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."