been found in any mithraeum for the "omomi" (haoma, soma) cult associated by Plutarch with the Persian Arimanios ritual. Most scholars doubt that Mithraists actually preserved the doctrine of Persian magi, despite their appeals to their authority, but the name Arimanius is difficult to separate from the Persian tradition of Ahriman; nevertheless the association of Mithras with an ostensibly undefeated evil god has been dismissed by many scholars as inherently implausible. However implausible the toleration of an evil god, the inscription Deo Areimanio (to the God Areimanius) is indeed found on a few altars to Mithras, but without any description that would link that name with a particular image. There are five high-quality dedications to Arimanius found throughout the Roman Empire, but none are on any of the many images of the Mithraic lion-headed figure. The text of the dedications suggest that in a Mithraic context Arimanius was not conceived of as an evil being, however formidable. Gordon remarks: “the real point is surely that we know nothing of any importance about the western Areimanius.” Occultist D.J. Cooper conjectures that the lion-headed figure does not depict a god, but rather symbolically represents the spiritual state achieved in the Leo degree – Mithraism’s “adept” level. If so, it would be yet another reason to un-link the name Arimanius from the lion-headed figure. Roman Britain A mutilated statue found at York has a fragmentary dedicatory inscription that has been read as containing the name Arimanius. The figure seems to be entwined with a serpent. At one time it was conjectured that it represented the lion-headed god of Mithraism, or some form of Aion. But since Arimanius could also be a Romano-Celtic personal name, it is uncertain whether the inscription refers to the god represented by the statue, or to the person who made the votive dedication. No other Mithraic objects were found near the statue, nor was its head; any leonine features are speculative. Footnotes See also Aion Ares’ names and epithets Aryaman Ahriman Mithraism's lion-headed figure Zoroastrianism References External links Hellenistic deities Deities of classical antiquity Mithraism Evil gods