TIMACUM MINUS AS THE CENTER OF ORIENTAL CULTS

Abstract

The Roman settlement Timacum Minus represented a significant religious center in which many monuments and traces of oriental cult practice have been discovered. There are several factors that have positively influenced that occurrence. Timacum Minus was a military center for several Roman military units, an important location on a busy merchant road, and one of the main administrative centers for Roman mining in Upper Moesia. All of this influenced the influx of population from other areas of the Roman Empire, and the appearance of an extremely variegated religious structure. While there are assumptions about the presence of other cults and monuments, which are impossible to definitely identify, the presence of monuments for eastern deities Mithra, Jupiter Dolichenus, Sabazius, Isis and Serapis has certainly been confirmed.