Deus Arimanius (the Lion-Headed God)
Roman Mithraic Mysteries · deity · roman imperial mithraism · Recorded classification
The leontocephaline (lion-headed god), attested on altars as 'deus Arimanius', is the most debated Mithraic figure: a being of time and cosmic dominion, variously identified by scholars with Aion, Kronos-Saturn, or a principle of ordered power within the mysteries.
Domains
- time and cosmic order
Powers
- to hold the keys and sceptre of the cosmic order
Sources
- Deus Arimanius is the lion-headed, snake-entwined figure (leontocephaline) of the mithraea, an enigmatic god of time and cosmic power named in dedicatory inscriptions.: M. J. Vermaseren, Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae (CIMRM), 2 vols. (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1956-1960). (secondary); Roger Beck, The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006). (secondary)