After Action Report: MithraCon 2026 Day 3

Sunday, April 26th, 2026
Around 8 a.m. - around 12 p.m.
Participants: Marcus Quintius Clavus
Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia
Marcus Cassius Julianus
Titus Ovidius Nonus
Erica
David
Aulus Iulius Paterculus
   Most of us awakened a bit earlier on Sunday than on Saturday. M. Quintius Clavus, Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia, M. Cassius Julianus, T. Ovidius Nonus, and I went to breakfast at Patricia's again, but our new friends had breakfast at the hotel, which was part of a package deal with their room. Patricia's was a bit busier than the day before, but not by too much. We expected larger crowds to be arriving when church services ended. Patricia remembered many of our orders from the previous day. During breakfast, Nonus mentioned plans to stop by Denny's on the way home, and this opened up discussion of restaurants in Maine, storms & flash floods, and visits to Salem, Massachusetts. Cassius again paid for breakfast.
   We returned to the room and met with Dave and Erica again. Dave had brought a number of art pieces he'd created himself, including larger & smaller tauroctonies etched on wood, leather book marks, including one depicting the Mithraic grades, and images of the face of Mithras surrounded by rays. Cassius liked this last image so much, he requested permission to put it on the t-shirts for the following year. Dave offered the pieces for sale at a generous "pay-what-you-want" price. Nonus purchased a larger tauroctony, Cassius purchased everything not already bought by others and then gave much of it away.
   Those of us who'd been staying in the shared rooms packed up. Sibylla started the drive home, while the rest of us, including David & Erica, headed to the Yale University Art Gallery. While walking we talked. Erica told me about her hobbies; I mentioned reading some poetry by William McGonagall (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-mcgonagall). We noted an independent bookstore along the way which had seen visits in previous years.
   At the museum, we looked at the Classical artwork and the finds from Dura Europos, but also ventured into some other exhibits. Next to the Classical exhibit was a gallery of early modern currency; of particular interest was a series of coins struck with the image of Liberty/Libertas. I left the group briefly in order to make a call and stumbled into a room of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican artwork, which I encouraged the others to check out, and they also appreciated the works we saw.
    At last we bid each other goodbye. Cassius had let me store the leftover fruit in his car when we'd packed up the room, so we headed back together. We stopped at the bookstore along the way. Cassius made a number of purchases, and I collected two books from the "Free Books" bin, one of which was Murder on the Appian Way by Steven Saylor. I thought some of our other friends were browsing there around the same time, though we didn't actually greet one another.
   Cassius and I said our farewells back at the hotel parking lot, both agreeing that we looked forward to seeing everyone again in the near future.

