse Treasure is dat ed c. AD 270, and Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the British ~ l u se u m . r~r a similar later third-century date was suggested by making the Cha ourse bowls ava ilable for comparison. Strong for the hoards from ~otre-Dam e-d'Allencon and Berthouville, where another similar bowl was References F. Barau e. 1981 Lt Trisor d 'A.rgtnttrit Gallo-romaine dt X otn -Dame-d'Allmcon, found (Strong 1966, 160-1 ). Bar atte (1981) has (.\Jaint-tt· Loirt) Gallia Supplement XL. Paris. recently suggested a wider dat e ran ge, from the British M useum . 1964 Guidi to thr A ntiquities of Roman Britain. 3rd ed n. London. second century to the early third, for the Notre­ K. S. Painter. 1977 The WattT Xnrto n Earl)' Christian Sitrer London. Dame-d'Allencon find. The Water Newton hoard D . E. Strong. 1966 Greek and Roman Gold ~ nd Sih" Platt London. H. B. " ·alters. 1921 Catalogue of thr SilverPlatt in tht British J/uJtum: Gruk, was probabl y buried during the first half of the Etruscan and Roman London. PART II

GE~ERAL CO~SIDERATIONS

The works of art of the Roman period, other southern lands that we must turn catalogued above, from the Walbrook for their nearest parallels. The marble temple site constitute the richest, most Bacchic five-figure piece (No. 15, PI. XII) impressive, and most varied series that and the marble roundel (No. 14, PI. XI) any building, or group ofbuildings, so far are likewise imported works. But both of excavated in Roman Britain has yielded. these are provincial, not central, in their In the following pages an attempt is made associations and in the manner of their to assess the artistic, social, and religious execution; and while the former depicts a implications of these discoveries for familiar Graeco-Roman theme and imi­ Mithraisrn as it was known and practised tates Graeco-Roman models, the works in Londinium. that display its special formula derive Since the specifically Roman Mithraic from a restricted area and the latter car­ mysteries were, so far as Britain is con­ ries a subject that belongs to the north­ cerned, an imported cult, it is not sur­ eastern peripheral areas of the Empire prising to find among the Walbrook and betrays the hand of a local carver monuments none that can be called whose acquaintance with classical stan­ Romano-British in the strictest sense, that dards was far slighter that that of the is, pieces executed in Britain by craftsmen author of the Bacchic group. Finally, we of Celtic extraction, ultimately dependent have in the marble Mithras Tauroctonos on the representational art ofthe Graeco­ relief (No. 10, PI. X), in the stone Cau­ Roman world, yet revealing both in style topates (No. 12, PI. 18) and Dioscurus and in technique distinctively Celtic and reliefs (No. 13, PI. 19), and in the stone native local traits and often more native arm and hand from a bull-slaying Mithras than Roman in their content. But all the group (No. 11, PI. 16), sculptures carved other categories into which art in Roman by provincial artists, British or possibly Britain falls are exemplified. The heads Gaulish, works comparatively rude in of Mithras (No.1, PI. I), Minerva (No. treatment, but in their content wholly 2, PI. II), and Serapis (~o. 3, PI. III), the foreign and cosmopolitan. All of these figures of the Water-god (No.8, PI. VIII) were carved in Britain, the first on an and Genius (No.9, PI. IX), the Mercury imported slab of foreign marble, the rest group (No. 4, PI. IV), the colossal hand in materials native to this island. Thus (No. 5, PI. V), and the two small torsos the essentially eclectic and variegated (~os. 6, 7, PIs. VI, VII), all worked in character of art as the provinces knew it, foreign marble, almost certainly abroad is, with the exception above noted, vividly and by sculptors trained in Mediter­ reflected in the finds from Mithras' ranean workshops, are striking instances London shrine. of an imported art that is purely classical Closely linked with the aesthetic in style, technique, and subject-matter. aspects of the Walbrook works of art is Such works would grace a museum in the question of their social significance. Rome; and it is, in fact, to Italy and to The classical, imported sculptures tell a 55 56 J. M. C. Toynbee plain tale of wealthy and cultivated the later Empire, but also the depressed Mithraists, men ofsophisticated taste and social and economic status of the pagan Mediterranean contacts, as frequenters community that owned the somewhat and patrons of this temple (and possibly shoddily rehabilitated building in timber of other, as yet undiscovered, associated (p. 3). For larger and more imposing shrines) during the early years of its marble carvings for instance, on sar­ history, in the second half of the third cophagi, could still be produced at this century; and, further, of worshippers of period for wealthy Christian patrons; Mithras and kindred deities during the while some quite impressive and tech­ first quarter of the fourth century who nically competent, if stylistically rather were well enough off and well enough crude, clumsy, and ill-proportioned educated to maintain, appreciate, and, it marbles were actually being made for, seems, hide away for safety (p. 5) mid­ and dedicated by, late-fourth-century imperial statuary, some of it carved per­ Mithraists in Italy and possibly in haps nearly 200 years earlier. Among all Syria 190. It is, on the whole, likely that if the Mithraea ofthe Roman world, known the marble roundel and marble Bacchic from discovery or inference to have group reached the Walbrook shrine after existed, none in Italy, not even the best­ its fourth-century dismantling, they were equipped in Rome or Ostia, such as the 'second-hand' dedications, far from new astian 'Terme di Mitra' Mithraeum' at the time of their importation. Indeed, with its splended marble group signed it would be difficult, as has been pointed Kpittov A8rwmor; exocei ('Criton of out (p. 42), to date the Bacchic group, on Athens made it'), and only one through­ grounds of style, much later than c. 250; out the provinces, namely that at Merida and there is an alternative possibility that (Augusta Emerita) in Spain!", can boast these two pieces had been rescued unda­ a comparable and richer set of marbles. maged from the earlier temple and were At Merida are fifteen marble pieces, then re-used in its successor. At any rate, including the Serapis, Mercury, and the Bacchic group was still apparently Water-god already cited, and the statue intact at the moment ofdiscovery (p. 40) of a torch-bearer signed L1'YJllfJr:pWr; and the roundel could have lost its upper eno(Et (,Demetrius made it') 189, right-hand portion when the shrine was which, together with Criton's signature, finally destroyed. reminds us that some at least ofthe artists Summing up, we may say that the Lon­ of the Walbrook sculptures were probably don worshippers of Mithras, as repre­ Greeks, or at any rate Greek-speaking. sented by their sculptures, were men of The Mithras Tauroctonos slab, dedicated diverse backgrounds and differing his­ by the veteran Ulpius Silvanus, the reliefs torical conditions. But taken all in all, it ofCautopates and ofa Dioscurus, and the is the second-century monuments of high stone arm and hand of Mithras seem to artistic merit that predominate at Wal­ represent lower strata in the scale of brook, adding their impressive evidence wealth and culture in third-century to that of the Mithraic finds at Rornev", Roman London; while the roundel and Ostia!", Meridal'", and Larnbaesisl'", for Bacchic group, which were not found the appeal of this religion, not only to buried beneath the topmost floors and soldiers and to 'little people', but also to appear to belong to the latest phases ofthe members of the well-to-do business temple's story, reflect partly, no doubt, a circles!" and other middle classes of general decline in marble sculpture under Roman society and even to high-ranking The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras 57 government officers-well before 307, the is that this was the work of the Mithraists probable date ofour first clear indication concerned to save the sculpture from that the cult enjoyed official court patron­ Christian (?) iconoclasts, after Peace of age.!" the Church and its official recognition It is, however, mainly on the score of under Constantine. But since the marbles their religious implications that the Wal­ Nos. 1-5 were buried in a hollow over­ brook works of art are outstanding. In the lying a column 'pad' of the temple's stone first place, the circumstances in which colonnades, the Mithraists did not bury the mid-imperial sculptures came to light them in anticipation of the colonnades' have an important bearing on the ques­ careful dismantling (p. 2), an operation tion of the shrine's identity; and they con­ that could have been carried out by jure up a vivid picture of an episode, Christians in search of materials for unrecorded in the literary sources, in the church-building on another site!". We 'conflict of religions' as enacted in this have evidence from Carrawburghl'" and province during the fourth century. In the Housesteads!" in Britain, from the Santa second place, the range of dieties and Prisca Mithraeum in Rome'?", from Sar­ subjects represented in the series, rebourg in Gaul?", and from sites in regarded as a whole, offers new and valu­ Roman Germany'?", that Christians, zea­ able testimony to the intensely syn­ lously eradicating paganism, wrecked cretistic character of Roman Mithraism Mithraea. Yet pagan temples certainly and to its 'other-worldly' aspects in continued to be frequented until as late particular. as the beginning ofthe fifth century, while The three marble heads of Mithras, the London temple itselfwas soon recon­ Minerva, and Serapis are, as we have ditioned, if on far less ambitious archi­ seen, self-contained units, carved sep­ tecturallines (p. 3), by persons who pos­ arately and furnished with roughly-sur­ sessed the marbles (that had somehow faced 'tenons' for insertion into hollows survived the dismantling of the colon­ between the shoulders of their respective nades) and hid them under the fourth­ bodies, which may have been made of century floors. It is most unlikely that inferior materials, coarser marble, stone, they only reached the site in the fourth or even stucco. At any rate, no traces century in order to be buried there and survive of any ofthese bodies, from which had not furnished the Mithraeum in its the heads were carefully removed and original, colonnaded stage. buried deliberately in holes, afterwards Since no details are recorded of the covered over by the temple's latest, unearthing of the three marbles retrieved fourth-century, floors, at various points from the temple-site in 1889, beyond the towards the eastern end of the building, fact that they were found in the middle of the Serapis head forming part of a cache the Walbrook and at a depth of6.1-6.7m which also contained the small Mercury (20-22ft) below the modern surface, and group and the detached colossal hand. that deep and long sewerage-work was in This purposeful concealment fully progress in Walbrook, near Bond Court, accounts for the wonderful state of pres­ at the time when Mr Ransom purchased ervation in which these marbles have them from James Smith, the dealer. But come down to us, with even the noses since the concrete foundation-piers and intact. By whom and for what purpose the wall-foundations of the office build­ was this precious statuary hidden away? ings, erected in 1889, penetrated at least The hypothesis best suited to the context the upper temple floors, as the recent 58 J. M. C. Toynbee excavations have revealed, these sculp­ although the present writer cannot cite tures too may have been buried delib­ any certain parallel instance of an ancient erately in cavities dug to receive them, statue made half of marble and half of either towards the east end of the shrine other material (but see note 3). proper or within the narthex, and after­ The fate ofsecond-century marbles that wards sealed over by the temple's fourth­ these London Mithraists did not contrive century levels. The fine foreign marble, to bury is illustrated by the two statuettes in which the Water-god and Genius are of Bacchus (?), which were probably carved, and the specially sacred subject mutilated and tossed aside at the time portrayed in the Tauroctonos relief, com­ when the temple lost its stone colonnades. bined with its probably imported marble, At any rate, one of them was found in would seem to postulate the taking of overlying debris in a room in the south the same steps for the protection of these half of the narthex (No.6, PI. VI), the pieces as were taken in the case of the other was worked into a late-Roman other five buried sculptures. Careful con­ masonry structure just to the west of the cealment would, indeed, explain the vir­ Walbrook stream (No.7, PI. VII); and tually perfect preservation of the relief; it the fact that these two seemingly almost would explain the fact that the Genius is identical statuettes were chopped up in largely intact, but for his head, which identical ways certainly suggests the could easily have been detached and deliberate act ofone hand on one and the smashed during the rough-and-ready same occasion. Why two small and fine operations of 1889 (which mercifully did figures of a god were left unburied and not touch the marbles found in 1954), abandoned to their fate, we shall never when the appearance of antiquities could know. But we can at least say that it seems hardly have been predicted; and it would unlikely that they would have been so explain the survival in a comparatively abandoned had they been foreign to the satisfactory state of the most important temple and brought there from another portion (head and torso) of the Water­ building for the specific purpose ofhiding god, whose missing arms and vanished them away for safety on the Walbrook lower limbs might have been too severely site. damaged on the same occasion to be con­ The Mithras Tauroctonos slab set up sidered worth salvaging. The relief and by Ulpius Silvanus, if dedicated in the the Genius are small and could have been shrine on the site of which it was interred with ease; and although the unearthed in 1889, would most forcibly Water-god, when complete, would have suggest, ifit cannot absolutely prove, that been a fairly bulky object to conceal, we that shrine was indeed a Mithraeum. It must take into account the possibility that was on the strength of that relief that only his surviving upper part was carved Cumont plotted a Mithraeum in Lon­ in precious marble, and that it was once dinium on his distribution-map of attached to a lower part of stone or stucco, Mithraic monuments and sites/"; and its which the Mithraists abandoned, as they evidence is now reinforced by that of two did the bodies belonging to the Mithras, of the 1954 finds, both also unequivocally Minerva, and Serapis heads. It was, of Mithraic in their content but both defin­ course, much more normal with com­ itely not buried under the latest levels. posite figures to reserve the fine material These are the sleeved left arm and hand, for heads and extremities only; but here grasping the mouth of a bull,from the we may have one of the exceptions, small stone Mithras Tauroctonos group, The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras 59 ofthe rest ofwhich no trace survives, and the outstanding marbles (Nos. 1-9) can, the lower half of the relief of Cautopates, on stylistic grounds, be dated so late, none found violently sundered from its now of them can have been carved with the vanished upper portion. Both were dis­ Walbrook Mithraeum in view, but must covered just outside the actual confines of have been brought there from elsewhere the temple, the first to the north-west of to furnish it, at what date, or dates, we it, the other to the south. There can be no do not know. question of these fragments of relatively Assuming, then, that all the sculptures rough and local carvings in common Brit­ found on the site once actually adorned ish stone having been brought from else­ it, it would surely be perverse, in the light where as treasures to be hidden here. The of all the evidence that we possess, to monuments of which they formed parts attempt to identify the temple as a must always have stood, before they were Serapaeum, on the score of the Serapis abandoned and flung down, within this head, or as a shrine of Sol, because shrine, proclaiming it to be at least a place Mithras and Sol were very frequently in which Mithras was adored. identified-"; or to entitle it a 'pantheon', As for the five certainly buried marbles, on the grounds of the diversity of deities 2 it cannot, of course, be proved that all of depicted in it °S . Mithras was undoubt­ 206 them, not excepting the head of Mithras, edly a hospitable god • On the other were not brought to Walbrook for con­ hand, among the many hundreds of cealment from other temples in London, Mithraic monuments and sites as yet of which we have as yet no knowledge. known to us, there are, so far as the pre­ The same could be true ofthe three pieces sent writer is aware, only three instances found in 1889. On the other hand, there of'Mithraic sculptures or inscriptions hav­ is no reason for believing any of these ing come to light in temples dedicated to works to be intrusions. The great hand deities other than Mithras or in shrines of Mithras Tauroctonos need only have to which the term 'pantheon' might be been intruded if it had belonged to some applied. A head with Phrygian cap and colossal group too large for this shrine; 'pathetic' expression, possibly that of whereas it is, on the whole, more likely Mithras, was found beneath the threshold that it was once attached to a symbolic, of the fourth-century AD temple of Isis isolated arm set up for veneration (p. 23). on the slopes of the Acropolis at Cyrene, The three non-Mithraic deities repre­ a shrine in which statues of many other sented in the 1954 mid to late second­ gods and personifications had been century series of buried sculptures­ assembled-"; three small and fragmen­ Minerva, Serapis, and Mercury-all tary Mithraic reliefs were unearthed, occur elsewhere, as do Bacchus, Water­ together with monuments ofother deities, god, Genius, and Dioscurus, in sanctu­ in the Dolichenum on the Aventine in 208 aries that are quite certainly Mithraea; Rome ; and a few miles south of Rome, and it is in no way surprising to find just off the Via Appia Antica and not from them at Walbrook on the same site as from the Villa of the Quintilii, there was the marble head of Mithras, the marble discovered what may have been the sanc­ Tauroctonos relief, and the two stone tuary of a strange oriental deity, Zeus Mithraic carvings. Bronton, in which a very fragmentary On the other hand, since the building Mithras Tauroctonos relief, two reliefs ofthe temple is fixed, on pottery and coin each depicting a torch-bearer, and a evidence, at c. AD 240, and since none of cippus, tombstone, with inscriptions in 60 J. M. C. Toynbee honour of Mithras were revealed, along and the Rider-gods (Near Eastern, Anato­ with a statue of, and inscriptions in hon­ lian, and Danubian counterparts of the our of, the shrine's patron god and a Dioscuri) are, as we have seen, linked with large number of representations of other Mithras/!"; while for association between divinitiesf". All of these three temples Bacchus and Mithras we have the evi­ could, in a sense, qualify as 'panthea'. But