Il Culto di Mitra in Campidoglio e il ritrovamento della Tauroctonia Capitolina nella Roma dei Borghese

Abstract

On the Capitoline Hill, the religious and political centre of ancient Rome, an extraordinary piece of Mithraic Worship was found. Probably the largest
existing marble tauroctony came to light in the early 1600s and became part of the Borghese Collection, walled in the north façade of the Casino Nobile
of the Villa outside Porta Pinciana. The masterpiece was then detached and sold to Napoleon along with most of the collection in 1808 and transported
to Paris. Here, the relief was placed in the Hall of the Four Seasons of the Musée Napoléon, which later became the Louvre, and can now be admired
in the Louvre-Lens Museum.
However, this is not the only evidence of this mystery cult on the Capitoline Hill, whose memory has survived through the Middle Ages and whose
salvific message reached us through the sanctuary of Santa Maria in Aracoeli.
Through historical sources, the testimonies of artists, antiquarians and travellers, archaeological finds and hagiographic accounts, the aim is to reconstruct
the presence of the cult of Mithras on the Capitoline Hill. We attempt to locate as far as possible the main and probably only sanctuary and to
define its phases and reconstruct it.