After Action Report: MithraCon 2026 Day 2

Saturday, April 25th, 2026
Around 8 a.m. - around 10 p.m.
Participants: Marcus Quintius Clavus
Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia
Marcus Cassius Julianus
Titus Ovidius Nonus
Aulus Iulius Paterculus
David
Erica
   M. Quintius Clavus woke up well before most of the rest of us. A bit after Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia had also awakened, Quintius dropped by to check on everyone else. Within a few minutes we had all showered and were ready to go to breakfast at Patricia's, the restaurant next to the hotel. It was bit less packed than usual, probably because we'd arrived early.
   Patricia herself remembered our group and was surprised it had been a year already. I asked whether Patricia's was older than MithraCon. Sibylla (who was the only one to have attended the conference since it first began) didn't know, as the earliest MithraCons had taken place in a different location. M. Cassius Julianus generously treated everyone to breakfast.
   Sibylla remained at the hotel room while the rest of us headed down to the Sterling Memorial Library. Once we arrived at the library, we headed off in different directions. Quintius had already renewed his library pass online and headed off to do research. Cassius went to the desk to renew his pass. T. Ovidius Nonus & I examined an exhibit of errata (https://events.yale.edu/event/beauties-of-my-style-errata-and-the-printed-mistake) (emendations appended to books to correct printers' errors). Nonus afterwards walked to the Yale Peabody Museum, while I went to the Bass Library downstairs.
   In the Bass Library, a display showed students who'd worked at the library were being honored by each receiving a nameplate in a book of choice. A Classics student had selected the Thebiad by Statius. I looked through a number of different collections while in the Bass Library: in the graphic novels section, I attempted to find the graphic novel adaption of 1177 B.C., which Quintius had recommended the preceding night, mentioning to us that he had gone to a talk at which he'd had his copy signed by the illustrator.
   At the Peabody, Nonus told some other visitors about Mithraism when they were discussing sun gods. He later took an Uber back to the hotel due to the rain. 
   After stopping at The Yale Bookstore, I returned to the room, only to find some new people had joined us and were engaged in conversation with Sibylla & Quintius. They introduced themselves as Erica & David. David had been informed of MithraCon through Reddit (where he'd also posted an etching he'd made of the tauroctony (https://www.reddit.com/r/Mithras/comments/1s2kd58/tauroctony_designed_and_etched_by_me/) and the two of them had decided to come up to check it out. It had required some detective work on their part, as the hotel staff didn't know about MithraCon when asked. They finally met Sibylla in the lobby wearing her MithraCon t-shirt. David told us that the person who'd told him about the conference had tried to attend as well, but had gotten discouraged at not being able to find us and left.
   Quintius told us that Cassius was still at the library because he'd found a book in Italian he was trying to scan into Word for ease of translation. We talked about various topics until Cassius and Nonus returned, and carried on when they came back. Erica & Sibylla both had experience in the medical field which gave them shared material for conversation. We talked about the Masons and about different Christian denominations. David shared a song (https://soundcloud.com/user-430526764/oh-mithras?si=79ffaab719cc4943adfdab8f9101f9bf&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing) which a friend of his, a talented musician, had set to music at Dave's request. Cassius recommended Andrew Fear's book and highlighted the shortcomings of the book he'd brought with him.
   We decided it was time for dinner. Sibylla had brought chicken & Caesar salad, Quintius almonds & dried fruit, Cassius plenty of stuffed grape leaves. Nonus brought lupini beans which he'd been saving for this occasion. I brought fresh fruit: grapes, apples, & a pineapple*. Cassius sent a photo of the pineapple to Pattie.
   Nonus read us his carefully researched essay on the gladiatorial diet, which he'd finished and sent to be graded that very weekend. One key point he made was that gladiators were not vegetarians, as we know from direct literary evidence, but that it appeared that way because the vast quantities of beans in their diet reduced the amount of nitrogen in their remains.
   David had handmade phrygian caps which he gave us to wear for a group photo. We discussed the gladiatorial reenactors who'd once been in New England.
   After we'd cleared away the dishes and leftovers, some left the room while a Raven grade initiation took place. After that was complete, Nonus, Cassius, and I talked a bit longer about polytheistic religion before going to sleep.   

* This was a nod to Vermaseren's identification of a sculpted object included on a Mithraic statue as a pineapple, which we had seen and commented upon the previous.

After Action Report: MithraCon 2026 Day 1

Friday, April 24th, 2026
Around 3 p.m. - around midnight
Participants: Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia
Marcus Cassius Julianus
Marcus Quintius Clavus
Aulus Iulius Paterculus
Titus Ovidius Nonus
   I arrived somewhat after 6 p.m., asked at the front desk, and was given the room numbers for the conference, along with a key card. Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia, M. Cassius Julianus, & M. Quintius Clavus had already been talking for some time. Sibylla had arrived first in the early afternoon to set things up. Cassius, who had arrived afterwards, had set up a tauroctony in one corner of the room, consisting of both a canvas image of the bull-slaying and a bronze statue of the same, set up on a table. On the counter on the other side of the room, he'd brought some of his small antiquities for sale in their portable display case.
   We spent only a little further time speaking up in the room before deciding to head down to dinner. We passed through the lobby, where Sibylla told the staff that T. Ovidius Nonus was expected to arrive later that night, giving them his macronational name. Across the street, we had dinner in the same Japanese restaurant where we'd eaten the previous year. While waiting for and during the meal, we discussed various topics. Cassius told us about an antique urn he'd purchased as part of his antiquities trading business, only realizing after it arrived that it was enormous. Sibylla told us about the farmer's markets which were soon to resume, her process for inventing new spice blends, and the fact that really hot spice blends had to be made by her colleagues, as even mixing them exposed the mixer to their heat.
   At the end of the meal, the waiter brought us an unexpected treat - eight French-style macarons. We had a few with the tea which had been shared by the table and brought the rest up to the room.
   We stayed up talking a while longer. Cassius gave out t-shirts with an image of the taurontony on them. Cassius also offered to give away his extra copy of a book on Mithraism which he had accidentally bought twice, but he reviewed the book so unfavourably that no one wanted it even for free. Then we set up the beds. I went down to the lobby & lingered there until after 11 p.m. Nonus arrived a bit afterwards.

