Mithraism in the Roman Empire and Its Gender Characteristics

Mithraism is one of the main religions of Late Antiquity. The origins of the Mithras cult have generated much debate in historical scholarship. The issue of the gender composition of Mithraism remains relevant. Emerging in the Roman Empire at the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries, the cult of the god Mithras was popular in the Roman army until its complete ban by Emperor Theodosius I in 391. The issue of his origin and gender identity has always remained controversial. Historiography traditionally emphasizes the masculinity of the cult, although the question of women’s participation remains unresolved. This article analyzes currently known epigraphic and archaeological sources and, based on them, reconstructs the ritual rites of Mithraism and its gender characteristics. The article offers the author’s interpretation of the experience gained in modern domestic and foreign historical and scientific discourse in understanding the historiographical and concrete historical components of studying the phenomenon of Mithraism and the history of its origin. Traditional historiographical research methods are used: interdisciplinary, periodization, retrospective and prospective analysis, and problem-chronological analysis. The article examines the historical conditions in which the masculine aspect of classical Roman Mithraism was formed. The available data that may indicate the participation of women in the cult and their position in it are being studied. An attempt is made to explain the origins of the masculinity of Mithraism in Roman times by the influence of the Bosporan version of the cult on it.