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 The CATACOMBS of Rome 
 
 A LECTURE 
 
 BY ' 
 
 . REU. C, A. CAMPBELL, Ph.D., D. D. 
 
 1896. 
 Printed by J. F POWER, 169 Harrington St., 
 HALIFAX, N. S. 
 
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 Page 9, line 1, for Mamniouth read Maimiioth. 
 " 13, line 25, "God has reserved himself for a 
 erown," read, "it has reserved itself for a crown of the Lord." 
 Page 15, line 6, distraction read destruction. 
 
 9, miniatrel, " minstrel, . ! 
 
 3, custome, " custom, > 
 
 9, guides, " guide, 
 
 12, Augustus' " Augustuses 
 12, Constantine. read Constantine 
 9, disguise " disguise. 
 
 17, know " knew 
 
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 . ' V. ''■ 
 
 ^/rrf I THE CATACOMBS OF ROME. i%-,^ 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 I invite you this evening to accompany me in your 
 imaginations to scenes far removed, both in point of dis- 
 tance and in point of time, from those which surround us* 
 Yet I trust the journey will not prove an unpleasant or 
 unprofitable one, for the point to which I would lead you 
 is Rome, and the scenes that I would bring before your 
 minds form part of the real life of Christians who lived, 
 suffered, and died, even as early as eighteen hundred years 
 ago. And nobody, I am persuaded, who has paid any 
 attention to the history of bygone nations, has dwelt at*- ^ 
 the history of Rome /v^ithout a special interest. When, 
 for the first time, our young minds were directed to the 
 study of ancient history, one of the first things that settled 
 themselves deeply intoour memory, was the story of Romulus 
 and Remus ; and, as our minds matured, we still turned 
 to the history of Rome with interest ; not indeed from a 
 childlike love of legendary story, but from the real import- 
 ance attaching to that city, which from a few huts on the 
 hanks of the Tiber, sprang to be the mistre&s and metro- 
 polis of the world. We saw how the Roman nation 
 
4 THE CATACOMBS. ;^ - ^^f 
 
 developed and expanded, drawing unto itself the neighboui - 
 ing tribes, and extending its influence p-nd its conquests to 
 the peoples beyond the Mediterranean, along the shores 
 of the Bosphrus, to the regions of the Rhine and the Seine, 
 and even to the distant Britain ; till the known world 
 became, in great part, subject to its sway, and Rome 
 itself became the temple of the gods its subjugated peoples 
 adored. But that city, rich with the spoils of a hundred 
 conquered peoples, polished with all the refinement of 
 pagan civilization, and unnerved by the luxury and vice 
 accompanying the undisputed possession of wealth and 
 power, we at length see her become the scene of a new 
 religion and a new civilization. The teaching of the 
 Crucified One of Nazarcith are being preached in the strong- 
 hold of Paganism, and Rome recognizes within her walls a 
 society that threatens to revolutionize the existing state 
 of things. What followed we all well know ; and whoever 
 has read of the struggle carried on in Rome between the 
 pagan power and the Christian Church, has become ac- 
 quainted with the name of the catacombs. He has learned 
 that that name is inseperably associated with the histtry 
 of Christian heroism, and that all through the dark period 
 which preceded the peace given to the Church under the 
 first Christian Emperor, Co'nstantine, the Catacombs were 
 almost the only place wherein the Christians could meet to 
 worship God in common. Still, comparatively few poeple 
 
: , ,' THE CATACOMBS 5 
 
 have ever had an oppcjrliinity of fonniii^' a clear idea 
 
 • what tlie Catacoiul)s have been, and now are, or wluit has 
 1)een tlieir precise relation to the Christian Church. I sh.all 
 
 y thiH evening endeavcnir to treat t>f the Catacombs in such a 
 way as to answer the principal questions that people 
 would naturally ask concerning them. Owing to the fact, 
 however, that the Catacombs are associated with the 
 religious life of the early Christians, it is impossible to ac- 
 (juaint you of them, without, at the same time, speaking of 
 some of these monuments still abounding therein, in which 
 
 . the religious lielief of the early Christians is more or less 
 clearly revesded. In order, therefore, to keep, as far as 
 
 : the nature of my subject will permit, on neutral grounds, I 
 shall make it a point to narrate facts, and paint scenes 
 
 ;, rather than analyze or interpret them. 
 
