FOUND 40ft under ruins: Ancient 'black magic' pagan worship room built by mysterious cult

a reply to: SLAYER69

Cool thread (again), thanks.

Quick question though, was this actually built 40ft underground or was it (and i consider this more likely) 40ft under current ground levels? Most of ancient Rome is well below ground level. Just look at Nero's palace (currently underneath a park in Rome). At the time of construction, it was located at ground level.

As to the topic, i have actually just finished reading a book (pure fiction) about Pythagoras and his cult although there is some historical content (from the little we know). In very crude terms, they basically liked to get off their heads and shoot the fat about life, the universe and everything. In that respect, they were basically a group of hippy professors / lecturers.

There certainly does seem to be much evidence that Pythagoras was a bit of an Eddison in that he did very well from the work of others. Still got a lot of respect for him though - at this period my forebears will still have been living in huts and hunting animals (North England). Ok, they may have been good at metalwork but they weren't coming up with mathematical equations and picking apart the known world!

a reply to: SLAYER69

I would love to visit this place. It sounds amazing.

originally posted by: rukia
a reply to: SLAYER69

I would love to visit this place. It sounds amazing.

Lets go then!
I would love to see it.
a holidays?

originally posted by: SLAYER69

Now if there were ever a Cult that would have been interesting to see or investigate that's the one I'd check out*

*Not join, just check out...

"CUlT
?!" That's a ridiculous term. You mean, "Order" or "Group."
"Cults" ignore science and philosophy in favor of fairy tales and seperatism.

Good luck finding a group or order NOT influenced by them.
We ALL are.
To NOT be would be rather ignorant and 100% against the point to begin with.

originally posted by: Flavian
As to the topic, i have actually just finished reading a book (pure fiction) about Pythagoras and his cult although there is some historical content (from the little we know). In very crude terms, they basically liked to get off their heads and shoot the fat about life, the universe and everything. In that respect, they were basically a group of hippy professors / lecturers.

Most of what we know about Pythagoras was gleaned from his biographer Iamblichus writing some 700 years later. Hardly reliable and highly romanticised, but from that, Pythagoras comes across as a strict ascetic, following a very disciplined code of conduct including prolonged periods of meditation. Most everyone could be given access to the general gatherings and invited to share their views and opinions freely. Pythagoras himself would mingle anonymously, observing and listening. Evidently, he was particularly interested in how a person carried themselves and how they laughed, these expressions he felt most honestly reflected an individuals character. In this way, he selected those who displayed aptitude for mathematics and displayed the character he felt worthy to receive further instruction, and/or initiation into the order. The key emphasis was on the difference between secular and sacred mathematics, and the doctrine of metempsychosis.

Apart from his heavy consumption of poppy seeds, I don't think there is much evidence to suggest that they got off their faces on a regular basis as a means of facilitating discourse. For initiation, they appear to have used the old, tried and tested method of a night in the cave, sensory deprivation, alternated with stimuli, to scare the merry bejesus out of them, and seperate the men from the boys...as it were.

Hellenistic influence or descendants of greeks? Romans were admirers of hellenic architecture, also there were greeks amongst the romans during that era. Later the Byzantine empire rose up & that was half greek & half roman empire. In south of italy was where most of the hellenes were, i tried to find where its located? Im curious due to the names Achilles & plato thats why im thinking maybe hellenic influence?

Thanks for posting Op

I found a little film on You Tube, it's amateur - and the music is annoying - but quite a tantalising poke around in the dark, for those of us who like that sort of thing.





This is cool too...



...but confirms, as I expected, that I wouldn't have gotten through the door

I'm quite taken with this fella...



...if you can ignore the intermittent rants about creationists.

People who can explain "maths" contextually (to me), and well, are like rocking horse #.

Nice

First off, thanks for the awesome thread and link! S&F!

Pythagoras is widely regarded as the first mathematician as well as an influential philosopher. The theorem for which he is known has validity across many fields and disciplines; classical philosophy not withstanding. In the classical sense, there isn't much of a leap from philosophy to religion, and the theorem proves true again and again. Extrapolating it into nature is not a leap by any means, nor does it further remove it from the idea of religion. In fact - again with regards to the classical sense - it is brought closer to religion.

So it is not so surprising that a cult sprang from Pythagoras. It was not taboo for a "cult" such as this to exist in this period. The definitions and attitudes of our time are not relevant. In that time, this was commonplace.

The cult in the article followed a belief system based on the teachings of Pythagoras and Plato, who was extremely influential religiously, philosophically and politically.Neopythagoreanism was a mystery religion, not unlike early Christianity.

I could continue on some kind of tirade, but really, this isn't a "weird" thing by the standards of the time. It may have been exclusive, but that lends more to the idea of a secret society, which is also something of a modern misnomer when considering the ancient period. (Or is it?)

I thought some here would find this interesting.

As always
Stay tuned...

It seems no one wants to actually read the article, so to summarize: The problem with this particular cult was that they claimed the emperor was just human and not divine. That's why even though cults were accepted at the time, this one had to meet secretly underground. It was 40 ft below back then, not just now that it's buried. The emperor's mother got wind of it and accused them of black magic, for which they were persecuted. Hence, the title of the article has "black magic" in quotes - as in "so-called 'black magic,'" or "alleged 'black magic.'"

Is it "black magic" or mystery school like modern equivalent of Freemasons?

Mystery basilica under Porta Maggiore opens to the public
In April of 1917, construction of the Rome-Cassino railroad line just outside the gates of the Porta Maggiore on the Via Praenestina in Rome was halted by a cave-in. The cause turned out to be the collapse of an ancient roof of a building nobody knew was under their feet. As it happens, most ancient Romans probably had no idea it was under their feet either. It was deliberately built about seven or eight meters (23-26 feet) below the level of the ancient Via Praenestina in the early decades of the 1st century A.D. and constructed in such a way as to give little indication that something was going on down there.

www.thehistoryblog.com...

en.wikipedia.org...

www.livius.org...

The Porta Maggiore carried the canals of the aqueducts known as Aqua Claudia and Anio Novus (which were built between 38 and 52 CE). Where they crossed the Via Labicana and Via Praenestina, the arches of the aquaducts were included in a monumental gate of travertine, close to the Tomb of Eurysaces. At this monumental gate, the ancient roads left Rome.

Ancient-Warfare.com, the online home of Ancient Warfare magazine

I think it may have been a tomb

www.ancient-wisdom.com...

The red paint could it have been ochre?

originally posted by: MoreInterior
It seems no one wants to actually read the article, so to summarize: The problem with this particular cult was that they claimed the emperor was just human and not divine. That's why even though cults were accepted at the time, this one had to meet secretly underground. It was 40 ft below back then, not just now that it's buried. The emperor's mother got wind of it and accused them of black magic, for which they were persecuted. Hence, the title of the article has "black magic" in quotes - as in "so-called 'black magic,'" or "alleged 'black magic.'"

Agreed...with an itsy-bitsy little quibble, not a quibble even, a tweak perhaps. The underground-ness may have been in part about maintaining secrecy but also because of the chthonic nature of their practices.

Hardly worth mentioning, I know, but...

That's really cool. (I also watched the video on the page and it had absolutely nothing to do with the findings, so that was kind of annoying lol)

I wish there were more pictures!!! It always seems like people want to hog the information to themselves.

Share, share, share. Greedy buttheads.

Good find!

originally posted by: Stormdancer777
www.ancient-wisdom.com...

The red paint could it have been ochre?

When found there were 7000 bodies! Hate to spend a night in there, eh?