Nova Britannia General Meeting: Julius MMDCCLXXVII

Nova Britannia General Meeting: Julius MMDCCLXXVII

Monday, July 6th, MMDCCLXXVII, 6:00 p.m. - 6:40 p.m.

Participants: Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia

Numerius Octavius Astronomus

Publius Sextius Laevus

Aulus Iulius Paterculus

   At the start of the meeting, I requested a delay of my presentation on Roman medicine, as I had not yet done enough research for a full introduction to the topic. Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia and N. Octavius Astronomus agreed. A second later, P. Sextius Laevus signed on.

   The conversation turned to the announcement four days earlier by M. Cassius Julianus on the dates for MithraCon the following year (Friday, April 25th to Sunday April 27th, 2025). Sibylla stated that she planned to take more notes next MithraCon, as the conversation had been quite interesting in April 2024. Astronomus likewise recalled the detailed presentations given by Patty and Zoe, and the distance Zoe had travelled to attend. I asked about progress on steps needed to qualify the next MithraCon as a Conventus. Sibylla and Astronomus reported that they and Cassius had discussed venues and looked into the ballroom of the hotel where the majority of MithraCon took place. We agreed that this would require more deliberation, but that having the dates was an important step, allowing people to add it to their plans.

   Laevus said that he would not be able to attend MithraCon, since it would involve too much travel. He did say that one of us could meet with him if we happened to be passing through Albany and called ahead.

   Sibylla mentioned that she would have copies of her newest book Tales of the North at MithraCon. This an irreverent take on Norse myth continuing her earlier book - Norse Mythology...According to Uncle Einar. Sibylla said she might next give Greco-Roman mythology the same treatment.

   We next discussed Saturnalia for the coming December. It was agreed that either Sunday, December 15th or Saturday, December 21st would be good options, but it was left open for everyone, particularly Sibylla as the hostess, to think about further.

    Astronomus announced as the call ended that he was gathering a local in-person Latin group, which hopefully would begin meeting regularly.

Nova Britannia General Meeting: Maius MMDCCLXXVII

Nova Britannia General Meeting: Maius MMDCCLXXVII

Monday, May 6th, MMDCCLXXVII, 7:00 p.m. - 8:24 p.m.

Participants: Publius Sextius Laevus

Numerius Octavius Astronomus

Aulus Iulius Paterculus

Zoe

    This evening started with a recap of MithraCon by N.Octavius Astronomus and Zoe, who had both attended. Astronomus had taken a large collection of photos during that weekend's activities and shared them via Zoom. These included sculptures adorning the Yale Library and artifacts from inside the Yale University Art Gallery, which Astronomus magnified to examine specific details. We spent some time trying to decipher the meanings of the symbols and writing which Astronomus showed us, identifying at least five ancient civilizations referenced by the images outside the library and interpreting a mosaic's depiction of Egypt. 

    Once the review of MithraCon was complete, Zoe left for the evening. Those of us who remained on the call discussed the recently announced plans to start monthly Latin calls under the aegis of the Sodalitas Latinitatis. We tentatively agreed to open the monthly Latin calls which Nova Britannia had already been having to Nova Roma as a whole, providing an option for those who wouldn't be able to attend at 9 a.m. Eastern U.S. time or whose Latin was on a different level.

    There was a brief discussion of the movie Civil War, which P. Sextius Laevus and Astronomus had each seen and recommended highly. Then we ended our conversation for the night.

Nova Britannia General Meeting Aprilis MMDCCLXXVII

Monday, April 22nd, MMDCCLXXVII, 7:00 p.m. - 8:02 p.m.

