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Interior of the Mithraeum

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Interior of the Mithraeum
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A view looking towards the focal point of the Mithraeum of the Baths of Mithras.

Note the benches on the two long sides.  On each of them, it looks like there is a long, narrow, flat bench and this is where the food would be placed.

Behind them, on each side, the sloping part looks like a couch of a triclinium!  The participants in the ritual meal would have reclined there, with their feet toward the wall and food would have been placed on the narrow "bench." Compare these triclinia from Pompeii: Here and Here.

Note the "skylight" in the vaulted ceiling that would have let light in.  Since the nearby public bathhouse would have been in use throughout the day, it is possible that the meetings would have taken place in the early morning hours.

At the far end of the long room, 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. 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.