The bishopric of Cabra occupied the central area of the former Conventus Astigitanus, one of the four judicial and fiscal demarcations (conventus) in which the Roman province of Baetica was divided. This bishopric occupied a territory smaller than the bishopric of Córdoba, and unlike the latter, the mining activity in Cabra seems to have been scarce, with agriculture and livestock being the main economic activities. For more than ten years we have been studying the ancient archaeological landscape of this bishopric. In fact, we published the first scholarly studies that approached the topography and the primitive Christian architecture of this area. These studies are the basis of this chapter, to which have been added some recent archaeological developments. We still have much to learn, but the data we do know allow us to reconstruct with some certainty the ecclesiastical landscape of Late Antiquity in the territory of practically the whole bishopric.

The Outskirts of the City of Cabra

We know virtually nothing about the episcopal seat of Cabra, mainly because the excavations in the area are almost non-existent. We believe that as a bishopric and an administrative centre, Cabra must have had its buildings dedicated to religious and civil administration, i.e. an episcopium and a palatium. However, we know nothing of them. In fact, little is known of the city and its organization (although a thorough analysis of the urban plot provides us with an interesting working hypothesis). Leaving Cabra, and moving towards the great Roman road linking Córdoba and Málaga, we can find a well-known Roman villa: Mithra. During the harvesting of the land, a major sculpture was discovered by chance. It was the representation of Mithra Tauroktonos. Three interesting things should be mentioned in relation to this sculpture: a) it is true that its discovery has been widely published and studied, but always from the perspective of art history, not archaeology; b) the sculpture did not appear in isolation, but together with a Dionysus, an Eros Sleeping, and a fountain statue of a Boy with a Hare, yet the group as a whole has received very little attention, with all studies focusing on the Mithra; c) even less attention has been paid to how these pieces were found.