Friday, April 12th, 2019
Participants:
Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia (Hostess)
Marcus Quintius Clavus
Marcus Cassius Julianus
Mercuria Cassia
Ed
Wenna
Aulus Iulius Paterculus
Quintius & I arrived to find Sibylla, Cassius, and Mercuria already in the room and deep in discussion.
We left for dinner almost immediately. The Afghani restaurant where we had eaten the previous year had closed, so we ate the "Basil" restaurant (a Thai/Chinese/Japanese fusion establishment) next door instead. Cassius passed out laminated fact sheets on the interactions between Rome and China in antiquity, which we read in appreciative silence. Soon after our orders arrived, Ed and Wenna joined the group.
There was some disscussion on general topics, MithraCons past, and what restaurant we might visit next year, but much of our attention was occupied by the food in front of us, which were in generous portions accompanied by pots of tea for the table. Reactions on the food itself varied.
After dinner, Ed and Wenna said their farewells and the rest of us returned to the room to engage in further conversation. Sibylla shared insights gained from another year's reasearch into Mithraism. Cassius contributed more insights from his Masonic experience; Mercuria fact-checked information online, discovering some additional details, of which even Cassius had not been aware.
Sibylla mentioned the recent reintroduction of the priesthood training by Cn. Lentulus and the possibility that Sibylla might organize an official Mithraic cult to be recognized by Nova Roma.
Cassius caught us up with some of the progress made by Byzantium Novum over the previous year.
Cassius also presented us with T-shirts which had been made at his copy shop, which showed a beautiful image of the Rockbirth of Mithras.
Saturday, April 13th, 2019
Additional Participants:
Alex
Adam
The following day we enjoyed the now traditional breakfast at Patricia’s, the diner less than a block from the hotel. Mercuria was sadly not able to join us at breakfast due to headache, but later arrived at the Sterling library for a day of intense research. When the library finally closed, we exited to find a group of students practicing improv of the steps ahead of the library entrance.
Afterwards, we split into two groups, head to the Yale Barnes & Nobles and the hotel. We re-united in an hour or two in the hotel room over a feast including stuffed grape leaves, fruit, bread, chicken, lettuce, and large quantities of cheese, followed by raspberry and apple tarts brought down from Maine. Our discussion touched on a number of topics including the modern U.S. navy, before turning to the research we had done in the library during the day. Sibylla had a long list on Mithraism which she had ordered to Sterling in advance. Cassius told us about two particular books he had recently purchased, Pictish Mithraism, which postulated a link between Pictish carved
standing stones and Mithraism and The Trail of Mithras which examined a supposed line of Mithraea running
across the Roman Empire and the churches later built above some of them. I had read selections from books on various topics, including the infinity problem in quantum physics, the lives of Laura Ingalls
and Rose Wilder, the novels of Steven King, and Greek tragedy.
Alex & Adam arrived partway through our discussion of library research. Conversation turned to how Alex had
come to join us: as it turned out, he had been entranced by the Mithraeum when he began working as at the Yale Art Gallery and been told by a fellow employee about the conference which visited each year. We discussed Mithraism for some time after that; in particular details of initiation which it appeared could be deduced from the
mosaic and frescos at the Felicissima Mithraeum and the "Mithraic liturgy".
Sunday, April 14th, 2018
We returned for Patricia's for a second excellent breakfast, this time with Mercuria as part of the group. Quintius was not with us, as he had returned home the previous night. Discussion turned mainly upon life in New England and personal interests, including research into runes by both Mercuria and Sibylla.
On our way to the art gallery, we passed an interesting used bookstore, but although the sign said "Open", it was actually closed. Someone joked that on the way back the sign would say "Closed", but the store would be open.
We arrived at the gallery somewhat early, and hence had time to tour not only the Classical wing of the gallery but a section devoted to coins of assorted eras and another devoted to Byzantine art. Alex soon joined us at looking over the items in the Classical wing, and particularly the Dura Europe exhibit. This exhibit had been somewhat
diminished, as certain items were on loan elsewhere, but the Mithraeum was still intact. Sibylla spoke about the items before us both with Alex and with some other patrons of the gallery. After a little while, Cassius and Mercuria left, followed soon after by Alex. Quintius joined Sibylla and me shortly afterwards. We had coffee & tea together, followed by a visit to the bookstore we had passed earlier, which was indeed open and had an adequate collection of Classics-related books.
