Franz Cumont

Franz Cumont (1868–1947) was a Belgian historian and archaeologist, one of the leading scholars of ancient religion. Professor at the University of Ghent, he made his name with a monumental study of the texts and monuments of the mysteries of Mithras, and he went on to write The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism, studies of astrology and of funerary symbolism, and reports on the excavations at Dura-Europos in Syria. After resigning his chair in 1910, he worked independently, mainly in Rome and Brussels. His work transformed the understanding of religion in the Roman Empire.