The Full Mithraeum

The Full Mithraeum

A view from the entrance looking down the full fifty-foot length of the Mithraeum of the Baths of Mithras.

Note the benches on the two long sides and at the far end, a 5.5-foot tall statue of Mithras slaying the bull was found—along with two podia: one square and the other triangular.


The Mithraeum of the Baths of Mithras was constructed in Regio I, Insula XVII at Ostia, in a service area of the baths.  It is 50 feet long and 15 feet wide.  The maximum height of the vault is about 6.9 feet high. There are two square skylights, one at the south end where a large statue of Mithras killing the bull was found.  It was probably constructed in the third century AD.

It was built to recall the cave in which the deity Mithras killed the sacred bull, releasing the secret of eternal life.