Participants: Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia

                    Marcus Quintius Clavus

                    Aulus Iulius Paterculus

                    Publius Sextius Laevus

                    Numerius Octavius Astronomus

    When I joined, Sibylla and Quintius were already present and discussing plans for MithraCon, which was to take place the following weekend. Laevus joined shortly afterwards.

   I expressed a bit of concern on behalf of those attending due to the recently publicized disruptions on the Yale campus. Quintius replied that there was no cause for concern and that he was no stranger to protest himself.   Astronomus joined around this time, and conversation turned to meals. Sibylla had a list of what everyone had agreed to bring to the Roman dinner, and compared notes on which restaurant plans would be best for dinner the other night.

    They also talked about planned activities during the day: Sibylla would be spending much of Saturday in the hotel room with Cassius and Patricia, sketching out a modern Mithraic system, while Quintius led the rest of the group to the library, where he would himself do research on regal and Hellenistic Macedonia, as well as catching up on any new resources related to the Roman army acquired by Yale.

    Quintius also mentioned some presentations to take place in early May at the Peabody Museum, including a talk by Eric Cline (author of 1177 B.C. and After 1177 B.C.), which Quintius planned to attend. 

     Sibylla commented on the book by Andrew Fear on Mithras which she had been reading and her plans to talk with Cassius about the possible Mithraic background of Masonry. Quintius doubted any direct line of descent, pointing out that certain features were common to secret societies in general. This led into a discussion comparing and contrasting Mithraism, Masonry, and the cult of Bona Dea, which was brought up by Laevus.

      Astronomus mentioned an observatory around New Haven he hoped one day to visit, which he had learned about while researching potential collaborators for his work. Quintius mentioned a Farmington astronomy club, which had recently given a presentation on meteors to the public.

      Astronomus also shared some pictures he'd taken of the full moon.

      After Zoom kicked us out, only Sibylla, Astronomus, and I returned. Sibylla and Astronomus discussed having an astronomy activity during the weekend of MithraCon, Astronomus reached out to Pupienus to see if he would be attending, and we talked about plans for MithraCon the following year.

Nova Britannia Meeting – Ianuarius MMDCCLXXVII

Participants: Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia

Aulus Iulius Paterculus

Publius Sextius Laevus

Numerius Octavius Astronomus

Marcus Claudius Pupienus Maximus

    The first portion of this meeting was occupied with provincial business.

    Sibylla, who had been close to cancelling MithraCon due to lack of confirmed attendees, stated that the event could be financially viable if we could sign up six paying attendees by the Ides of March, in addition to Sibylla and M. Quintius Clavus. We discussed possible weekends for this gathering and agreed to send messages to Discord and the Main List to interest people.

   M. Claudius stated that he lived in New Hampshire, four hours from New Haven. He also introduced himself, sharing his brief biography.

   We moved onto the provincial requirements and how we could ensure Nova Britannia met them. The two big issues were required message volume on the forum (15 per month by at least 5 citizens) and in-person meetings (at least two per year with at least five resident citizens in attendance). We all agree to post more and Sibylla stated that she would ask Quintius to ask members of Legio III whether some of them would be willing to become nominal members of Nova Roma so that a higher proportion of events could reach the threshold number of local citizens.

   We then talked a little about food - Sibylla was snacking on a horse-shaped gingerbread cookie, and Astronomus gave a positive review to the tahini halva I'd brought for Saturnalia.

   There was a conversation about numismatics, which was a particular topic of interest for Claudius. Claudius said that Roman coins continued in circulation into the Middle Ages. Sibylla mentioned imitation of Roman coins, sometimes creating a "Xerox effect" Claudius also mentioned that he knew someone who found a hoard from the crisis of the third century. Astronomus commented that coins "very fingerprint of the government that made them."

   Then we made plans for presentations for the year: Claudius agreed to present on numismatics in March, Astronomus on astronomy in June or July, Sibylla on spices, and I on Roman medicine on unspecified dates.

After Action Report: Nova Britannia Meeting & Roman Beverage Presentation

After Action Report: Nova Britannia Meeting & Roman Beverage Presentation

Monday, August 14th, 2023, 7:00 p.m. - 7:53 p.m.

