The London Mithraeum
About
A small temple to the soldiers' god Mithras rose on the bank of the buried River Walbrook, its nave lined with columns for the cult's secret initiation rites. Worshippers later rededicated it to Bacchus and buried its Mithraic sculptures under the floor rather than hand them to a rival cult. Rediscovered by chance in 1954 during post-war rebuilding, crowds queued for hours to see it uncovered. In 117 CE this spot was still open ground beside the stream — the temple was more than a century away.
What happened here
The entrance is unmarked and the room behind it is small, dim and built to feel like a cave — a barrel vault, benches running along both long walls, a narrow aisle down the middle ending at a relief of the god killing a bull. Membership is closed and male only, drawn heavily from soldiers, customs officers, freedmen and slaves in imperial service, men whose work depends on discipline and on knowing which orders to follow. Initiation runs through seven ranks, each with its own grade-name and a trial to pass; what happens at each stage is not written down and members are trusted to keep it that way. Meals are eaten reclining on the benches, bread and wine and sometimes meat, the closest thing the cult has to a public rite. Lamps burn even by day, since no window is ever cut into the wall.
Sources
Nearby
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →