The Neo-Pythagoreans at the Porta Maggiore in Rome

Published: Sept. 1, 2009, 12:31 a.m.

In the early twentieth century Roman crews were excavating for a new railway station when they came across a small vaulted basilica, about fifty feet underground. Notwithstanding its diminutive size (thirty by thirty-six feet), the find was extraordinary. Built sometime between the first century BCE and the first century CE, its walls are adorned with stucco bas-reliefs depicting mythological and mystery school themes, including those connected with the Neopythagoreans. It appears to have been a meeting place and perhaps an initiatory chamber for these Mysteries. This podcast introduces listeners to the significance of this archaeological record of the Pythagorean Tradition. The reader is Juanita Ortiz.