 The Catacombs lie outside the walls, and encircle the 
 whole city. They are ccnitained within the limits of a 
 more or less determined zone which at no point is more 
 than • two miles beyond the present walls, known as the 
 walls of Marcus Aurelius. While they almost form a 
 circle around the city, tliey are not, however, equally dis- 
 tribfUted on all sides. They are situated on the old Roman 
 roads, and, as a rule, ar(i more numerous on those sides of 
 the city Irom which the greater number of roads branch 
 out. Chief amongst these old roads are : the Flaminian 
 Way, which now starts from the Porta del popoio, Init at 
 
() ' ■ •. THE CATACOMS. •• V 
 
 first started from the Porta Rutamena, a litth? below tlie 
 capitol, ami terminates at Rimini, on the Adriatic coast : 
 the Salarian Way, by which communication was kept u[) 
 between Rome and the Sabines ; the Nt»mentan \\X>% 
 which leaves the Porta Pia and runs out to Mentana and 
 Monte Rotondo, where in olden times it joined with the 
 ^Salarian Way ; the Tiburtine Way, which leaves the present 
 Porta San Lorenzo and extends to Tivoli, the ancient Tibur; 
 tlie well-known Appian Way, which connected Rome with 
 IJrindisium, or the modern Brindisi, the great port of 
 Rome's commerce with the East ; and the Ostian way, which 
 connected Rome with her port at the mouth of the Tiber. 
 
 The Catacombs known in the region I have indi- 
 cated are about forty in number, and arc of two classes. 
 The class which interests us most, as regards both number 
 and monumental importance, comprises those which, 
 though private in the beginning, expanded in the cwurse 
 of time, passed over to the administration of the Church, 
 and finally became public buria^ places. To the second 
 class belong those which always retained their private 
 character, and may therefoie be called family cemeteries. 
 Of these forty Catacombs about thirty give sulficient 
 e\idence of having been public, while the remain- 
 ing ten, or thereabouts, never passed out of the hands of 
 the first, or private owners. 
 
 I have said that about forty Catacombs encircle the 
 
I * ■ THK CATACOMBS. 7 
 
 city of Rome, and are situated on the old Roman roatis ; 
 and I hesitate not to conclude that some, perhaps many, of 
 my hearers have already imagined themselves strolling (m 
 the suburbs of Rome, about a mile beyond its old walls, 
 and turning from side to side as they pass, to gaze upon the 
 hillocks formed of the clay thrown up long centuries ago 
 from the Catacombs, and to peer occasionally into a deep 
 cavity haunted by the memories of a thousand dead. But 
 no ; our fancy frequently deludes us, until it has been 
 repeatedly called to order by the stern voice of the real. 
 
 ^ Nothing is more common with young enthusiasts than to 
 hurl all the wonders of antiquity into one scene, over which 
 they may muse. After having read of Rome's antiquites, 
 they imagine that if they visited Rome, they could sit on 
 
 , the ruins of the Capitol, and take in at a glance everything 
 of interest that ancient and medieval times have trans- 
 V' mitted to us — the Palace of the Caesars, the Baths, the 
 Aquaducts, the Prisons, the Forum, the Colosseum, the 
 Catacombs, St. Peter's, and a long line of other wonders. 
 But this, you will easily understand, is, in great measure, a 
 delusion. These monuments are scattered over a large sur- 
 face, with quarters of the city, and tlie bustle of city life 
 intervening, and in some cases, with the encroachments of 
 modern life cVianging whatever of them was once visible. 
 In many cases, therefore you must submit to the services of 
 a guide ; and especially is this true with regard to the 
 
8 THE CATAC!0>IBS. 
 
 (-atacombs. You may walk around the sul»url)s and enjoy 
 yourself with other sights ; you may see pati-lies of Indian 
 corn, of turnip and cabbage ; you may see small vini^yards 
 with bowers attached, wherein a rough bench and an equally 
 rough table supply the comforts of the passer-by who desires 
 to quench his thirst with a half-measure of wine; you may 
 ascend low hills, and cross over narrow intervening valleys, 
 where herds of large, mouse-coloured cattle feed upon the 
 luxuriant natural grass, before July's sun has seared it ; or 
 you may stroll along the white, dusty roads, and find 
 amusement in watching the country people with their 
 strange vehicles and fantastic costumes, as they bring their 
 vegetables to market ; or the milkman, dressed in sheep- 
 skin knickerbockers and apron, as he returns from the 
 city with his herd of well-milked goats. You may see all 
 this, but unless you have somebody to point them out, you 
 will pass over the Catacombs repeatedly, without observing 
 anything that will indicate their site. 
 
