The Housesteads Mithraeum was a small temple to the Persian god Mithras situated just outside the south-east corner of the Roman fort of Vercovicium on Hadrian's Wall. Likely established in the later 2nd or 3rd century AD, it served the religious needs of officers and soldiers of the garrison (most notably the cohors I Tungrorum), following the standard Mithraic pattern of a narrow rectangular cella designed to evoke the cave of Mithras's tauroctony.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
As one of three known Mithraea on Hadrian's Wall (alongside Carrawburgh and Rudchester), it reflects the cult's strong appeal to the auxiliary military communities of the northern frontier, where Mithraism functioned as an exclusive male religious society particularly favoured by junior officers. Its presence underscores Housesteads's role as a major frontier garrison hosting a religiously diverse population, also attested by the unusual temple to the Germanic deities Alaisiagae nearby.
The structure is poorly preserved and was only partially investigated; it is far less well-documented than the celebrated Carrawburgh Mithraeum a few miles to the west, and little structural detail survives above ground. A notable find associated with the site is a sculptured relief of Mithras being born from the cosmic egg, surrounded by the zodiac, now held in collections at Newcastle (Great North Museum: Hancock).
The Housesteads Mithraeum was a small temple to the Persian god Mithras situated just outside the south-east corner of the Roman fort of Vercovicium on Hadrian's Wall. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a temple site from the Roman period in Britain.
Housesteads Mithraeum is classified as a Roman temple — a religious site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including *Vercovicium (0.3 km), Turret 36B (Housesteads) (0.4 km), Milecastle 37 (Housesteads) (0.6 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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