Plutarch recounts that Pompey's army ran across Mithraism when he campaigned in the east in the mid 60's BC. Yet, the Romans had been active in Asia Minor since the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BC. For much of the intervening time they were allied with the great trading centers of Rhodes and Pergamum. It is a well established fact that ideas travel along trade routes along with the actual trade items. Mithraism, which flourished in Rome as the cult of Sol Invictus, was popular among the army and the merchant classes.
Go figure.
Go figure.
