“Sol Invictus” is Latin for the Unconquered Sun. The concept is an essential element in the pagan Mithraic religion which was introduced into the Roman world in the second half of the First Century AD and which had a special appeal to the upper ranks of the Roman army. The religion was elitist, no women could become members and believers were subjected to tests before being permitted to progress to higher rank. The appeal of Mithraism was largely due to the God being a personal god as distinct from the impersonal, distant deities of the state religion. Mithras was also an actionful God – the enemies of the good were to be struck down, quite the opposite of the beliefs of the Christian faith which appeared at about the same time.

There are two Sun elements in Mithraism. The God associates with Helios the Sun God – but it is always Mithras who in the records which have come down to us is called Sol Invictus. It has been suggested by scholars that the difference lies in Helios being the Sun which is seen in the sky while Mithras is a hypercosmic God who exists in the realms beyond the stars. While this is not the place for a dissertation on Mithraism, the shield reproduced here portrays many of the elements of the religion – although being such a secretive religion certainly no such shield would ever have been used in battle although perhaps it might have adorned the walls of one of the very small Mithraic assembly places – the Mithraea. Notice the prominent sunburst behind Mithras’ head. This appeared in most of the pieces of statuary from Mithraea which survived the depredations by other religions and the passage of two millennia.

So Sol Invictus is a link with the Roman re-enactment which I have referred to in my autobiography. At the same time, the name links very smoothly to my astrophotography, in which imaging of the Sun is prominent. A hydrogen alpha image of the Sun, which shows much detail in the solar chromosphere appears here – in higher resolution than in the masthead