Participants: Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia

Numerius Octavius Astronomus

Aulus Iulius Paterculus

   The first eight minutes or so of the meeting were spent on casual conversation, as we waited for any others to arrive. Astronomus was on the train home after a convention. Sibylla's spice business had been very successful.

   I then gave my presentation on Roman beverages, which took about half an hour, divided into sections on wine, posca, water, and beer (roughly their order of popularity in the Roman Empire). There was some give and take during the meeting as well - we talked about the wine and posca served during past and future Nova Britannia events. Sibylla shared some facts about wine exported from the empire.

   After the presentation was over, Astronomus asked about mead and milk as beverages known to the Romans. My research had barely touched on either, but the three of us were able to pool our background knowledge and speculate a bit.

   It was agreed that Astronomus would present at our next general meeting, either on Latin poetry or Roman cartography.

   I touched on plans for the potential Nova Britannia conventus in 2025, asking for a volunteer to go to New Haven to help reserve space in one of the parks. It was proposed that this be done during the 2024 MithraCon.

Information for my presentation was derived from the following sources:

https://pass-the-garum.blogspot.com/2013/09/posca.html

https://mymodernmet.com/what-did-the-romans-eat-drink/

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book=14:chapter=19

Tasting History with Max Miller

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdOPg-4_R60

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40uw6VkWpaI

Weird History:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIFNyh0npAo

Told in Stone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v47GdygZog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rhT7EkTgu0

A Pinch of History:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj0X9TpY5zE

Metraton:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nBVsW0LtQI&list=WL&index=87

After Action Report: MithraCon 2019

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.

After Action Report: MithraCon 2018

Friday, April 6th, 2018
Participants:
Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia (Hostess)
Marcus Quintius Clavus
Marcus Cassius Julianus
Ed
Wenna
Aulus Iulius Paterculus
Quintius & I arrived by car. During the ride, we had a fair amount of discussion. Among other things, Quintius had mentioned recent and upcoming Roman (and Bronze Age) reenactments he was involved in including a “Heroes & Villains” day and CT State Latin Day. He had also recommended a novel, Trampling in the Land of Woe, featuring Alexander the Great & Hephaestion as major characters.
Sibylla had already checked in and set up the room, while Cassius had been delayed by snowstorm along the way down from Maine. We spoke for a little in the room before heading to dinner, and Cassius shared some amazing T-shirts & book bags produced at his copy shop. They depicted the leontecephalus, the lion-headed deity with a role in Mithraism.
Dinner was expected to be at an Indian restaurant, but, to our surprise, it had been replaced by an Afghani establishment. As we had a reservation, we decided to stay and Sibylla called in the two other attendees, Ed & Wenna, who were likewise confused when they arrived.
Much discussion took place during dinner, including of fiction in which large groups of people are sent through time. The restaurant itself had great food, and occasioned some conversation on the interaction between Afghanistan and the Classical world.
After dinner, four of us returned to the hotel, where discussion continued back in the room until around 11 p.m. Sibylla gave a talk about the seven grades of Mithraic initiation and we also touched on other subjects.
Saturday, April 7th, 2018
Additional Participants:
Elizabeth
Mockingbird
The following day we had breakfast at Patricia’s, a restaurant next to the hotel which had become a tradition. Sibylla showed some pictures of a recent trip to northern Italy, including some of historic buildings.
Next, there followed several hours of research at the Sterling library (and at the linked Bass library for part of the group). Sibylla did research for an upcoming work on runes. Cassius found texts on a number of in ancient history and religion. Quintius was researching Alexander, including biography and one analysis of a popular movie. I found a few (basic) works on the Roman military, and book on ancient influences on A Song of Ice & Fire/Game of Thrones.
After the library, Quintus & Cassius went to Yale bookstore, while Sibylla & I returned to the hotel. Shortly thereafter, the group reunited for dinner, joined by Mockingbird & Elizabeth. The was plenty of food, including dates, figs, almonds, grapes, carrots, Caesar salad, olives, feta cheese, and roast chicken. Elizabeth had even
brought homemade spelt bread. After the appetizers and entrée were complete, Cassius also produced some apple turnovers.
Discussion that evening began with more details from Sibylla on Mithraic grades. Everyone discussed their research at the library.
Mockingbird analyzed possible relation of Stonehenge to the phases of the moon. Quintius pointed out different strands in the Bible, and Cassius mentioned upcoming projects related to Etruscans & Hittites.
There were many other subjects which came up as well. Mockingbird and Elizabeth went home soon after dinner was complete, but the discussion again carried on until around 11.
Sunday, April 8th, 2018
Additional Participant: Tera Perry
Since Patricia’s was closed on Sunday for Orthodox Easter, we had breakfast downstairs in the Marriott’s own bistro. After that we packed up the room and conversed in the lobby until shortly before the Yale Art Gallery was set to open.
Tera met us at the gallery, and we toured the Classical wing of the gallery as a group. There had been a few changes since our last visit, and there were some insights into the art, such as Tera’s observation on the development of perspective over time.
In the Dura Europa exhibit, we studied the different artistic styles and modes of dress. Quintius and Tera each commented on the cultural influences visible. Sibylla talked with several groups touring the gallery about Mithraism. We took a picture of the Mithraeum & part of the group to put on the internet before heading home.

