Very interesting. Thanks.
Why were the Romans, so opposed to Christianity, so tolerant of Mithracism, which was from the arch-enemy Parthia?
Because early Christians were Jews, and the Romans had just destroyed the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem because of Jewish insurrection.
Because early Christians were Jews, and the Romans had just destroyed the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem because of Jewish insurrection.
Because early Christians were Jews, and the Romans had just destroyed the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem because of Jewish insurrection.
Because early Christians were Jews, and the Romans had just destroyed the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem because of Jewish insurrection.
Also because Christians were pacifists, Mithraism was popular with the legions.
“Why were the Romans, so opposed to Christianity, so tolerant of Mithracism, which was from the arch-enemy Parthia?”
Christianity forbids worship of any other God. The Christians would not worship Caesar.
The Romans I understand were very pluralistic, as long as you bowed the knee to Caesar.
We still struggle with the relationship between church and state.
I’m only gonna tell ya this four times, so...
/joke alert
It wasn’t from Parthia, IMO, there’s nothing exactly like Mithraism elsewhere, but the Romans apparently felt perfectly comfortable with wholesale acceptance of deities from conquered peoples, just as they got used to having the Roman Senate vote on deification of various emperors.
The Romans equated various members of their own pantheon with new introductions, as well as the Greek pantheon. Somewhat analogously, the Egyptians wound up with a deity called Serapis which was apparently the invention of one of the Ptolemaic pharaohs and/or his handlers.
Before the Romans, the Etruscans worshipped their version of Apollo, which they may have brought with them (the Etruscans came from the Aegean and Anatolia) or may have acquired (or reacquired) via their trade and cultural contacts with the Ionian Greeks. Apollo wasn’t a Greek deity, but borrowed from Anatolia, and his origin is another mystery. It would be more important, probably, if there were actually large numbers of worshippers of Apollo, Mithras, Zeus/Jupiter, etc etc.
There are some worshippers of the old Greek gods, oddly enough, they live in Hindu Kush, surrounded by Moslems. They claim descent from Alexander the Great’s soldiers, and are a cultural survival from antiquity. Quite amazing really.
Probably because the Romans preferred turning the other guy’s cheek-with a Gladius.
Because Mithracism did not prevent you from worshiping the god-emperor.
Christians could not worship the divine emperor. It was forbidden. And while the Empire admitted reluctantly that Jews were a special case Christians who were multicultural and multiracial were not considered such. They were a unpatriotic lot who didn't pour out a offering to Roma Dia or the emperor.