Porta Maggiore

gate, Rome, Italy

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In mystery religion: Roman imperial times
…the underground basilica near the Porta Maggiore (Major Gate) at Rome. There was also a blend of ideas in the community for which the Orphic hymns were written. The members of this community (probably in Asia Minor) assembled at night in a clubhouse and held their services by the light…
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In mystery religion: Reliefs
…in the subterranean basilica near Porta Maggiore are of outstanding quality. In the central episode, Sappho—an early Greek poetess who supposedly killed herself in a “lover’s leap” from the island of Leucas into the Ionian Sea—is shown leaping toward Apollo, the god of the sun; this symbolized the soul’s transcendence…
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