Cautes

Cautes is one of the two torch-bearing attendants commonly depicted in Mithraic art, a Roman-era mystery religion centered on the god Mithras. Along with Cautopates, Cautes appears in reliefs and inscriptions from Mithraea across the Roman Empire, dating roughly from the 1st to the 4th centuries CE. The exact origins of the figure are not known from textual sources; the name Cautes is attested on monuments and is explained in various scholarly interpretations.

In typical iconography, Cautes stands beside Mithras with a long torch held upright, its flame pointing upward, while Cautopates stands on the opposite side bearing a torch held downward. This paired presentation has led scholars to connect the figures with solar symbolism, the passage of time, or the cycle of day and night. Some interpretations describe Cautes as representing the rising or youthful sun and Cautopates as representing the setting or mature sun, though the precise meanings remain a matter of scholarly debate.

As ritual attendants, the two figures flank the central Mithras figure in the tauroctony scene on many reliefs and are part of the broader symbolic program of Mithraic iconography. They are not described in contemporary literary sources; most information about them comes from archaeological and iconographic analysis of Mithraic monuments. Their presence underscores the ritual and cosmic symbolism characteristic of Mithraism in the Roman world.