The Mysteries of Mithra (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

In this pioneering 1902 work of historical-religious scholarship, the author sifts through ancient artifacts and texts to trace the rise of the Eastern religion of Mithra—the Zoroastrian divinity of oath and covenant—throughout the Roman Empire and its spread among the Roman legions. He compares and contrasts Mithraism with the competitor that eclipsed it: Christianity.