dence of the Sarrebourg Mithras Tau­ none of them display the architectural roctonos relief"!", and of the marble features present in the Walbrook shrine­ statuette possibly of Bacchus, which may the tripartite division into 'nave' and rai­ have been erected in the Santa Prisca sed 'aisles', distinctive ofall Mithraea, or Mithraeum?!", and of the two almost the apse and lateral colonnades, for which identical torsos from the Walbrook shrine the temple at Lambaesis, certified as a itself, which can, in view of their likeness Mithraeum by its inscribed altars, offers to the Bacchus ofthe five figure group, be close parallels/'". And just as structurally plausibly regarded as both depicting that the London sanctuary is that of Mithras, divinity. so there it is his monuments that figure Minerva, Serapis, Mercury, Water­ most conspicuously. He has five; Bacchus god, Genius, Dioscurus, Mother-goddess probably three; the Mother-goddess and and attendant Rider-gods, Bacchus­ the Rider-gods share the roundel; the such were Mithras' fJewL acvvaot other gods have each one carving apiece. ('Sharers of his shrine') in his Walbrook There can be little doubt that at Walbrook temple, as in other contexts. What was Mithras was host, not one among the the bond of kinship between them and many guests of another god. the Persian god? What common creed Except in the case of the marble head underlay this syncretism? That Mithras of Mithras and of the stone relief of was essentially a 'saviour' god, whose Cautopates, we have no clue as to how worship was directed, as were all the the sculptures were arranged in the Graeco-Roman mystery-cults, towards Mithraeum. Its effect must have been not the worshippers' 'salvation', is a com­ unlike a gallery of statuary. But in this it monplace/". By his slaying of the sym­ was by no means unique among mystery­ bolic bull, Mithras overcame the forces of shrines, as the evidence already cited evil, darkness, and death and brought demonstrates. And the Merida new life to birth. The cave where the deed Mithraeum was even more lavishly equip­ was held to have been enacted represents ped with works of art (note 38). the depths of earth, into which Mithras That the temple remained in pagan descended so that he might rise therefrom hands during the period ofrehabilitation life-giving and triumphant. On the reliefs that followed the removal of its stone col­ that illustrate his exploit corn-ears sprout onnades is indicated by the animal bones from the tail of the dying beast, while a associated with its latest altar (p. 3). snake and dog eagerly drink its flowing Was it still a Mithraeum? The attempt blood. But these creatures are more than then made to preserve the tripartite div­ representatives of Nature; in Graeco­ ision into 'nave' and 'aisles' suggests that Roman religious thought both snake and it was!"; and with this the contents of the dog had 'other-worldly' associations; and two carvings that were found in the higher Mithras' victory was also effective beyond archaeological levels on the site, the roun­ the boundaries ofthe natural order. To his del and the Bacchic group, are fully con­ devotees, who had undergone successfully sistent. The Mother-goddess with the fish the trials of initiation, he promised bless- The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras 61 ings more enduring than material pros­ lastjourney after death was as universally perity: he offered them religious rebirth familiar in the Roman world as was his in this world, eternal life in the next, and patronage ofcommerce. At Nemrud Dagh mvstic union with himself both here and in Commagene, in the time of Antiochus beyond the grave. Death had lost its I (c. 69-34 BC), Mithras was identified terrors for the Mithraist and became the with Hermes, bearing the title of 'Apollo gateway to a fuller and more glorious Mithras Herrnes'F", and it is remarkable existence than that experienced in and by that in the Mithraeum of the Roman fort the body. The Mithraist did not cease to at Stockstadt in Germany no less than pray for the good things of this life; but four stone representations of Mercury it was beatitude, after-life 'fertility', that were found, 'popular' works of a very most concerned him. And in order to win different calibre from the marble Mercury still firmer assurance of obtaining his at Merida (p. 21), but important as evi­ desires, he associated with his patron dence of the god's particular, functional other divine beings, who were either 'sav­ relationship with Mithras!". Water-gods iours' of the same type or symbolised for are a common motif of Roman funerary him the happiness of paradise, while aid­ art as reminders of the river ofdeath that ing and protecting him on earth. all must cross and of the voyage of souls All the Walbrook divinities fit quite over the Ocean to the Blessed Isles; stre­ naturally into this scheme of ideas. ams, too, bring cleansing and fruitfulness, Minerva, patroness of arts and crafts of 'other-worldly' as well as material. The all kinds, was also the source of the wis­ Walbrook Genius, with his cornucopiae and dom that wins immortality and, in her wave-borne prow, suggests, not only martial aspect, conqueress of death. In mundane prosperity carried by merchant­ the last two capacities she figures in sep­ shipping to Londinium, but also the ulchral contexts, for instance, in stucco other-world 'fertility' to be enjoyed relief-work on a niche from a tomb in the beyond death's waters; the snake, seen cemetery at Sousse?" and in the second­ here as coiling round the Genius' right century AD tomb of the Valerii under St. wrist above his patera, is a well-known Peter's?", on Roman lead sarcophagi from image of the living dead?". The after-life Syria and Britain?", as a bronze bust, fertility-aspect of Mother-goddesses ofall attached to an iron strip, found in the types is too familiar to require comment. Romano-British cemetery at Ospringe, But it may be recalled in this connection Kent219, in the form of a bronze figurine that shrines of Mithras and ofthe Magna from a Romano-British cemetery area at Mater (Cybele) were sometimes juxta­ Canterbury'?", and as a bronze bust, for posed, that a very crude, somewhat repul­ mounting on some object, discovered in sive figure of a Mother-goddess was the Roman cemetery near Nawa unearthed in the narthex of the Car­ (Hauran) in Svria?", Serapis, the well­ rawburgh Mithraeurrr'", and that a more known Graeco-Egyptian god of fertility attractive, if artistically undistinguished, and the underworld, was giver of life group of Mother and child came to light abundant in this world and the next. He in the Mithraeum at Dieburg?". As for also bore the name of 'saviour'; and his the Dioscurus on the stone relief and the close affinity with Mithras is attested by Rider-gods who flank the Mother on the the attribution to him of the Mithraic roundel-the other-world role of the titles of ,Sol' and 'Invictus'222. Mercury's Graeco-Roman Dioscuri as symbols ofthe function as kindly guide of souls on their hemispheres, guardians of the tomb, and 62 J. M. C. Toynbee escort of the soul to paradise has been the life wished for is length ofdays in this elaborately worked out by Cumont; while world; and if the Walbrook inscription is the 'saving' functions of their Near to be interpreted on their analogy it would Eastern, Anatolian, and Danubian mean that the dedicators of the group, counterparts can be recognised in the pic­ that is, worshippers or initiates of ture-language of the monumentsv". Bacchus, wished 'length of days' (or 'all There remains Bacchus, whose revels the best') to 'wandering men'. But who with his train of Satyrs, Sileni, Pans, and were these homines vagi? In a Bacchic con­ Maenads are a favourite theme, sym­ text vagiwould be appropriate to Bacchus bolising bliss in paradise, ofRoman tomb­ and his following of divine (or quasi­ art in every medium-in wall-paintings, divine) companions, Satyrs, Sileni, Pans, in mosaics, in stucco-work, and par­ and Maenads, whojourneyed through the ticularly on innumerable carved sar­ world with him to and from India and cophagi of the second and third centuries elsewhere. Bacchus was likewise vagus AD. Such is almost certainly the meaning when he roamed the mountains with his of the Walbrook group; and it is on orgiastic train of Bacchants?". Vagi by such lines, in the present writer's itselfmight, then, be thought ofas applied view, that its enigmatic inscription­ to the Bacchic thiasos, to a group of Bac­ HOMINIBVSBAGISBITAM-is best chic initiates. But Bacchus and his train interpreted. The reading hominibus vagis were not homines; and the human Bacchi vitam, 'life to wandering men', undoubt­ and Bacchae, when abandoned to their edly makes sense'?", But when we ask orgiastic rites, ceased, for the time being, what precise sense we are to give to 'life' to be homines, since they impersonated, and 'wandering men' and what the and were assimiliated to, the god's divine 'understood' verb is, of which vitam is the companions. Yet homines in this inscrip­ object, then we are faced with a new set tion seems to stress the humanity and of problems to be solved. mortality of those who are vagi; and it is At first sight, vitam would seem to be hard to see how, in this context, mere men part of a well-known formula, an accla­ could be vagi in the literal sense. But if mation, in which those who use it wish vagi were used metaphorically of homines 'long life' to So-and-So, some such verb as 'strangers and pilgrims' in this world, as rogo (in the first or third person, singu­ who seek a safe harbour and eternal life lar or plural) being 'understood' as in the next world (the final goal of all governing vitam (sometimes abbreviated the mysteries) through Bacchic initiation, to vita in inscriptions). For instance, a and if da (addressed to Bacchus, depicted figured mosaic pavement in a set ofpublic in the sculpture) be supplied to govern baths at Thamugadi (Timgad) in Algeria vitam, then the text, as erected in the is inscribed Filadeljis vita(m), that is, 'Long Walbrook shrine, takes on a clear sig­ life to the Philadelphians' presumably the nificance: Bacchus, himselfa wanderer, is family, or religious guild, that earned the invoked on behalf of men who are citizens' gratitude by paying for the build­ vagrants in the spiritual sense. Admit­ 230 ing • Or, again, the imperative da may tedly we cannot produce any other be 'understood' with vitam, as in the first instance in an acclamation of vitam use of chapter ofthe Life ofthe Emperor Anton­ 'other-worldly' life. Yet scenes of Bacchic inus Diadumenus in the Augustan His­ jollification are, as we have seen, ubiqui­ tory--'Iuppiter optime maxime, Macrino et tous as allegories ofhappiness beyond the Antonino vitam (da)'. In these acclamations grave; and '(Bacchus, give eternal) life to The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras 63

