London Mithraeum

A emeritus was a time-expired soldier, equivalent to veteranus.Arausio: Colonia Iulia Secundanorum, founded by Julius Caesar with veterans of the Second Legion.factus: interpreted by Mommsen as ‘made a veteran’, but the usual word would be missus. It has also been taken to mean ‘initiated’ into some Mithraic grade, but, if this were so, the grade should be mentioned. miles factus with the consular date is used by vigiles (ILS 2163), and by legionary veterans (ILS 2300, 2301, Apulum, Dacia), of their original enrolment. The London inscription mentions Arausio with no other details. It seems best to regard the action here recorded as the original recruitment of Ulpius Silvanus, which may well have occurred at Arausio, the Second Legion colony. Addenda from RIB+add. (1995): Birley Review, 228, translates factus Arausione as ‘initiated at Orange’, noting that Legion II Augusta had no special tie with Arausio (its Second Legion was Legion II Gallica, cf. AE 1952, 44); but factus in this sense is unparalleled.

Haverfield points out that it might have come originally from abroad, but there seems to be no reason to doubt its Romano-British origin.vicinia: although CIL viii 14743 shows that Vicinia was a personal name, it seems better to interpret it as ‘district’, evidently without a qualifying adjective, on the analogy of CIL xiii 3652 (Genio viciniae).

1. I am inclined to assign a date between AD307 to AD310, biased towards the latter. During this time the Roman world was ruled by the tetrarchy of Galerius, Maxentius and Constantine, while their fourth colleague Maximian was replaced by Licinius in 308. In AD310 Galerius appointed a fifth Caesar to replace himself in the east, Maximinus Daia, who may be the ‘noble Caesar’ mentioned in this inscription. Galerius himself died in 311.
2. Sol Invictus was a pseudonym of Mithras.

This marble comes ‘probably from the Greek Islands, and is similar to that from Thasos

For the use of the formula Numen Caesaris Augusti in provincial worship as early as Augustus see CIL xii 4333 (ILS 112) Narbo. How the identity of the emperor concerned was indicated is not now evident; either a portrait-statue or some further text would have been needed. In literature Caesar Augustus means the reigning emperor. For its use to denote Claudius see CIL vi 5539 (ILS 1786) Rome, and to denote either Claudius or Nero see CIL vi 8943 (ILS 1838) Rome, CIL x 5056 (ILS 977) Atina.

1.  […] M. The enlargement of this letter, and the space to left and right, indicate that it concludes an abbreviated dedication. Altars dedicated to Jupiter are so frequent that I O M is the likeliest restoration, even if it implies that his temple in the provincial ‘capital’ had fallen down. To the left of M there is a diagonal chisel cut which, while too shallow to be part of the second stroke of the letter A, might be the tail of a centrally placed leaf stop; this would imply that there were only two letters in the first surviving line. In that case either [DEO] | [I(NVICTO)] M(ITHRAE) or [MATRI] | [D(EVM)] M(AGNAE) would be possible. 3.  [vetust]ate conlabsum. See note to RIB 3001, line 10. 4–5.  Aug(usti) lib(ertus). G is badly damaged, and seems to be followed by the remains of a leaf-stop like that in 6. L has no second stroke (contrast L in AQVILINVS). Imperial freedmen in the provinces administered imperial estates or occupied senior posts in the Procurator’s office; compare Aurelius Marcio, freedman procurator of Britain (CIL iii 348 = ILS 1477 (Phrygia) with A.R. Birley 2005, 328–9), and the imperial freedmen attested at York (RIB 643), near Bath (RIB 179) and perhaps at Lincoln (RIB 3173) and in the Vindolanda Tablets (Tab. Vindol. III, app. 352 back 1). Mercator, Audax and Graecus, whose status is not specified, may have been imperial slaves, junior colleagues of Aquilinus, for which compare Vegetus Montani imperatoris Aug(usti) ser(vus) in London (Britannia 34 (2003), 373, No. 22) and the Caesariani in Tab. Vindol. III, 645.