CIMRM 234 - Bronze tablet with head of Mithras. British Museum. Possibly from Aldobrandini Mithraeum, Ostia.

Tablet, bronze, probably from Ostia. ca. 200 A.D. Bronze tablet dedicated to Sextus Pompeius Maximus by his fellow priests. He was Priest of the cult of Sol and Mithras and President of a guild of ferrymen in Ostia. Above the text are a bust of Mithras with a sacrificial knife and a patera (mixing bowl).

SEX ~POMPEIO~ SEX~FIL~
MAXIMO~
SACERDOTI~SOLIS~ IN
VICTI~MT~PATRI~PATRUM
QQ~ CORP ~TREIECT~TOGA
TENSIUM~SACERDO
TES~SOLIS~INVICTI~MT
OB~AMOREM~ET~MERI
TA~EIUS~SEMPER~HA
BET

Sexto Pompeio Sexti filio
Maximo Sacerdoti Solis
Invicti Mithrae Patri Patrum
Quinquennali Corporis Treiectis Togatensium
Sacordotes Solis Invicti Mithrae
Ob amorem et merita eius. Semper habet.

Inscription Translation: Dedicated to Sextus Pompeius Maximus, son of Sextus, High Priest of the Sun God, Mithras, all powerful, and Father of Fathers, President of the Guild of Master Ferrymen. We, Priests of the all powerful Sun God, Mithras, do this on account of the high regard and affection we hold for him and his worthy deeds.

Height: 42.926 centimetres

Purchased 1873 from Alessandro Castellani.

CIMRM entry

234. Bronze slab (H. 0.41 Br. 0.285) with inscr. No. 235. It seems to have been found in the same sanctuary. From the Castellani Coli. to London, Br. Mus. Walters, Cat. Bronzes, 169 No. 904; Becatti, Mitrei Ostia, 42 and Pl. V, 1. The top of the tablet is divided into three sections by two triangular notches. In the central section the naked bust of Sol with an aureole of seven rays around his head, three of which are broken off. The bust emerges from acanthus-leaves. In the r. section a patera, in the l. section a sacrificial knife. A handle has been made on the back, decorated with leafwork in relief. At the extremities a long, pointed dog's head. Prof. dr B. Ashmole was so kind as to point out to me a sacrificial knife, similar to the one on the bronze tablet. It was found in Brittany at Corseul near Divan and came from the Tournier coll. into the British Museum in 1914. A tendril-motif was engraved on the sides of the handle and it ends in a lion's head. 235 CIL XIV 403; MMM II No. 141. Sex(to) Pompeio Sex(ti) fil(io) / Maximo / sacerdoti Solis in/victi Mit(hrae) / patri patrum / q(un)q(uennali) corp(oris) treiec(tus) toga/tensium sacerdo/tes Solis invicti Mit(hrae) / ob amorem et meri/ta eius. Semper habet.

The tablet probably comes from the Aldobrandini mithraeum in Ostia, according to the Ostia Antica site.