wandering mortals' is an interpretation Because it is a surface analysis technique. to obtain analyses of the uncorroded metal it was necessary to clean a small area some supported grammatically by the passage 3-4mm in diameter with silicon carbide paper so as to remove in the Augustan History and in content the surface corrosion products, In addition, however, some analy­ ses on uncleaned surfaces were carried out to clarify points in the wholly in keeping with a Mithraic milieu, construction. but these results have to be treated with some since Bacchus was, like Mithras, giver of caution and were used only to make general comments about the type of metal allov investigated. Onlv full quantitative results on life and 'saviour' from death/". cleaned areas of the surface are given in Table 1. The errors in The artistic, social, and religious impli­ the analysis are (per cent absolute) approximately silver ±O.j per cent: copper, gold and lead: ±O.Oj per cent: and tin ±0.02 cations of the silver casket and strainer per cent. The casket and strainer were also examined (No. 16), in the context in which they rnetallographicallv using a binocular microscope at low magn­ came to light, and the problem of their ification and bv X-rav radiography. date have already been discussed at The Casket The analvses of the side and base of the casket are verv similar length in the Catalogue. to each o'ther (see Table I) and general examination u'nder the \Ve have now completed our survey of microscope suggests that the casket body is a single piece. The lid contains a lower percentage of copper than the body, but the the monuments of art found in or near the compositions of both are similar to each other and are very typical Walbrook temple; and it may with justice of Roman silver plate of this period/". Dendrites are clearly visible in the well-corroded surface and indicate that the casket be claimed that, as a synthesis of some and lid were cast virtually to their finished state, rather than of the most important facets of artistic, being worked from a sheet or ingot of silver. social, and religious life in Roman Britain, these works have played a major part in Table 1: Results ofanalysisby X-ray fluorescence ofthecomposition of the defining the historical importance of the metal of the casketand strainer (all results in weight per cent in the metal) site. They are, as a group, both unique %% % %% % of their kind in this province and also silver copper gold lead tin zinc deserving of a not insignificant place Casket: within the larger picture of Roman casket base 96.8 2.31 0.j7 0.19 0.10 0.01 imperial culture as a whole. casket side 96.2 2.j9 0.81 0.20 o.is 0.01 casket lid 97.3 1.20 0.95 0.48 0.04 0.00 Strainer: cylinder 96.6 2.10 0.67 0.46 0.11 0.01 V-piece 92.1 4.20 0.74 2.84 0.04 0.00

The design on the sides of the casket is very corroded and it is not easy to see how it was produced; however, since no tool marks APPENDIX I were visible and because of the comparative crudeness of the execution it is likely that the design was Cast in and the detail improved afterwards with a small amount of chasing. At many X-RAY FLlJORESCEXCE A~ALYSIS AND points on the surface a golden-coloured surface metal is present, .\IETALLOGRAPHIC EXAMI~ATIO~ OF and Xvrav fluorescence analysis on several areas confirmed that THE ROMAX SILVER CASKET AND it is gilding with no detectable trace of mercury in the gold, i.e. it has been applied bv the leaf-gilding technique rather than by STRAIXER FROM THE MITHRAEL'"M the use of a mercury amalgam (i.e. 'fire-gilding'). By M. Hughes and R. S. Lang, It was not possible to carry out a microsection test to determine J. J. whether working and annealing had taken place on the side of British Museum Research Laboratory the casket and the lid. but a small fragment of the base was examined metallographicallv and this showed irregularly shaped Introduction cast grains with some precipitation at the grain boundaries­ In order to try to answer a number of questions regarding the which would be due to precipitation of a second phase or to construction of the casket and strainer the items were subjected re-heating of the base, causing some dissolution at the grain to scientific examination. To obtain the composition of the metal boundaries. However, no twinned equiaxed grains, typical of parts the technique of X-ray' fluorescence spectrometry was used. worked and annealed metal, could be seen. Although the outer This technique has previously been applied to some hundreds of surface of the base has been removed by corrosion, the inner Roman silver items to obtain a comprehensive picture of the surface remains in good condition. The concentric lines forming composition of Roman silver plate (Hughes and Hall 1979). The a design on the base and the tool marks show that it was turned X-ray fluorescence system employed is based on the "lsoprobc' and polished on a lathe. There are three patches on the base described bv Hall. Schweizer and Toller"" although a higher where it was likely that feet were attached (PI. 29). The metal energy X-r~y' tube of 50KV maximum was used and this was was fairly bright and uncorroded, and analysis by X-ray fluoresc­ operated at 40KV so as to excite the K lines of silver and tin. ence at a number of points on these patches shows them to be of 64 J. M. C. Toynbee fairly pure silver which contains, however, some 2-3 per cent gilded and the base turned on a lathe, following some repair to lead, significantly higher than in the body metal of the casket a fault in the metal of the base and after casting the box virtually which only contains about 0.2 per cent lead (see Table I). It to its present shape. Traces of solder remain at three attachment seems that these patches represent the original silver surface points for feet (?) on the base. The strainer was turned on a lathe which has been better protected from corrosion than the rest of from sheet metal and the V-piece soldered into place. the outside of the casket by the presence of a layer of lead-rich solder, only traces of which now remain. Soft solders consisting of tin !lead alloys were often employed for joining the parts of 235 Roman silver plate . The turning-marks on the base cut through the three patches showing that they were part of the original surface and not metal added later. Radiography revealed that, as APPENDIX II expected, the metal was thicker at these points and also showed two adjacent oval-shaped areas (Oval I and Oval 2 in pl. 38), REPORT ON THE STONES FROM THE some 20mm X 7mm in size, through which the outer turned TEMPLE OF MITHRAS line passes. In structure they consist of columnar material, one showing a marked join down the middle. There are some cracks By the late S. E. Ellis, Department of Mineralogy, and holes around these fractures and a semi-quantitative X-ray British Museum (Natural History) fluorescence analysis (without cleaning) of Oval 1 showed it to be of much more debased silver, containing over 7 per cent Thin sections made from the stones have been compared with copper, than the main body metal of the canister which contains material in the collections of the British Museum (Xatural about 2 per cent copper. The other area, Oval 2, did not show History), the Geological Survey Museum, and with some in the such a high copper percentage but it did contain about 2 per cent British Museum and other collections. The fluorescence in ultra­ lead and over I per cent tcf 0.2 per cent lead and 0.15 per cent violet light (both long- and short-wave) of the chips from which tin in the main body metal- see Table I), i.e. it may have included sections were made was also studied by comparison with a series some soft solder. These two oval areas, in appearance and com­ of specimens in the British Museum (Xatural History). As a position, therefore seem to be ancient repairs to the base, made result, suggestions as to source can be made with a high degree by using a more debased silver alloy for one part and soft solder of probabilitv. All the marbles are probably Carrara statuary in another part. The precise details of the composition and marble (the Roman Marmor Lunense). The oolitic and pisolitic distribution of the two alloys could not, however, be elucidated limestones are probablv from the Cotswold Hills. in the examination. Details are as follows: Semiquantitative analyses of the hinge showed it to be of silver with about 6 per cent copper. The fact that it contains 1 per cent Sample Description Rock types and probablesources gold, together with its worn appearance under the microscope, No. confirms that it is an original part of the canister. :\0 analysis A. Metamorphic limestones was made of its solder, since it is clearly a modern solder repair (marble). Fine-grained rather than an ancient one. saccharoidal marbles with polygonal grains. The Strainer The cylindrical body of the strainer has clearly been raised and 1,2 Mithras (:'\0. 