Mithras: The Fictional God Who Was Worshipped by the Romans

The worship of Mithras involved a complex system of initiation, with seven distinct levels that initiates progressed through. This initiation process was accompanied by ceremonial feasts, and those who joined the religion were called *syndexioi*, meaning "joined by the handshake." These initiates gathered in vast numbers within underground shrines known as *mithraea*. The religion likely originated in Rome, but its influence spread throughout the western Roman Empire, reaching as far as Roman Africa, Numidia, and Roman Britain. Mithraism also had a lesser presence in Roman Syria in the east, though it was never as widespread in that region.

In the early centuries of the Roman Empire, Mithraism and early Christianity were seen as competing religious systems, with Christians later persecuting Mithraists during the 4th century. Over time, Mithraism was gradually repressed and eventually eradicated from the Roman Empire by the end of the 4th century.