The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism

The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism is by Franz Cumont, with an introductory essay by Grant Showerman, and is called an authorized translation. The text says that, like Christianity, the Oriental mysteries at Rome remained for a long time chiefly the religion of a foreign minority. The text says that theologians now endeavor to show that the church has borrowed considerably from the conceptions and ritualistic ceremonies of the pagan mysteries.

Babylonian astrology and astrolatry, according to the text, inspired the theories of the mithreums as well as of the Semitic temples. The Persian mysteries, the text says, did not win the masses by their liturgy, yet undoubtedly their secret ceremonies performed in mountain caves, or at any rate in the darkness of the underground crypts, were calculated to inspire awe. By submitting to a sort of baptism, the text says, the votaries hoped to expiate their sins and regain an untroubled conscience.