I don't recall them making that claim....but the image of the bull being slaughtered above and blood cascading down seems like a mithraic rite... not that such details ever slow down the dramatic license of film-makers.
IIRC there was an amusing wrinkle on the whole Cybele story because the cult was actually intentionally imported into Rome towards the end of the Second Punic War for divine "help" against Carthage. The story goes that whoever gave the report on the Cybelline cult forgot ( or ignored ) the fact that the priests had to be castrated which was a non-starter for Roman citizens ( and me too.) Someone eventually did come up with the idea of using a bull's balls as a substitute.
Tough on the bull, though.
IIRC there was an amusing wrinkle on the whole Cybele story because the cult was actually intentionally imported into Rome towards the end of the Second Punic War for divine "help" against Carthage. The story goes that whoever gave the report on the Cybelline cult forgot ( or ignored ) the fact that the priests had to be castrated which was a non-starter for Roman citizens ( and me too.) Someone eventually did come up with the idea of using a bull's balls as a substitute.
Tough on the bull, though.