 They are situated under small hills, or, at least, elevated 
 grounds. Evidently this site was chosen as a precaution 
 against the damage they migh^. otherwise suffer from water 
 accumulating within them. In some the entrance is from 
 the surface, by a narrow stairway ; in others, however, it is 
 from the side of the hill. Having entered, you will probably 
 be surprised how narrow and low your surroundings are. 
 You had pictured to yourself something more spacious — 
 
j 
 
 THE CATACOMBS. 
 
 something after the manner of the Mammouth cave — large 
 Jialls where numeroUvS congregations couki easily find room ; 
 and now yon see the roof only two feet or so '>b< /e your 
 head, and without extending your arms to their tud length 
 you can touch the side walls simultaneously with your hands. 
 No ; there are no very spacious apartments in the Catacombs. 
 The open space within them is made up of galleries, or 
 corridors, such as I have described, which open now and 
 then into small cuhicula, or chambers. These chambers 
 vary in size as well as in design and finish. The absence 
 of a well detorniined plan in the formation of the Catacombs 
 is one of the first things that strike you. You can seldom 
 proceed far in the same direction ; you have frequently to 
 turn to the right or to the left, and occasionally you find 
 yourself at the confluence of two or more galleri<;s, or at the 
 jtoint of intersection of two that cut each other at right 
 angles. An ascent or descent of two or three feet, over 
 stei»s roughly cut out of the hard earth, has to Vje made 
 from time to time ; Jind you seldom go fnr in any direction 
 without reachinsj one of those chambers to which I have 
 already made reference. The <levif»u8 windings of the 
 galleries, together with their frequent intersectings, render it 
 unsafe, especially in the case of the larger Catacombs, to 
 enter without a guide. The greater number have three 
 stories, while 'ome have as many as five, and even six. The 
 lowest known point is eighty feet below the surface, and is 
 
10 THE CATACOMBS, 
 
 in the Catacombs of Callixtus, on the Appian Way. How- 
 ever, these stories are not situated in the same rtilation to 
 one another as they are in a dwelling house* The nature of 
 the soil would render such excavations impossible. The 
 stories are connected one' with another by stairways. It is 
 thought by some archeologists tliat the narrow galleries and 
 stairways did not enter into the original plan of the Cata- 
 C(unl)s, but that at first they consisted only of di^tached 
 crypts of the saints and some? cells, which, owing to the 
 growing need of burial s[)ace, were finally extended and 
 connected by the i)resent galleries. 
 
 In these dark undergvouml vaults and galleries, there- 
 fore, the early Christians found a burial place. On both 
 sides as you pass along the narrow halls you see the graves 
 cut tier above tier, out of the dry, jxnous tufa granulare, 
 in which most of the Catacombs of the Roman Campagna 
 are excavated. They are of all demensions from those of a 
 full grown man down to those of an infant. Being cut out of 
 the perpendicular wall, they (^pen, as you may easily under- 
 stand, from the aide ; ajid the marble slab that closes the.m, 
 and bears the sei>ulchral inscri])tion, stands on its edge, and 
 faces over ihe tomb on a plane with the wall. This is the 
 common form of tomb in the Catacombs, and is found, not 
 only in the walls of tln^ narnjw galleries, but also in those 
 chamV)ers in which burial was permitted. The saints and 
 martyrs were usually buried in tlie chambers, and the place 
 
THE CATACOMBS. 11 
 
 took the iiaiiK-' of the iiiost distinguished saint therein in 
 teried. lu fact, the erypt of a saint soon became the centre 
 of a Htth^- necropoHs, and was the point from which the for 
 niation of the surrounding cemetery ])egan. Burial beside 
 tlie tombs, iind in the crypts of the saints, was regarded as a 
 great favor by tlie faithful, and though many sought it, few 
 o})tained \t:-ilhdti Cu'piun(t) et. rari accipiu7i(t) as a certain 
 grave-digger who, however, had o])tained the honoured place, 
 informs us in his own epitaph. Besides the kind of tomb 
 that I have just described, there is another known as the 
 Arcosoliv7n, or arched tomb. A deep excavation in the 
 f(>rm of an arch, is made in tlie wall, beginning about three 
 feet from the base. The grave, or graves, are then dug out 
 of the horizontal surfa(;e that forms the base of the arch, and 
 the corpses, instead of being i)ut in from a side opening, as 
 is the case in the oth(!r species of tomb, are let down from 
 above ; so tliat you can lean in over them and look down up- 
 on the marble slab that covers them, or, if the slab be no 
 longer in its phice, on whatever relics of the dead that 
 remain. The back and roof of the arch are generally 
 covered with frescoes. 
 
