At the corner of Via del Pomerio and Via del Tempio Rotondo in Ostia, a 1938 excavation revealed a curious double-decker complex. The upper temple, built during the reign of Alexander Severus (222-235 CE), likely belonged to the stuppatores, a guild whose precise trade remains uncertain, though they may have worked with tow or rope. This guild shrine, with its modest proportions, is typical of the many professional associations that thrived in Ostia’s commercial life.
Beneath the temple’s podium, hidden in the substructure, lies a mithraeum. Its patron, named Fructosus, dedicated this intimate space to the bull-slaying god Mithras, whose mysteries were popular among soldiers, merchants, and freedmen. The juxtaposition of a public guild temple above and a clandestine cult chamber below speaks volumes about the layered spiritual and social worlds of Roman Ostia, commerce on the surface, esoteric rites in the shadows.
Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.
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