1) These stones are virtuallv then scraped and polished on a lathe: hammer marks and scraping 3. 4 Minerva (:'\0. 2) identical in appearance and can be seen under the microscope and a radiograph also showed 5.6 Serapis (:'\0. 3) texture. They are pure calcite them clearly. The holes in the perforated base have been made 7.8 Mercurv (:'\0. 4) marbles with a grain size from both sides. On the outside surface of the strainer there is at 9 Small t~rso (:'\0. 7) approximating to 200 microns, one point an irregular line running approximately' vertically up 10 Small torso (:'\0. 6) except for :'\0. 15, which is the side which seems to represent an overlap of metal over part 12 Bacchic group (:'\0. 15) finer-grained (100 microns). of the surface. However, analytical tests with semi-quantitative 15 Genius (:'\0. 9) Thev can be ma tched from the results failed to detect any composition anomalies in the metal 14 \I'ater deitv (:'\0. 8) Carrara district. Apuan Alps. anywhere near this line, so it does not seem to be a soldered joint, 21 Mithras Tauroctonos and resemble most of these also and may simply represent a slight crease in the metal at this relief (:'\0. 10) in their deep purple point, fluorescence in ultra-violet The Y-piece seems to have been soldered into place where the ligh t. On the other hand. they ends meet the body of the strainer, since 2.84 per cent lead was differ markedlv in these detected in the exposed end of one of the arms bv analvsis (Table respects from the available 1). While the strainer body is of very similar composition to that specimens of Pcntclic, Parian. of the casket (containing 2.10 per cent copper), the V-piece is of Chian and other Aegean more debased silver containing 4.2 per cent copper. The Y-piece marbles. Carrara must be shows striations, but it is not clear whether it is joined in any regarded as the most probablv way-the radiograph was featureless with no joins-although source. there is a discontinuity or crack on one arm close to the central B. Sedimentary limestones and junction. Semi-quarnitative X-ray fluorescence analysis of each cherts. Oolitic and pisolitic arm suggests that the three may be of different composition, limestones of Jurassic type. although the effects of surface corrosion could account for the 15. 16 Cautopates (:'\0. 12i (a) Pistolitic limestones with differences. 17 Draped arm (:'\0. Iii girvanella. 20 Dioscurus (:'\0. 13i (b) Shcllv. uneven-grained oolitic limestone. Summary A techni~:al examination has shown a close similarity in com­ position of the metal of the body of the casket and strainer, while Group B has been closelv matched with material from the the lid of the casket and Yvpiecc of the strainer han' compositions Inferior Oolite series of the mid-Cotswold region. between which are related but different to them. The casket body was Stroud and Cheltenham. Gloucestershire. Here the pisolitic The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras 65

limestones are characteristic, forming most of the 'Pea-Grit' p(raeses) / p(rovinciae) Ntumidiae} ex ptincipe pe/ regrinorum lootum solvit series at the base of the Inferior Oolite, which has been exten­ (A.D. 283-4). For further instances of the association of Minerva sively quarried for centuries. Somewhat similar rocks, also with Mithras, see Cumont, op. cit. (note 17), ii (1896), pp. 503-5, no. 239 bis (votive bronze axes dedicated to Minerva and other dei­ characterised by the calcareous alga Giruanella, are found in ties from the Mithraeum at Allmendingen in Switzerland); Verma­ some other districts along the Jurassic belt, notably in the seren CIMR.'v1 i (1956), p. 88, no. 112 (relief at Lepcis Magna in Corallian series of Somerset (e.g. at Keevil) and Dorset (e.g. at Tripolitania). Sturminster). It is possible that the stones could also be 19. G. Lippold, Die Skuipturen des iaticanisdun Museums iii, I (1936), pp. matched in these areas, but this has not actually been done. 135 ff., no. 544, 36; M. Bieber, The Sculptureof the HellenisticAge, 2nd Gloucestershire seems the most probable source. ed. (1961), pp. 83-4, fig. 296. For a very comprehensive and detai­ The specimens are bleached on the surface, perhaps due to led study of Serapis in art, see now \V. Hornbostel, Serapis: Studien cur Uberlieferungsgeschichte den Erscheinungsformen und Wandlungen der the action of humic acids, but internally show the character­ Gestalt eines Gottes (l973). cf. also B. Bergquist, 'A Head of Serapis", istic buff colour (due to iron staining) of the Cotswold stones. from The Gustaoianum Collection in Uppsala ii (1978), pp. 87-137. [Dr Ellis's report originally included analyses oj other (undecorated I 20. :\0. 676; Bieber, op. cit. (note 19), fig. 297. inscribed) stones Jrom the Mithraeum, but these have been excluded for 21. H. P. L'Orange, Apotheosisin Ancient Portraiture (194-7), p. 79. present purposes and will appear in the final report on the Mithraeum 22. C. Lafaye, Histoire du culte des diuinites d'Alexandrie (1884-), p. 250. excavations. ] 23. X. B., for example, the tetradrachm reverse-type of Ptolemy iv (221­ 204 Be): Hornbostel, op. cit. (note 19), fig. 68. 24. A. H. Smith, Catalogue of Sculptures in the British Museum iii (1904-), p. 5, no. 1527; M. Collignon, Histoire de la sculpture gregue ii (1897), p. "iOTES 309, fig. 158; G. Dickins, HellenisticSculpture (1920), fig. 12. 1. H. J. Plenderleith, The Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art: 25. For a valuable assemblage of examples of chis type, see L. Treatment, Repair and Restoration (1956), pp. 312-13, pI. 52. Castiglione in Bulletin du .Musie National Hongrois des Beaux Arts xii 2. Excellent examples of this practice occur, for instance, among the (1958), pp. 17-39 Roman portraits from the Athenian Agora, eg E. Harrison, The 26. The head from Oxyrhynchus in Egypt, with heavily drilled hair and AlhenianAgora, I: PortraitSculpture (1953), nos. 10 (pI. 8),11 (pis. 9, beard, plain eyes, and traces of three irregular locks on the brow, 10),17 (pI. 12),23 (pI. 16),35 (pI. 22), 36 (pI. 23), 51 (pI. 33), 52 never had a modius and could represent Zeus-Hades, although it has (pI. 34) = heads with tenons; nos. 56 (pis. 36, 37), 57, 58 (pI. been published as a Serapis of Hadrianic date (Jahrbuch des Deutschen 38) = bodies with cavities between the shoulders. Archiiologischen Instituts Ixxv (1960), pp. 88-99, fig. 1). 3. It is, however, possible that the hole was merely for a dowel needed 27. J. Overbeck, Die antikm Schriftquel!en zur Gescnichte der bildenen Kimste to steady the head, in view of its fairly sharp turn backwards, upon bei den Griechen (1868), pp. 253-4, no. 1325, quoting Clement of a stone or marble body. On the other hand, there is evidence which Alexandria. According to Clement, quoting Athenodorus, this Bry­ suggests that the cult-statue of Zeus, carved in the second half of the axis is to be distinguished from the famous Athenian fourth-century second century AD for the restored temple of Zeus at Cyrene, had sculptor of the same name; but Athenodorus puts the creation of the head and other flesh parts of white marble, drapery, hair and Sera pis image back into the time of the XIIth Dynasty king accessories of stucco: Papers of the British School at Rome xxvi (1958). Sesostris. Obviously, the whole passage is hopelessly confused. pp. 54-5. 28. Attributions for Brvaxis, e.g. Bieber, op. cit. (note 19), pp. 83-4; 4. The Walbrook head would seem to belong to Leroy Campbell's L'Orange, op. cit. (note 21), pp. 79,83, fig. 57. Since the head of the Tauroctonos subtype C ('Typology of Mithraic Tauroctones', Berytus Sera pis shows the dangling forelocks, the ivory in the form of a xi, 1 (1954), pp. 19-21), in which 'Mithras appears to be the double comucopiae surmounted by busts of Serapis and Isis, recently mediator and agent of a higher Will and the death of the bull, or the acquired by the Louvre, can hardly be as early as the second cen­ results of death, are emphasised'. This subtype, in which Mithras is tury BC, the period to which]. Charbonneaux assigns it ('Serapis et looking back and upwards over his right shoulder, is represented by Isis le double corne d'abondance', Hommages a Waldemar Deonna = the best examples of Mithraic sculpture. Campbell believes that it Collections Latomus xxviii (1957), pp. 131-41, pI. 25). Both the style was originally created by a Greek sculptor for a Greek-speaking and the technique of the piece would appear to fit a Roman-age dat­ Mithraic community in an eastern Mediterranean area. ing; and :Y1. Charbonneaux's reasons for connecting it in time with 5. Vermaseren, CIMRM i (1956), pp. 262-3, no. 736, figs. 203-4. Ptolemaic works of art are not in themselves convincing. Original 6. Ibid. i (1956), pp. 184-5, nos. 435-7, figs. 122-3. cult-image of Serapis, Tacitus Hist, iv, 83, 84; F. F. Schwarz; Xigra 7. Ibid. i (1956), p. 196, no. 479, fig. 132. Maiestas: Brvaxis-Serapis-Claudian Festschrift Erna Dier (1978), pp. 8. For another recent discussion of the origin of the Tauroctonos group, 189-210. pl. 67. see E. 'ViII, Le relief cultuelgreco-romain (1955), pp. 169 ff 29. Hornbostel, op. cit. (note 19), fig. 343; J. Y!. C. Toynbee, The Had­ 9. Portraits of Com modus: M. \Vegner, Die Herscherbildnisse der rianic Schoot (1934), pl. 23, fig. 4; R. S. Poole, Catalogue of the Coins oj antonischer Zeit (1939); of Septimius Severus: A. M. McCann, The Alexandria in the British Museum (1892), p. 157, no. 1298, pl. 13. PortraitsofSeptimius Severus (1968). 