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→History of Mithra Worship
Mithraic belief likely borrowed from Zoroastrianism, which believed in a cosmic struggle of evil vs. good. Mithra could be involved in the final struggle against evil, but this is not clear. The god was seen as being born or December 25th, where he emerges out of a rock, although several other gods, particularly those associated as sun gods, held that date of birth. This date does likely influence later Christian adoptions as December 25th the birth of Christ. The god Mithra may have also been born of a virgin birth and the importance of communal meals, similar to early Christianity, are some aspects the religions share. The religious order also seems to have a type of hierarchy of power, with local priests and something akin to Bishops and chief leaders within the cult developed as part of the religious order. Nevertheless, aspects of Mithra worshiped within the Roman Empire also borrowed from other Greco-Roman gods, indicating that some adaptation of the original ideas of Mithra had occurred after it was adopted from the original Indo-Persian god.
==History Extent of Mithra Worship== Although Mithra was worshiped in regions as far as India and Scotland, the extent of how widely spread within populations and how much of a true rival the religion was to other emerging religions like Christianity is not agreed upon by scholars. There are hundreds of Mithra temples scattered throughout the Roman Empire. It seems to have been a religion that was brought to the Empire by Roman soldiers station in the eastern part of the empire, who then became influenced by the worship of this god in the Parthian and later Sassanian empires. The god was also very popular in Indian and Iran, while Mithra was likely combined with earlier sun gods in the Near East, including Shamash and Ba'al.
==Decline of Mithra==
