ReMITHRA
Digital database of Mithraic monuments from the Danubian provinces. Methodological tools and challenges
Abstract
The corpus of material evidence for the Roman cult of Mithras was last collected on an imperial scale by Maarten J. Vermaseren in his monumental, two-volume catalogue, published between 1956 and 1960. In the last six decades, numerous provincial addenda have appeared, and some of the epigraphic and figurative sources are now accessible through online databases: in the EDH, Clauss-Slaby, and Lupa. Nevertheless, none of these initiatives constitutes a systematic or comprehensive corpus. The Mithras Research Group of the University of Szeged and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences aim to create a thematic, digital, open-access database devoted exclusively to the material evidence of the Mithras cult in the Danubian provinces. The first phase of the project involves the collection, mapping, and photographic documentation of relevant artefacts. In our presentation, we will focus on the process of selecting and digitizing inscriptions, as well as on epigraphic and religious methodological issues. Vermaseren's catalogue contains several objects whose connection to the Mithraic cult is uncertain. At the beginning of the corpus development, we face several methodological questions, such as the complex religious dimensions of Sol, Sol Invictus, Deus Invictus, Mithras, and other aspects, and the possibilities for their interpretation. These methodological debates are likewise crucial for determining the principles guiding the collection of sources for our database.