ABSTRACT
In all the religions of classical antiquity there is one feature which, while formerly very conspicuous and perhaps the most important of all for the faithful, has to-day almost totally disappeared. The old Gathas composed in honor of the Mazdean gods were translated into Greek during the Alexandrian epoch, and Greek remained for a long time the language of the Mithraic cult, even in the Occident. The role of the clergy was certainly more extensive than in the ancient Greek and Roman religions. The Mithraic communities were not only brotherhoods united by spiritual bonds; they were also associations possessing juridic existence and enjoying the right of holding property. For the management of their affairs and the care of their temporal interests, they elected officers, who must not be confounded either with the initiates or the priests.