30. A. Rowe, Discovery of the Famous Temple and Enclosure of Serapis at 10. A Roman-age copy in the National Museum in Athens: G. M. A. Alexandria, Supplement aux Annales du Service des Antiquites de Richter, The Sculpture and Sculptors of the Greeks (1950), p. 550, figs l'Egypte. :\0. 2 (1946). 559.600; Toynbee, ARB, pI. 241. 31. Ibid., pp. 61-4. II. Wegner, op. cit. (note 9). pis. 53-4, fig. I. 32. Eusebius Hieronymus. Chronici Canones, ed. J. K. Fotheringham 12. Vermaseren, CIMRM, i (1956), p. 185. no. 441. (1923). p. 290, CCXL Olvmp' II: 'templum Sarapidis Alexandriae 13. E. Esperandieu, Recueil general des bas-reliefs, statues et busies de la Ger. incensum', manie romaine (1931), p. 98, no. 143, with fig.: Vermaseren, Cl/vtR.JI 33.]. Beaujeu, La religion romaine a IJapogee de I'empire i (1955), pp. 377 ii (1960), p. 67, no. 1086, fig. 278. The goddesses shown on the frag­ If.. 386 If. mentarv reliefs from the Mithraea at Dieburg (F. Behn, Das Mithra­ 34. The coins ranging from Trajan to Geta, which were found in cavities sheiligtum zu Dieburg (1928), pp. 34-5, no. 12, fig. 37) and Srockstadt at the four corners of the rock-cut cistern adjacent to the new Ser­ (F. Drexel, Das Kastel! Stockstadt, Obergermanisch-Raetisches Limes apeum. do not necessarily suggest. as Beaujeu (op. cit. (note 33), p. des Romerreiches xxxiii (1910), p. 88, no. 26, pI. 15, fig. 3) respect­ 232) believes them to do, [hat the temple itself was the work of ively may be, but are not certainly, representations of Minerva. For Caracalla: they only pron rhat the cistern was sunk in this period. a fragmentary relief of Minerva from the Gimmeldingen Mithraeum, 35. L'Orange, op. cit. (note 21). pp. 73-86. see F. Sprater, 'Mithrasdenkmaler von Gimmeldingen', Pfdleiscne 36. Smith, op. cit. (note 24), pp. 4-5, nos. 1525-6, fig. 2. For the laurel Heimatkunde xxii (1926).8/9, p. 3, fig. 5. and other plants as symbols of immortality, see F. Cumont, La stele 14. Rnue Archiologique ser. 6 i (1933). pp. 129-4. fig. 9. du danseur d'Antibes et son decor rigetal (1942), pp. 14-15. 15. Esperandieu, op. cit. (note 13), pp. 131-3, no. 200, fig. on p. 132. 37. A similar circlet, but without holes for rays, is worn by a Serapis 16. G. Becatti, Scaoi di Ostia, ii: I mitrei (1954), p. 98. head found in 1947 at Vechten (Fectio) in Holland and now in the 17. F. Cumont, Textes et monuments figures relatifs aux mvstires de Mithm ii Utrecht Museum. This is a striking provincial work, carved in stone, (1896). pp. 336-7. fig. 213. with drilled eyes. severelv patterned hair and beard. and no less 18. Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (= CIL) viii. 4-578: Vermaseren, than seven forelocks dangling rigidly over the brow. The medius is CIMR.i.H i (1956), p. 94, no. 140: Ioui cptimotmaximo Iunol ni reginae broken off. leaving traces of itself in a flattened circular surface at A/in/ eroae sanctae / Soli Mithrae/ Herculi Mar / ti Mercurio /genic loci di/ is the centre of the crown tOud-Ltrecht(19561. pp. 28-36). deabusque / omnibus lit!/arcus Aureli/ us Decimus rtir] p(erfectissimus} 38. P. Paris. 'Restes du culte de Mithra en Espagne. Revue Atchiologique, 66 J. M. C. Toynbee

ser. 4. xxiv (1914J. 2. pp. 11-13. no. II. fig. 9; A. Garda y Bellido, 67. Vermaseren, CI.lfR.lf, i (1956). p. 325. no. 966, fig. 236. £1 culto a .\fithras en fa Peninsula Iberica (1948). pp. 68-70. no. 15. fig. 68. Brunn-Bruckmann, Antike Denkmaier (1895), pI. 196; W. Amelung, 20: Vermaseren. CIJIRJI. i (19561. p. 274. no. 783. fig. 215. Die Srulpturen des Vaticanischen ,lfuseums, i, I (1903), pp. 124-34. 39. ~1. J. Vermaseren and C. C. van Essen. The Excavation in the 69. Bruun-Bruckmann, op. cit. (note 68), pl. 197. .\fithraeum of the Church of Santa Prism in Rome (1965). pl. 107. 70. H. Stuart Jones (ed.), The Sculptures of the Museo Capitoline (1912). p. 40. Ibid.• pis. 104-5. 21, no. I. pI. I. 41. Ibid.• pis. 18. fig. I; 19. 71. E.g. H. Mattingly, Coins of the Roman Empire in the British ,iWuseum iii 42. Ibid.• pp. 131. 136. (1936), pIs. 63, nos. 51-20; 64, nos. 1,2; 95, nos. 9-15. 43. ~L C. Rostovtzeff et al. (eds}, The Excavations at Dura-Europos: Pre­ 72. E.g. ibid. iv (1940), pIs. 31, no. I; 33, no. 3. liminal)' Report of the Seventh and Eighth Seasons of ~rork, 1933-4 and 73. E.g. ibid. iii (1936), pI. 49, nos. 15-17. 1934-5 (1939). pis. 29. fig. 2; 30; Vermaseren, CIMRM, i (1956), pp. 74. Cf the dedication fonti perenni from the Aquincum Mithraeum: Ver­ 63-5, no. 40. fig. 15. C] also the marble Mithras Tauroctonos relief maseren, CIMRM, ii (1960), p. 230, no. 1753: fontilpermnilM at Bologna: ibid., pp. 252-3, no. 693, fig. 195. Ant(onius)/Victori/nus dec(urio)/col(oniae) Aq(uirui) aed(ilis); The same 44. Vermaseren and van Essen, op. cit. (note 39). p. 136. dedicator set up two other altars in the Mithraeum, deo Cauti and deo 45, A fine. if somewhat battered Portland stone head of Serapis, 317mm Cautopati respectively (ibid., nos. 1751, 1752). (12tin) high. with four dangling forelocks and a flattening on the 75. Behn. op. cit. (note 13), pI. 2; Vermaseren, CI,HR.H, ii (1960), pp. crown of the head to receive a now vanished medius. was discovered 104-6, no. 1247, fig. 324. in a garden in the modern village of Silchester (G. C. Boon, Roman 76. Vermaseren, CIMRM, ii (1960), pp. 159-61, no. 1430, fig. 366. Silchester. 2nd ed. (1974), pp. 166-7, pI. 18; Tovnbee, ARB, pI. 243). 77. Ibid., pp. 64-6, no. 1083, fig. 274. The sculpture, presumably the work of a good continental carver 78. Ibid., pp. 76-7, no. 1127, fig. 293. using a British medium, obviously came from Roman Calleva Atre­ 79. Ibid., i (1956), p. 245, no. 666, figs. 189, 190. batum: but whether from a Serapaeum or from a Mithraeum, or 80. Ibid., ii (1960), pp. 172-3, no. 1472, fig. 375. CJ also the reclining from the temple of some ocher deity, we cannot telL bearded personage in the upper right-hand corner of a fragmentary 46. The present writer is greatly indebted to ~Ir Xorman Cook, formerly relief from Heddernheim: F. Cumonr, op. cit., (note 17), ii (1896), p. of the Guildhall Museum, for help with the elucidation of this puz­ 379, fig. 293. zling detail. 81. Vermaseren, CIMRM, ii (1960), p. 366, no. 2310, fig. 640. 47. Richter, op. cit. (note 10), pp. 61, 294, fig. 72; Bieber, op. cit. (note 82. Ibid., i (1956), p. 196, no. 478, fig. 131; Vermaseren and van Essen, op. 19), pp. 41-2, figs. 106--ll; if. ibid., p. 41, fig. 109 for a variation on cit. (note 39), pis. 18, fig. I; 19. the same scheme, a bronze statuette of Hermes in the Loeb 83. Paris, op. cit. (note 38), pp. 8-9, no. 8, fig. 6; Garcia Y Bellido, op, cit. Collection. (note 38), pp. 58-61, no. 6, fig. 12; Vermaseren, CIMRM, i (1956), p. 48. Bieber, op. cit. (note 19), p. 42, figs. 110-11. 273, no. 778, fig. 212. 49. E. G. Vermaseren, CIMRM, i (1956), p. 123, no. 241; p. 138, no. 84. C(aius) Acc(ius) Hedychrus/p(ater) patrum. 288; p. 249, no. 677; p. 253, no. 693, fig. 195. 85. Archaeoiogia lx, I (1906), p. 48. 50. Paris, op. cit. (note 38), pp. 9-11, no. 9, fig. 7; Garcia Y Bellido, op. 86. Ibid., p. 45; JRS ii (1912), p. 152; LRT, p. 45. cit. (note 38), pp. 61-3, no. 7, fig. 13; Vermaseren, CL.HRJ.H, i 87. E.g. the altar at Corinium (Cirencester) inscribed G(enio) s(ancto) huius (1956), p. 274, no. 780, fig. 213. loc(i): R. P. \Vright, The Roman Inscriptionsof Britain (1965), no. 102. See 51. Ann(o) coltoniae) CLXXXt meicto deo .Hithrae/ sacr(um)ICtoius} Accius now also H. Kunckel, Der romische Genius (1974). Hedychrus /pater/a(nimo) ttibmte) plosuit). 88. See the references cited in the bibliography for this section. 52. Behn, op. cit. (note 13), pp. 32-4, nos. 8, 9, figs. 33-4. 89. E.g. Mattingly, op. cit. (note 71), ii (1930), pI. 46, no. 18 (Titus); 53. Vermaseren, CI.lfR.lf, i (1956), p. 324, no. 966D, fig. 236. CJ Mer­ iv (1940), pI. 25, no. 14 (Antoninus Pius); pl. 32, no. 16 (Antoninus cury's appearance in a group of Olympians on a fragmentary Tau­ Pius). roctonos relief from Siscia in Pannonia: F. Cumont, op. cit. (note 17), 90. Cf a plaque of opaque blue glass, of unknown provenance, in the ii (1896), p. 326, no. 221, fig. 193. Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities in the British Museum: 54. Vermaseren, CIMRM, ii (1960), p. 68, no. 1089, fig. 281. it bears the inscription BOXO EVENTVI and shows a youth naked, 55. Ibid., p. 126, no. 1317, fig. 349. but for a light cloak thrown round his shoulders, holding a patera in his 56. In the representations of Mirhras' birth from the rock, the blade of right hand and a bunch of corn-ears and poppies in his left hand (D. his knife invariably points upwards: e.g. Veramseren, CL.HRM, i. B. Harden, Masterpieces oj Glass (1968), p. 47, no. 55, with fig.). The (1956), fig. 100. antiquity of this plaque has, however, been questioned Uournal of the 57. G. Becatti, op. cit. (note 16), p. 32 If., pIs. 4, figs. 1-3; 27-30: for the Warburgand CourtauldInstitutes xxv (1962), pp. 335-7. Cf Fasti Archae­ hole in the marble knife-hilt. For the metal blades, ibid., p. 33. ologici xviii/xix (1968), no. 1497, where it is declared to be painted 58. Cf the isolated dagger in mosaic on the floor, near the entrance, of limestone). the Mithraeum of the Seven Spheres at Ostia: Vermaseren, 91. The Genius represented on the Corinium altar (see note 87) wears a CIMRM, i (1956), p. 122, no. 240, figs. 71, 72. medius girt, apparently, by rays, is half-draped, and holds a cornucopias 59. As is suggested in Antiquity and Survival i (1955), p. 17. in his left hand and a patera over an altar in his right hand; the legs 60. Vermaseren, CIMRM, i (1956), p. 196, no. 478. and feet have been destroyed: Transactions of the Bristol and Cloucestershire 61. In this connection the over life-sized hand found in the Mithraeum Archaeological Society Ix (1939), pI. 10, no. 17. at Sarrebourg (ibid., p. 326, no. 975) is interesting: but there is, of 92. See notes 87 and 94. course, no evidence that it belonged to Mithras Tauroctonos. 