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In this work, Attilio Mastrocinque cautions against an approach to
Mithraism based on the belief that this mystic cult resembles
Christianity. While both Christian and pagan authors testified that
Mithraic elements were indeed borrowed, according to Attilio
Mastrocinque this was only done by some gnostic Christians. He
counters that Roman Empire ideology and religion provide better
clues on how to approach the matter, contending too that Virgil
proves to be more important than the Avesta in understanding
Mithraic iconography. The meaning of the central scene - the
Tauroctony - thus becomes clear when the Roman triumph's central
act of bull sacrifice is thought of as just that, with Mithras
playing the role of victor as author of this success. The episodes
depicted on many reliefs relate to a prophecy known to Firmicus
Maternus and other Christian polemists, and which foretold the
coming of a saviour, i.e. the first emperor, when Saturn returns
and Apollo-Mithras will rule.
Roman and Lucanian Grumentum (Potenza province, southern Italy)
represents a good archaeological case-study of a site over which no
modern city has been built. It was abandoned at the end of the 11th
century AD and used as a cultivation area for centuries. The sites
provide a highly interesting sequence of data, concerning the first
human settlements, the Enotrian and Lucanian phases, the founding
of the first city (3rd century BC), the Romanization and the
founding of the Roman colony around 50 BC. This book presents the
proceedings of a conference on the sites, held in Grumento Nova
itself in April 2010. The range of topics is large, from
stratigraphical excavations to history, from epigraphy to
archaeometry. The chronological range is also wide, from prehistory
to modern age. 16 papers in Italian, 5 in English."
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