Courses Infomation

The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire by Roger Beck

The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire by Roger Beck

This volume is a study of the religious system of Mithraism, one of the “mystery cults” popular in the Roman Empire contemporary with early Christianity. Roger Beck describes Mithraism from the point of view of the initiate engaging with the religion and its rich symbolic system in thought, word, ritual action, and cult life. He employs the methods of anthropology of religion and the new cognitive science of religion to explore in detail the semiotics of the Mysteries’ astral symbolism, which has been the principal subject of his many previous publications on the cult.

Review

Given Beck’s credentials and his reputation as an erudite scholar of the enigmatic mysteries of Mithras, one might rightly expect that this book would break new ground. Beck does not disappoint. The book is engagingly written and is an exemplar of how scholarship can be pursued in a fair, engaging manner. (Richard S. Ascough, Studies in Religion)

This makes for an interesting eclectic journey through one of the most mysterious cults in the Roman Empire… Throughout the book this interpretative scheme is filled out with impressively meticulous analysis of the textual evidence, the symbolic structutre of the mithraeum, and the tauroctony. (Anders Lisdorf, Journal of Roman Studies)

In learned and fascinationg detail, he explains the mithraeum as both symbolically and actually as a representation of the universe. (Inga Mantle, The Journal of Classics Teaching)

not only compulsory reading for any scholar or student working on Mithraism, but ought to be taken full account of also by anyone with an interest in the study of ancient religion in general … the persistent reader will be rewarded with the rich experience of having his or her thoughts continuously provoked by a great historian of ancient religion in the course of his attempts to make sense of the fascinating phenomena that were the Mithraic mysteries. (Ted Kaiser, Ancient West & East)

What is forex?

Quite simply, it’s the global market that allows one to trade two currencies against each other.

If you think one currency will be stronger versus the other, and you end up correct, then you can make a profit.

If you’ve ever traveled to another country, you usually had to find a currency exchange booth at the airport, and then exchange the money you have in your wallet into the currency of the country you are visiting.

Foreign Exchange
You go up to the counter and notice a screen displaying different exchange rates for different currencies.

An exchange rate is the relative price of two currencies from two different countries.

You find “Japanese yen” and think to yourself, “WOW! My one dollar is worth 100 yen?! And I have ten dollars! I’m going to be rich!!!”
When you do this, you’ve essentially participated in the forex market!

You’ve exchanged one currency for another.

Or in forex trading terms, assuming you’re an American visiting Japan, you’ve sold dollars and bought yen.

Currency Exchange

Before you fly back home, you stop by the currency exchange booth to exchange the yen that you miraculously have left over (Tokyo is expensive!) and notice the exchange rates have changed.

It’s these changes in the exchange rates that allow you to make money in the foreign exchange market.

Salepage : The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire by Roger Beck