CHAPTER XII

THE WORSHIP OF MITHRAS

Reaction of East towards Persia in Roman times—Struggle between Rome and Persia only closes with Mahommedan Invasion—Rome leans to Persian fashions and proclaims Mithras protector of Empire—How Mithraism reached Rome—Its propagation by the soldiery—Mithras may have been originally god of Western Asia—His place in Persian religion—Magism, its tenets and connection with magic—And with astrology—Uncertainty as to Mithraic tenets and Cumont’s theory—Roman ideas as to Ormuzd and Ahriman—Connection of Mithras with the Sun—The Legend of Mithras—Explanation of Tauroctony—The Mithraic Eucharist or Banquet—Mithras probably the only god for his worshippers—His position midway between heaven and earth—Ahriman in Mithraism—Identified with Greek Hades—Lord of Destiny—The seven spheres in Mithraism—Eclecticism of Mithraics as to worship of other gods—Possibly as to Christianity also—The Mysteries of Mithras—The seven degrees of initiation—Privileges of higher initiates doubtful—The so-called Mithraic Liturgy—The priests and ceremonies of Mithraism—Likeness of Mithraism to Freemasonry and its political uses—Decline of Mithraism on loss of Dacia—Its extinction under Gratian—Exclusion of women from mysteries drawback to Mithraism—Not attractive save to soldiers—Survivals of Mithraism in royal titles—And in magic and astrology 224-276

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