93. Behn, op, cit. (note 13), pp. 31-2, nos. 6, 7, figs. 31, 32; Vermaseren, 62. The present writer's attention was called to this bust by Mr Ralph CIMRM, ii (1960), pp. 107-8, nos. 1253, 1255, figs. 328, 330.:\To snake Merrifield, then of the Museum of London. is associated with either figure. 63. K. Michalowski, Palmyre: fouilles polonaises 1963-4 (1966), pp. 19-22, 94. D(eo) i(nvicto) M(ithrae)/Priscinus SeduliuslPrimulus fratris [sic] v(otum) fig. 13: 80-2, fig. 31. CJ Syria xiv (1933), p. 267, fig. 7: cippus, with s(olverunt) l(aeti) l(ibentes) m(erito). right hand holding thunderbolt above four animals; D. 95. Vermaseren, CIMRM, ii (1960), p. 196. nos. 1591, fig. 407. :\To snake Schlumberger, La Palmytine du Nord-Ouest (1951), p. 51, pI. 24: altar, is associated with this figure. with right hand holding thunderbolt; Syria xxvi (1949), p. 33, pI. I, 96. Archaeologia Ix, I (1906), p. 48. fig. 6: slab, ex-veto to Baalshamin, dated A.D. 228, with right hand 97. See]. R. Hinnells, Mitiuaic Studies ii (1975), pp. 293-300. holding three corn-ears. Cf also H. J \V. Drijvers, The Religion of 98. Vermaseren, CIMRM, i (1956), pp. 253-4, no. 695, fig. 1197. Palmyra (1976), pl. xxvi, 2. It may be noted that a colossal marble 99. Ibid., pp. 298-9, no. 860, fig. 226. hand and thumb (whether right or left is not stated) were found in a 100. Ibid., pp. 327-8, no. 985, fig. 237. Here Mithras appears to be making Mithraic context at Vien-en-Val-Romev (Venetonimagus) in the the zodiac revolve: if Claudian, De consulatu Stilichonis i, 63: 'vaga. upper Rhone Valley: they are now unfortunately lost (R. Turcan, volventem sidera Mithram'. Les religions de l'Asie dans la uallee du RhOne (1972), p. 6, 13, no. 3): cf. 10l. Esperandieu, op. cit. (note 13), p. 107, no. 159, with fig; Vermaseren, Vermaseren, CIMRM, i (1956), p. 314, no. 913. CIMRM, ii (1960), pp. 77-9, no. 1128, fig. 294. 64. See for instance. Annuario della Scuola Archeologica di Atene e delle Mis­ 102. Esperandieu, op. cit. (note 13), p. 58, no. 88, with fig.; Vermaseren, sioni Ltaliane in Oriente xxiv-xxvi (1950), pp. 181 ff., figs. I, 2, 5., 6, CIMRM, ii (1960), p. 58, no. 1054. II, 12, 13, 14, 15. 103. Cumont, op. cit. (note 17), ii (1896), p. 293, no. 165, fig. 148. Two 65. Vermaseren and van Essen, op. cit. (note 39), pI. 88. fragments of a relief from the same site show the bull-slaying scene 66. According to information received by the present writer from Dr framed by a wreath and, outside that, by a circular frieze containing Vermaseren, this marble may have been thrown into the site as rub­ episodes from Mithraa' life: ibid., p. 301, no. 176, fig. 158; Vermaseren, bish, when the fourth-century Christians filled up the temple. CIMRM, ii (1960), pp. 302-3, nos. 2042, 2044, fig..\38. Cf the circular The Roman art treasures from the Temple of Mithras 67

marble plate from Savkeszi in Pannonia: ibid., pp. 242-3, no. 1815, fig. 134. Saxl, op. cit. (note 132), pI. 21, fig. 113; Tudor, op. cit. (note 128), pI. 469. 57, no. 113. A marble rectangular plaque found at Ptuj (Pettau) again 104. Ibid.. p. 275, no. 1926, fig. 503. Ibid., pp. 238, no. 1799, fig. 466 shows depicts three zones of decoration: above, the Goddess standing behind a scene within a laurel-wreath that does not seem to depict the bull­ a three-legged table and flanked by two busts and two Riders; in the slaying. centre, a narrow frieze containing a lion (?), a vase, and a fish; below, 105. Recue Archiologique(1933) i, pp. 185-90, no. 5, figs. 3-7; Vermaseren, a row of five standing human figures: Tudor, op, cit. (note 128), pl. 71, CIMRM, ii (1960), pp. 339-40, no. 2202, fig. 608. no. 155. 106. Germania xix (933), pp. 25-6, no. 3, pI. 2, fig. 2; Vermaseren, CIlIIRM, 135. Saxl, op. cit. (note 132), pI. 21, fig. 114; Tudor, op. cil. (note 128), pI. ii (1960), p. 349, no. 2241, fig. 618. 13; no. 27. 107. Cumont, op, cit. (note 17), p. 326, no. 221, fig. 193; Vermaseren, 136. cfJRS xlvii (1957), p. 262. The scene on some plaques ofa kneeling man CIMRM, ii (1960), pp. 173-4, no. 1475, fig. 377. Cf also a fragment screened by a ram's skin upheld by two companions and interpreted by of unknown provenance in the Xational Museum in Budapest; Cumont, Tudor as a symbolic death, is more likely to represent the com­ op. cit. (note 17), p. 323, no. 215. fig. 189. munication of some mystic secret to an initiate. 108. Berytus xi, I (1954), pl. 5, fig. 2; Vermaseren, CIMRM, ii (1960), pp. 137. There a lion and a dog often combine in the slaying of the boar, wild 256-7, no. 1861, fig. 477. ox, etc. that the Rider-god is hunting. 109. Esperandieu, op. cit. (note 13), p. 183, no. 283, with fig. : Vermaseren. 138.Essays in the History oj Religion (1954), p. 93 and n. 70. CIMRM, ii (1960), p. 87, no. 1161, fig. 306. 139. F. Cumont, Thelv/)'Steries of Mithra, English translation by T. J. McCor­ lID.Cumonr, op, cit. (note 17), p. 325, no. 220, fig. 192; Vermaseren, mack (1903), p. 124, fig. 28. CIMRM, ii (1960), pp. 172-3, no. 1472, fig. 375. On the Mithras 140. C. W. King, Antique Gems (1860), p. 359, with fig.; Cumont, op. cit. Tauroctonos relief from the Sidon Mithraeum (A. de Ridder, Collection (note 139), p. 185, fig. 42 (wrongly described in caption). Clercq iv (1906), no. 46, pl. 19) the zodiac signs encircle the central 141. Chapouthier, op. cit. (note 128), p. 287, fig. 56. cf also for gem renderings scene, but they are not confined within a rigid medallion-border. The of the Danubian Riders, Tudor, op. cit. (note 128), nos. 187-8, 189-94, circular medallion-frame surrounding the bull-slaying scene on a relief 199, 228. from Kiistendil in Bulgaria (Archaologischer Anzeiger (1929), cols. 317, 142. For the view that these marble reliefs depicting the Rider-gods were 321-2, no. 4, fig. 29) is too much worn for its contents, whether laurel­ based on the metallic plaques which mainly served as amulets and wreath or zodiac signs, to be distinguished. A relief from Kadin-Most domestic prophylactics, see Will, op. cit. (note 8), p. 31. It is, indeed, in Moesia displays the scene within a narrow, plain, circular border not unlikely that the Walbrook roundel was in private hands before tBerytus xi, 1 (1954), pl. 5, fig. I). These circular scenes are classified being dedicated in the temple, since no shrines specifically set apart for by LeRoy Cambell in his 'Typology of Mithraic Tauroctones' as Type the cult of the Danubian Riders have so far come to light (ibid.). V, 'Upper Moesian' (ibid., p. 13). 143. A Mithraic sculpture certainly designed for such back-lighting is the Ill. See note 98. altar from the Carrawburgh Mithraeum dedicated by the military 112. See note 100. prefect Marcus Simplicius Simplex: this is carved in relief on the front 113. Vermaseren, CIMRM, i (1956), p. 157, nos. 339, 340, fig. 97: the with a half-figure of Mithras crowned with rays, which are perforated inscription reads:- Cn(aeus) Arrius Claudianuslpaterposuit. in such a way that the light from a lamp, placed in a receptacle at the 114. Cumont, op. cit. (note 17), pI. 5. back of the stone, might shine through them (Richmond and Gillam, 115. Ibid., pI. 7. op. cit. (note 122), pp. 37-8, pis. IIA, 12B). Similar reliefs of the head 116. Vermaseren, CIMRM, i (1956), pp. 323-5, no. 966, fig. 236. of Mithras or Sol with pierced rays have come to light in the Baths of 117. Described as 'coarse marble' in LRT, p. 46. Caracalla Mithraeum (Vermaseren, CL\1RJl, i (1956), P: 189, no. 458, 118.Archaeologia Ix, I (1906), p. 47. fig. 126) and in the Santa Prisca Mirhraeum on the Aventine (Bullettino 119. From inscriptions it would appear that typus was the Latin word used della Commissione Archeologica Communale di Roma lxviii (I940), p. 70, fig. for Mithraic reliefs of this kind, whether they were private ex-votos, as 7). There is also a small marble bust of Mithras-Sol wearing a diadem in the case of Ulpius Silvanus' dedication, or cult-images: e.g. the with five perforations from Sarmizegetusa in Dacia (Vermaseren, marble relief from the Palazzo dei Musei di Roma Mithraeum: DeoSoli CIMRM, ii (1960), p. 307, no. 2053, fig. 544). The Housesteads relief Imiicto Mithrae Ti. Cl. Hermes ob votum dei typum d.d.: Vermaseren, of Mirhras' birth from an egg, with the background cut out within the CIMRM, i (1956), p. 184, nos. 435, 436, fig. 122 (bull-slaying scene, zodiac frame, may have been lighted from behind. But the nearest ex-vote); marble relief from Strasbourg-Koenigshoffen: in h.d.d. I Mithraic object to the tvalbrook group in this respect is a relief at Mytrael ...us M Dil...us typumla solo V: RevueArchiologique (1950), i, p. Palermo, which shows the Mithras Tauroctonos scene being enacted 67 (bull-slaying scene, cult-image). See Will, op. cit. (note 8), p. 48. beneath a rocky arch, but without a background (ibid., i (1956), p. 101, 120. Vermaseren, CIMRM, i (1956), p. 164, no. 370, fig. 107. no. 164, fig. 46). 121. Jugoslavia for September 1953. 144. Times 12/10/54. 122. I. A. Richmond and J. P. Gillam, The Templeof Mithras at Carrawburgh 145. Information from Miss Joyce Reynolds of Xewnham College, (1951), pp. 14,32, and figs. 3,4,5,7. Cambridge. 123. Bullettinodella Commissions Archeologica Communale di Roma Ixviii (1940), 146. A. von Domaszewski, Die Religiondes tomischen Heeres (1895), pI. 3, fig. p. 63, fig. 3; p. 65, fig. 4; p. 66, fig. 5. 4, p. 54 and n. 229. 124. F. Cumont, Recherches sur lesymbolismefuniraire desRemains(1942), p. 92, 147. RevueArchiologique (1958) i, pp. 38-40, fig. 4. fig. I I. 148. As, for instance, on another Danubian relief, from Sistov and now in 125. Bulleuino della Commissione Archeologica Communale di Roma lxiii (1935), the Xational Museum in Sofia, which shows another variant of the pp. 152-3, no. 17, fig. 9. same group-Bacchus clutching a snake and upheld by a Satyr, with 126. Archaeologia Aeliana ser. 4, xxi (1943), pp. 186-7, pl. 7, 1. Pan and Silenus on his ass (Saxl, op. cit. (note 132), fig. 4). 