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Mithra or Mithras was a god with an origin in Iran and India, where his imagery and display is often associated with the sun. The religion is mostly associated with its peak in worship that occurred around the 1st-4th century CE (or AD), where it was worshiped from Scotland to India.<ref> For more on the origins of Mithra, see: Ulansey, D. (1991). The origins of the Mithraic mysteries: cosmology and salvation in the ancient world. New York: Oxford Univ. Pr.</ref> Key beliefs include the ritual slaughter of the bull by Mithra, which would likely lead to the presence of new life or emergence of life, although the meaning is not fully understood (Figure 1). Worship centered around underground temples known as Mithraea (or Mithraeum singular) that attempted to represent cavesor secret, hidden places. Sometimes , in fact, the temples were in caves(Figure 2). These temples were representative of the world and the ceremonies held were to reflect a type of global worship. The worship ceremony often involved ritual feasting and was held in a type of secrecy that members take an oath to follow and worship the god. Members would be gradually initiated into the sacred rights where a total of seven levels that worshipers had to attain being part of their spiritual journey. The religion seemed to mostly incorporate men, although this might not be the case in every place. Because no written sources have survived that directly speak to the theology, outside of small inscriptions or secondary references by writers, there is still relatively little known about the religion. However, that is probably in part because it was a type of mystery cult, intended to an orally taught faith. From Persian sources, he Mithra is seen as a god of justice, a good shepherd to his people, and infalliblein fighting evil.<ref>For a summary on the belief system, see: Cooper, D. J. (1996). Mithras: mysteries and initiation rediscovered. York Beach, Me: S. Weiser.</ref>

Mithraic belief likely borrowed from or was incorporated within Zoroastrianism, which believed in a cosmic struggle of evil vs. good. Mithra could be involved in the final struggle against evil, where good ultimately wins, but this is not clear. The god was seen as being born or December 25th, where he emerges out of a rock, although several other gods, particularly those associated as sun gods, held that date of birth. <ref>For more on Christian and Mithraism connections, see: Hensen, A. (2013). Mithras: der Mysterienkult an Limes, Rhein und Donau. Stuttgart: Theiss.</ref> This date does likely influence later Christian adoptions as December 25th for the birth of Christ. The god Mithra may have also been born of a virgin birth and the importance of communal meals, similar to early Christianity, are some aspects the religions share. The religious order also seems to have a type of hierarchy of power, with local priests and something akin to Bishops and chief leaders within the cult developed as part of the religious orderthat one can climb. Worship and belief also seems to be related to water, where believers may have been baptized into the order. Nevertheless, aspects of Mithra worshiped within the Roman Empire also borrowed from other Greco-Roman gods, indicating that some adaptation of the original ideas of Mithra had occurred after it was adopted from the original Indo-Persian god.<ref>For more on how Mithra is combined and integrated with Roman gods, see: Christensen, L. B., Hammer, O., & Warburton, D. (Eds.). (2013). The handbook of religions in ancient Europe / edited by Lisbeth Bredholt Christensen, Olav Hammer and David A. Warburton. Durham ; Bristol, CT: Acumen Pub Ltd, pg. 258.</ref>