Mrs F has raised an interesting theory that maybe we are seeing the remnants of Mithraism in the Spanish tradition of bullfighting.
It has been argued that when the Romans conquered Spain they brought with them the Cult of Mithras and the central iconic act of killing the sacred bull later developed into modern Spanish bullfighting.
Other scholars argue that when the Emperor Claudius put a temporary ban on gladiator games he decided to introduce bullfights to Spain because they were similar to their human-animal games held in amphitheaters.
It is worth pointing out that many of the oldest bullrings in Spain are actually located on or adjacent to the sites of temples to Mithras.
The bull was also worshipped in many cultures but in Crete (Minoan culture) it was never killed. In ancient Egypt, the sacred Apis bull however was sacrificed. The Ptolemaic pharaohs during the 3rd century BC forced the Egyptians to make their religion both accessible and understandable to other cultures. Perhaps the Cult of Mithras had assimilated the Egyptian cult of the Apis Bull.
