The Roman Cults that Rivaled Christianity

[Music] the son was always a God to the Greeks he was the Titan Helios Who Rose each morning in his Golden House dawned a shimmering crown and drove his winged steeds over the Ark of Heaven to the Romans he was simply Soul worshiped since time immemorial as the source of warmth and light although the Romans like the Greeks came to associate the sun with Apollo they continued to Worship soul at modest sanctuaries scattered throughout the city Augustus dedicated two Egyptian obelisks to the Sun and theasian added a solar Crown to the Colossus of Nero Soul however remained a minor God during the 2 Century mithas a new solar deity appeared mithraism was founded on small cells of male worshippers who met for ritual meals in cave likee sanctuaries dominated by an image of mithos slaying the primordial bull the cult made extensive use of cosmic symbolism the seven grades of initiation were associated with the seven planets and the signs of the zodiac often appeared on the ceilings of sanctuaries mithros was often depicted feasting with the sun god inscriptions addressed mithos himself as the son Soul Invictus mithos the Syrian son God elab Bal arrived in Rome during the brief and disastrous reign of elagabalus an elaborate Sanctuary was built on the Palatine Hill and the conical black meteorite that served as the God's image was paraded through the streets of Rome in a jeweled Chariot when alagab balis was assassinated however the cult died with him through this stormy careers of mithos and aabal the old Roman god Soul was revered in his traditional sanctuaries over the course of the 3r century he gained the title Invictus unconquered this does not seem to have signified a change in how the God was conceptualized it was just an epithet originally applied to Jupiter and Hercules and never exclusively associated with the Sun the significance of soulin victus in Roman religious life was enhanced by the Emperor aurelan who elevated the priests of the Sun to the rank of pontifex founded a major festival and constructed an opulent new Temple for the god it used to be thought that the so Invictus worshiped in aurelan magnificent Sanctuary was a new God imported from Syria and that aurelan sought to establish Soul as the dominant god of the Roman Pantheon this Theory would make aurelan the Roman equivalent of of akatan the heretic pharaoh who made the sun god attin Supreme over all the other gods of Egypt most Scholars now believe however that Soul Invictus was the traditional Roman god Soul elevated to Greater prominence by the personal devotion of the emperor there is no evidence that aurelan regarded Soul as anything more than a personal Patron he may have been following the precedent of Augustus who had Associated himself with the sun god Apollo the Emperors of the tetrarchic period following aelion's example revered soulin victus so did the Young Constantine for nearly two decades in fact Constantine would issue coins bearing the likeness of the sun this issue struck around the year 315 is typical the reverse shows Solen vicus with the globe of the world in his left hand and the radiant crown of the son on his head the legend reads solely in wito comti that is to the unconquered son companion of the emperor I have an example of the same coin in my own collection sent to me by my friend Kevin at Noble Roman coins Noble Roman coins presents what are in my experience the best uncleaned Roman coins on the market their premium uncleaned coins like those pictured here routinely sell out almost as soon as they're listed sign up on the NRC homepage to be notified when a new lot arrives Noble Roman coins also sells high quality cleaned coins at very competitive prices such as this spectacular Denarius of seus Alexander which features Soul on the reverse in addition to coins Noble Roman coins sells cleaning tools an award-winning guide to cleaning ancient coins and an impressive assortment of Roman artifacts like this extremely rare amulet shaped like the head of mithos to explore Noble Roman coins catalog of Roman coins and artifacts and sign up for the next batch of uncleaned coins check out their website which is linked in the description returning to our topic following the Battle of the milvan bridge Constantine Associated himself ever more closely with Christianity but for more than a decade after his conversion Soul Invictus continued to appear on his coins some Scholars have suggested that Constantine assimilated Soul Invictus to the Christian God a mosaic of the period from the Vatican necropolis which appears to show Jesus with the attributes of soin victus suggests that other Christians may have made such borrowings The Cult of soulin victus remained prominent well into the 4th century Julian the apostate wrote a long hymn In which he proclaimed himself a subject of the Lord's son whom he praised as the supreme god many leading Senators served as pontiffs of Soul it used to be thought that the solar Cults of late Antiquity were serious Rivals of Christianity this was most often said of mithraism which included elements such as a sacramental meal reminiscent of Christianity early chrisan authors for their part dismissed mithraism communion right as satanic plagiarism and mocked its devotees for worshiping the sun in dark caves neither mithraism nor the cult of soin victus was ever likely to transform the spiritual life of the Roman Empire in the way Christianity did both were relatively Limited in their appeal and neither said itself in opposition to traditional polytheism The Cult of the the sun however left a lasting impression the day of the sun's Nativity celebrated at Rome on December 25th may have determined the date of Christmas though the evidence is ambiguous and it may have been the lingering influence of the solar cult that led Constantine to decree that Sunday the sacred day of Soul should be the day of worship and rest throughout the Roman Empire my new book inane Emperors sunken cities and earthquake machines is now available as a paperback ebook and audiobook you can buy your copy through Amazon Barnes & Noble or your local bookstore for more toen Stone content check out my channels toen Stone footnotes and Scenic roots to the past which are linked in the description please consider joining other viewers in supporting toen Stone on patreon thanks for watching

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Length: 8min 10sec (490 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 22 2024