Search Results: Sol invictus

Silver leaf disc dedicated to the sun god Sol. Sol is crowned with rays. Two horses appear behind his shoulders. From Pessinus (Bala-Hissar, Asia Minor), in modern-day Turkey. Roman period, 3rd century CE. The British Museum, London.

Constantine I (Flavius Valerius Constantinus) was Roman emperor from 306-337 CE and is known to history as Constantine the Great for his conversion to Christianity in 312 CE and his subsequent Christianization of the Roman Empire. His conversion...

The remains of the Huaca del Sol pyramid at Moche, Peru. The huge ceremonial mound had four tiers and was constructed using over 140 million adobe bricks. Reaching a height of 50 metres, the site was used for religious and state ceremonies.

Among the many gods of the Romans, Jupiter, the son of Saturn, was the supreme god, associated with thunder, lightning, and storms. The first citizens of what would become Rome believed they were watched over by the spirits of their ancestors...

Aurelian was Roman emperor from 270 to 275 CE. He was one of the so-called Barracks Emperors, chosen by the Roman army during the turbulent period known as the Crisis of the Third Century (235-284 CE). Besides victories against various invading...

The Mithraic Mysteries, also known as Mithraism, were a mystery cult in the Roman world where followers worshipped the Indo-Iranian deity Mithras (Akkadian for "contract") as the god of friendship, contract and order. The cult first appeared...

Helios (also Helius) was the god of the Sun in Greek mythology. Helios rode a golden chariot which brought the Sun across the skies each day from the east (Ethiopia) to the west (Hesperides). Helios was famously the subject of the Colossus...

Constantine I, aka Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from 306 to 337 CE. Realizing that the Roman Empire was too large for one man to adequately rule, Emperor Diocletian (284-305 CE) split the empire into two, creating a tetrachy or...

Saint Valentine’s Day, or simply Valentine’s Day, is celebrated on the 14th of February, almost internationally but primarily in western societies. It is a commemorative Christian feast for some but a secular occasion for others who see it...

The Moche civilization (also known as the Mochica) flourished along the northern coast and valleys of ancient Peru, in particular, in the Chicama and Trujillo Valleys, between 1 CE and 800 CE. The Moche state spread to eventually cover an...