MMDCCLXXI (2018) Annual Schedule

  A 2018 schedule for the local Nova Roma group in southern New England has been finalized:
- MithraCon 2018: This well known meeting in New Haven includes research at one of Yale's libraries, a Roman potluck dinner, and a visit to the Dura Europa Mithraeum.
 The registration fee $50 if received by March 20th, and $60 afterwards.
 Friday, April 6, 2018, 7:00 PM to Sunday, April 8, 2018, 12:00 PM at the Courtyard Marriott, 30 Whalley Ave · New Haven, CT
 More information at www.mithracon.org
 - A Roman Day, to be held in Haddam, CT during the summer months
  We will set the agenda for this based on what participants choose to present. A potluck meal of Roman foods has always been part of the  agenda in the past, and we have a tentative volunteer for a
presentation on Roman coins. The date will depend on the availability  of potential attendees. Please let us know your preferences as soon as your schedule for this period is clear.
 - A Saturnalia Celebration in Haddam, CT in December
 This is similar in setup to the Roman Days event; the primary difference is that the weather prevents activities outdoors. Again, time and date will depend on potential attendees.

This list is not necessarily all-inclusive. Several other events have been discussed which may still be added if there is sufficient  interest. In particular, in-person Latin meetings are very likely to happen. If you would like to organize another event in our area, please let me know, or post an announcement to Nova Britannia's local list.

Both citizens and non-citizens are welcome. However RSVPs will be necessary for the finalized events, particularly for those in Haddam, which will take place in a private home thanks to the hospitality of Sibylla Ambrosia Fulvia. We owe it to her to be model guests, including by providing ample forewarning of who will be coming over. Sibylla is also the organizer of MithraCon, and direct contact information for her may be found on that event's website.

The annual plan above has already been forwarded to  Legio III Cyrenaica (https://www.facebook.com/LegionIIICyr), the local Roman army reenactment organization. In return, they have told us about the following events they have planned for the year:
- Their first arms & armor demo at the Worcester Art Museum on April 7, 11:30 and 2.
- Marching in the Kennebunk ME May Day parade with Cassius on May 5.
- A tentative Encampment weekend at Fort at #4 in Charlestown NH, looking at June 9 or 16.

MithraCon Reminder

   Just a reminder to everyone that MithraCon, the New Haven event which for the past 15 years has been devoted to the contemplation of all things Mithraic, is on its way. Don't forget to sign up!

EDIT: MithraCon 15 has been postponed until next year.

Date Set for Next Year's MithraCon

   The 15th MithraCon, the annual convention of Mithraic enthusiasts held in New Haven, has just been scheduled for April 11-13 of next year.
   Having been to this year's convention, I recommend the event to anyone able to afford the registration fee, provided of course that they have an interest in the study of Mithraism. Even without being very familiar with this topic, I was still able to participate in the various activities and other participants were glad answer my questions about the ancient mystery cult.