127. In the Vienne Museum: S. Reinach, Repertoire de reliefsgrecset remainsii 149. A. N. Zadoks-Josephus-Jitta in Bulletin ~'an de Vereeniging tot Beiordering (1912), p. 308, fig. 2; other Mithraic objects, since lost, were found with derKmnis van deantiekeBeschaving xxxvii (1962), pp. 61-8, figs. 1, 2; O. this relief. Doppelfeld (ed.), Romer am Rhein (1967), p. 318, no. HI, colour­ D. Tudor, Corpus Monumentorum ReligionisEquitumDonsrinorumi. (1969), reproduction on cover. For Bacchus in a funerary context, see note 232. ii (1976). cf also two fragmentary marble groups with the same Bacchic theme 128. For a general treatment of the subject of Rider-gods, see F. Chapouthier, in Romania, from Apulum (AlbaJulia) and Tomis (Constanta) respect­ Les Dioscures au service d'une deesse (1935); G. I. Kazarow, Die Denkmiiler ively: they are carved partly in relief and partly in the round, with the des thrakischen Reitergottes in Bulgarien (1938); Will, op, cit. (note 8). background between the main portions cut away (0. Doppelfeld (ed.), 129. C. Picard, Collections Latomus, ii, Hommages aJoseph Birds; et a Franz Romerin Rumonien (1969), nos. FI 15, pl. 61; Fl I 7, pl. 60). Cumont (1949), pp. 257-64, pI. 16; Revue Archiologique ser. 6, xxxvii 150. Loc. cit. (note 146). (1951i, pp. 231-3, fig. II. 151. Mistakes in proportion and shoddy craftsmanship are, of course, found 130. D. Schlumberger, op. cit. (note 63), p. 56, no. 18, pI. 22, fig. I. in some late second-century architectural sculptures, for instance in 131. E.g. Chapouthier, op. cit. (note 128), pp. 23-5, no. 2, pI. 1 {Telmessos those on the Marcus Column. But 'cabinet-pieces' of the category to in Pisidia): pp. 29-30, no. 7, pI. 4 (Thasos); p. 38, no. 16, pI. 7 (Istanos which the \\'albrook group belongs were governed by different in Lvcaonia]; pp. 74-5, no. 67, with fig. (Mosvna in Phrvgia). Cf. pp. standards; and it is hard to believe that the defects of this marble would 75-7, no. 68, pl. 13, an Ephesian coin ofCaracalla and Geta, shoe.... ing have been tolerated in a second-century marble-carver's studio, even the Ephesian Artemis flanked bv two Riders. in a province. The amber group from Xorth Brabant may be dated to 132. F. Saxl, Mithras (1930). pI. 10, fig. 60: Tudor, op. cit. (note 128), pl. 64, (he first half of the third century. no. 135. 152..\ Xilotic mosaic in the Xaples Xational Museum shows a similar 133. Saxl, op. cit. (note 132), pl . 21, fig. 115: Tudor, op. cit. (uote 128), pl. confrontation of ichneumon and snake: G. E. Rizzo, La pitturaellenistico­ 63, no. 132. romana (1929). pI. 187. b. 68 ]. M. C. Toynbee

153.JRS Ii 11961\. p. 195. no. 10. 185. Rostoftzeff (ed.). oo. (it. (note 431. pis. 14. IS; Vermaseren, CIJJRJf, i 154-. Y. Ondrouch. Recent Findsfrom Roman Tomb, in SlomA-ia (1957), p. 14-8. (1956), pp. 68. 69. no. 52. fig. 24. A lion and a snake accompany the no. 10. fig. 34-: p. 24-6. pi. 35, fig. 3. The present writer owes (his god. who is charging five wild animals. Hunting scenes also appear on reference to Mrs A. Cavendish. fragments of an epistvle (now in the Salzburg Museum) from the 155. De antra nvmphorum 15: F. Cumont. op. cit, (note 17L ii (1896\. p. 40. Mithraic sanctuary found near Schloss Moosham in Lnrernberg i. 156. The present writer owes this suggestion co Xlr R. Xlerrifield. formerly Lungau (Salzburger '\[useum CarolinoAugUJ·teum: jahrtJ"JChri[t (1956). pp. of the Museum of London. 237. 238. pl. 13). 157. G. Brett. W. J. Macaulev. R. B. K. Stevenson, The Great Palace of the 186. Ardiaeologia xc (19-14). pp. 121. 122. fig. 20. no. I; Tovnbee, ARB. p. Bveantine Emperorsi (194-7), For scenes of hunting and animal combats, 190. no. 157. pl. 190. s~e pis. 28. 33. 36-9. -11-5. 187. Brailsford. op. cit. (note 168). p. 23. 158. D. Levi. Antioch .\/osaic Pavements(1947). i. p. 324, fig. 136; ii, pIs. 77-8. 188. Vermaseren, CI.\fR.I1, I. (1956). pp. 272-6, nos. 772-90, figs. 208-16. ~59.lbid.. i. pp. 358-9. fig. 14-8:ii. pl. 86. a: G. :\1. A. Richter. Catalogue of 189. Ibid.. p. 272. no. 77-1. Greek and Roman Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection (19561. pp. 190. E.g. relief of Mithras Tauroctonos. dedicated by Appius Claudius 62-3. no. H. pl. 25. b. Tarronius Dexter. in the Xaples Museum (Cumont, op. cit. (note 17l. 160. Levi, op. cit. (note 158): i. pp, 363-5. figs. 150-I: ii , pI. 86, b. il (1896). pp. 2-19-50. no. 93. fig. 85; Vermaseren, CI.I1R.I1. i (1956). 161. From the verv considerable bodv of literature that Piazza Armerina pp. 103-4. nos. 174-.1. fig. 49); statues of Mithras Tauroctonos. Aion has already inspired. the following items may be cited here: G. Y. and Hecate dedicated by Flavius Gerontios, from the Sidon Mithraeum Gentili (a) La villa romana di Piaera Armerina, Itinerari dei Musei e (A.. de Ridder, op. cit. (note 110). nos. 47, 49, 54; cf E. Will in ~}'ria Monumenti d'Italia :\0. 87. 1st ed. (1951); (b) ibid.• 4th ed. (1960); (e) xxvii (1950). pp. 261-9; Vermaseren, CIJJRJJ, i (1956). pp. 73-6, nos. 'I mosaici della villa romana del casale di Piazza Armerina' in Bollettino 76. 78. 79, 84. 85. figs. 27. 29a, 29b; but for a different dating of the d'Arte xxxvii. ser. -I. I (1952), pp. 33--16. figs. 1-24, pl. 1; (d) La ulla Sidon sculptures. see Berytus xi (1954), p. 26. n. 1). etculia di Piazza Armerina: i mosaicifigurati (1959); H. Kahler, Die Villa 191; Vermaseren, CI"I1RM. I (1956). pp. 151-221, nos. 327-583. figs. 91­ desXlaxentiusbeiPiazza Armerina, Monurnenta Artis Romanae xii (1973); 160. B. Pace, I mosaicidi Piaeeo A.rmerina (1955). 192. Ibid.• pp. 114-48. nos. 216-326. figs. 69-90; G. Becatti, op, cit. (note 162. E.g. Gentili. op. cit, (note 161): (a). figs. 16-20; (b), figs. 17-21: (c). pl. 16). I. b; Pace. op. cit. (note 161). pl. 10, figs. 19.22. 193. See note 188. 163. For such cages or boxes as traps, see]. Avmard, Essai sur les chasses 194. Vermaseren, CI,HR.H, i (1956), pp. 93-4, nos. 134-7; M. Leglav, romaines (19511, pp. 450-5, pls. 3, a; 32. Acadimie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres: Comptes Rendus (1954), pp. 269­ 164. Pace. op. cit. {note lfil ). fig. 19; cf. Avmard. op. cit. (note 163). pI. 7, a. 77. 165. Gentili. op. cit. (note 161): p. 39, fig. 14. 195. For the importance of commercial routes for the diffusion oD..Iithraism, 166. Oentili. op, cit. (note 161): fig. 21; (c). p. -II; fig. 16; (d), pl. 25. see wm, op. cit. (note B), pp. 395-6. 167. Oentili. op, cit, (note 161): (a). fig. 16; (b). fig. 17. 196. H. Dessau, Inscriptiones Latinae Selectee (= lLS) 659: Carnuntum: Dio­ 168.]. \\'. Brailsford, The .\fiLdenhall Treasure: a Handbook, 2nd ed. (1955). cletian and his colleagues restored [he shrine of Mithras as 'supporter 169. Ibid.. pp. 5-6. no. I; pl. I; of their Empire' (d(eo) S(oLi) i {niicto] AI(ithrae)/fautari imperii sui! [ouii et 170. Ibid.• pp. 6-7. nos. 2. 3, pl. 2, a. HercuLii 1religiosissimi1Augusti et Caesares1sacrarium1restituerunt), 171;Ibid., P: 9. no. 6. pl. 2. b. 197. It is, of course, well known that in Rome, for instance. the colonnades 172. Ibid.• pp. 9-11. nos. 7-10. pI. 4. of most of the very early' churches are composed of ancient columns 173. Similar trees appear in hunting scenes in a frieze on a Roman bronze filched from pagan temples, basilicas, etc. bucket found in Holland: :\1. H. P. de Boesterd. Description of the 198. Richmond and Gillam, op. cit. (note 122), pp. -12-3. Collections in the Rijksmuseum G..\1. Kam at Xijmegen, v: The Bronze Vessels 199. Archaeologia AeLiana ser. I, j (18B2), pp. 263-320; ser. 2, xxv (1904). pp. (1956), pp. -15-5. no. 146. pl. 1-1. 255-63. 174. Brailsford. op. cit, (note 168). pp. 16. 17. 200. Vermaseren, CLHR.H, i, (1956), p. 193. 175. E.g. items from the Scottish Traprain Law and Roman Esquiline 201. Ibid.• p. 327. treasures (see notes 178. 179). 202. Behn, op. cit. (note 13), pp. 7. 8. 176.JRS xlv (1955). p. 138. 203. Les mystires de Mithra, 3rd ed. (1913). 177. See note 16B. 204. American journal ofArchaeoLog)llx (1956), p. 315. 178..-\. O. Curle, The Treasure of Traprain: a Scottish Hoard of Roman Siher 205. Manchester Guardian 27/10/54. 119231. 206. C1 the Greek inscription found at the foot of the Aventine in Rome and 179. O. ~1. Dahan, CataLogue ofEarly ChristianAntiquities in the British .tfuseum now in the Museo Capltolino: dll 'H),[iJ

sculptures, see pp. 90-1, nos. 17-19 and Vermaseren, CIlvtRl'4, i (1956), 220.]' Brent, Canterbury in the OLden Time (1897), pp. 48-9, pI. 3; Victoria pp. 237-8, nos. 635-7, figs 176-8. For the cippus inscribed DEO SOLI CountyHistory, Kent iii (1932), p. 79. E:-\VICTO [sic] YlITHRE/CAVTOPATI and D(eo) S(oli) E(nvicto) 221. S. Abdul-Hak, 'Rapport preliminaire sur les objets provenant de la M(ithre) etc., see Annibaldi, op. cit., p. 99, no. 56 and Vermaseren, necropole romaine situee a proximite de Xawa (Hauran}', Anna/es CI.lvfRM, i (1956), p. 238, no. 639, The deities, other than Zeus Bronton arduologioues de Syrie iv-v (l954~';5), p. 185, pl. 9, fig. 17. and Mithras, depicted in this sanctuary included Hercules (Annibaldi, 222. E.g. CIL vi, 574 (Rome): inoicto deoSorapidi; ClL xi, 5738 (Sentinum): op. cit., pp.78-81, 95, nos. 3,4,24, figs. 3,4,17); Aesculapius (ibid., Ioui Soli inoicto Serapidi;.Yoti;;.ie degli Scad (1912), pp. 322-3 (Baths of p. 81, nos. 5, 6, fig. 5); the Dioscuri (ibid., pp. 81-2, no. 7, fig. 6); Caracalla in Roma: 'El~ZEv~ Mttoa; (= a later correction for an Bacchus (?) (ibid., Pp- 82-3, no. 8, fig. 7); the Ephesian Artemis (ibid., original Etrpexm~) f/HALO~ KOGflOKptITwP aVElKTJTO~ I L1fL pp. 84-6, no. 9, figs 8, 9); Hygieia (ibid., p. 86, no. 10, fig. 10); Minerva 'HAI:;rt6L awrr,pL ;rAovTOIi6rpi;r~K6