Thoughts on Antiquity, Patristics, putting things online, information access, and more
Well! I have finally reached the end of chapter 19 of the Annals of Eutychius. Of course I skipped chapters 1-7; and a long theological excursus in chapter 16 (?). But it’s still very pleasing to get to the end of the interminable Muslim section. Thank you, everyone who has offered encouragement. I probably ought […]
A previously unknown Temple of Mithras was discovered last week at Lucciana in Corsica, during road improvement work. The location is somewhere near or in the Roman city of Mariana, itself founded by Gaius Marius. The archaeology suggests a third century date. The usual cult benches on either side are present, and three fragments of […]
The run up to Christmas is always busy, even if you are at home, and mine is no exception. A few months ago Dr Michael Fuller kindly sent me some excellent photographs from the Mithraeum of S. Maria Capua Vetere, and some Mithraea in Ostia. I have finally got around to uploading them to my […]
A news report from the Turkish website, the Daily Sabah, on 19th August 2016, contains a photo and a curious story: A Roman-era “Mithras Mosaic,” dating back nearly two millennia and depicting solar and astrological signs from the Roman zodiac has been discovered during archeological excavations in the Hisar region of the ancient province of […]
I’m now on holiday, and starting to feel vaguely normal again. Our working lives may be a blessing from God, but they do take it out of us! I’ve been working on the Mithras site, or trying to. It is remarkable how technology has changed in a couple of years. The front-end technology that I […]
Did you know that: Mithra [sic] was born on December 25th. He was considered a great traveling teacher and master. He had 12 companions or disciples. He performed miracles. He was buried in a tomb. After three days he rose again. His resurrection was celebrated every year. Mithra was called “the Good Shepherd.” He was […]
As you may have seen, I have resumed translating the Annals of Eutychius (or Said ibn Bitriq as he was known in life) from the Italian translation of Bartolomeo Pirone into English, with the assistance of Google Translate. I would much prefer to translate the Arabic directly. But since I don’t know Arabic, and I […]
It’s that time of the year, when the malevolent delight in posting wild claims that Christmas is “really” – in some undefined sense of “real” – the festival of Sol Invictus, recorded only in the Chronography of 354. Few of us know much about Sol Invictus, the state cult created by Aurelian in 274 AD. […]
A correspondent Csaba Szabó has kindly written to tell us about a new discovery of what seems likely to be a Mithraeum in Switzerland, at Kempraten near Zurich. Interestingly the site is by a lake. Somewhat ominously, the remains of three large lime kilns were also discovered nearby. The newspaper article in Zurichsee Zeitung is here. An exhibition […]