Notes on a New Cautes Statue from Apulum (jud. Alba / RO)

Abstract

In this article the author presents two recently found Mithraic objects, representing Cautes, the torchbearer of Mithras. The statue fragments were discovered in a secondary position, decorating an interior wall of a house in Alba Iulia (Karlsburg, Gyulafehérvár). The depiction representing Cautes holding the head of a bull (bucranium) appears very rare in Mithraic iconography, being known only from five examples from the Roman Empire – four of them from the province of Dacia. A detailed contextual analysis shows that this iconographic type appeared in Italy and became popular especially in colonia Sarmizegetusa and the conurbation of Apulum, due to the mobility of the staff of the publicum portorium Illyrici, who played a key role in the spread of the cult in the province and in the formation of local workshops.