the Persian sun-god, whose mysteries, Plutarch tells us, were first
brought to Rome by the soldiers of Pompey the Great. "They celebrated
certain secret mysteries, among which those of Mithras continue to
this day, being originally instituted by them B.C. 67." This worship
was finally extirpated in A.D. 394. The temple was found filled up
with earth as though done purposely. It is 30 by 20 feet, and has a
vaulted roof, covered with mosaics, in which are several windows. The
continual dripping of water has destroyed the colour, but the mosaics
can still be distinctly seen. The altar on which the sacrifices were
made was found near the two square pilasters in the passage outside,
and a statue of Mithras was found in three pieces. The altar has been
placed within the temple. It represents an allegorical picture of the
sun's influence upon the earth: A bull represents the earth; Mithras
is plunging a sword into the bull's right shoulder; a dog and a
serpent are emblems of animals nourished by the earth through the
influence of the sun; a scorpion gnawing the scrotum is autumn
bringing decay; youths with torches, erect and depressed on either
side, represent the rising and the setting of the sun. Under
Elagabalus (218-22) and Aurelian (270-75) the worship of the sun was
the national religion of the Romans, and its votaries tried in vain to
establish it, to resist the rapid spread of the worship of the only
true God through Jesus Christ his Son.
_From S. Clement's we proceed up the hill Via di S. Giovanni in
Laterano._ Near the top, on the right, is the villa of Mr. Warrington
Wood, the English sculptor, in whose grounds there is a tomb of the
republic. Beyond is the square of the Lateran, in which is the highest