 The great majority of the tombs, or whichsoever form 
 they be, are now open, the slabs that closed them having 
 fallen down, or V)een carried away, and you can see what- 
 ever the ravishes of time and men have left of the early 
 Christians' mortal coil : which is seldom more than a little 
 
l:i THE CATACOMBS. 
 
 dust and some pieces of bones Many however, still 
 remain as the hand of the grave-digger left thorn. Still, 
 visitors generally manage to find some small ajK^rture, 
 where the mason-work has fallen away, through which to 
 introduce a burning taper, by the light of which they can 
 see the skeleton within. Naturally ; ou find more of the 
 human remains in the closed tombs. The skull bone and 
 the larger bones of the body lie embedded in the brown 
 clay, which has assumed an ashy appearance from its com- 
 laingling with human dust. From the position of the 
 disjointed members it can be seen that the corpse was laid 
 supinely in the tomb, with the arms extended at full length 
 by its sides, and that in the greater number of cases, it 
 was covered, from head to foot, with a thin layer of lime. 
 Next to the body was a light linen garment, over 
 tliis was the layer of lime, and enclosing all, and 
 keeping the lime in its place, was a second covering of 
 heavier material. Not all, however, were buried in this 
 way, for sufficient evidence isli.td that in some cases they were 
 enclosed in noble and costly garments, the threads of gold 
 with whivih they were interwoven being sometimes dis 
 tinguishable. In the year 1845, there was discovered in 
 the Catacombs of St. Kermes, on the old Salarian Way, 
 the closed tomb of the Martyr St. Hyacinth, wlio was 
 burnt to death, together with his brother Pri)tus, in the 
 persecution of the Emperor Valerian. On its being opened. 
 
v:\;':-'': ■■'■•'■, V' ..'_".';'.■ ■ the catacombs. ;^ ■'■.'. .:;'-;^''-\'-;'"^,' 13 
 
 there were found within traces of ashes and burnt bones, 
 intermingled with the remains of threads of gold belong- 
 ing to the rich mantle in which the faithful had enveloped the 
 precious relics they had snatched from the fla.mes. The 
 remains were removed to the Church of the Propaganda 
 College, where they are preserved under a side altar. The 
 rings of bronze or more precious metals, which they had 
 worn in life, were not always removed from the hands of 
 
 the dead, and are sometimes found hanging to the fingers 
 of the skeleton. 
 
 It would carry me too far from the plan of my 
 discourse to stop here to describe the funerals of the 
 early Christians. I shall merely say, that psalms and 
 hymns were sung over the corpse, and that, when the 
 times permitted, it was accompanied to the tomb by the 
 faithful carrying lighted candles and torches. When the 
 tomb was closed flowers and green boughs and aromatic 
 balsams were cast upon it. Flowers were a commonly 
 employed symbol of the heavenly garden, or Paradise ; and 
 were placed on the tombs, or hung around the necks of the 
 dead ; but on account of an idolatrous rite then pre- 
 vailing of placing a crown of flowers on the head of the 
 corpse, theChristians refrained from it. " The brow," wrote 
 St. Cyprian, " that is pure with the sign of God cannot 
 wear the crown of the devil ; God has reserved himself for 
 a crown." Excessive lamenting for departed friends and 
 
14 ■'•■.;.^'v'''' ,■' TlIK CATACOMBS. ' '' ' ^ ■•' '^'^ r '•'■ 'V^;'-'-;: r'V:^'^:; 
 
 the use of black mourning gc'irnients, though not condemned 
 as unlawful, were, nevertheless, regarded as not exactly in 
 harmony with that spirit in which Christians should look 
 upon death. Hen :e St. Cy[)rain again remarks, (de Tmmort ) 
 that " We should not iceep for those who have been freed 
 from the ivorld by the call of God, since ice know that they 
 are not lost, but only sent bforc, us " Accordingly, the 
 faithful were forbidden to employ prwjicjc, or incitatrices, 
 as they were called; that is, hired female mourners, who 
 wept to order, and sang the praises of the dead in little 
 songs called nenice — a class of people, I am inclined to 
 believe, strongly resembling the ^^keen" (Irish, caoine) 
 singers of later days. 
 
 Now, to return to the Catacombs, from which we have 
 departed by this short digression. Though, as a rule, 
 people are not fond of keeping the memory of death anrl 
 the grave fixed in their minds, nevertheless, visitors to the 
 Catacombs, whether they be devout Christians, grave 
 antiguarians, or empty-headed sight seers, would willingly 
 carry away something from the tombs as a souvenir of their 
 visit. But they are admonished not to touch anything. 
 Certain of the Catacombs still have a church standing over 
 them, to which is attached a monastery of some religious 
 order of men, who attend to the (;hurch , and care for th^ 
 Catacombs as well. In this case your guide is invariably a 
 member of the order. Having provided, when necessiry. 
 
:;,•■,/■';;-.,■,'., ', THE CATACOMBS. /vV;. c ..'■'. J ' -^■.; ■•,^/.; 15 
 
 each of the visitors with a wax taper, which he lights from 
 his own giant roll, and having conducted the party to the 
 entrance, he tiinifs around and addresses a few words of final 
 admonition to 'ill. Vou must keep together, follow him, and 
 not interfere with the tom])s, and it is their intention to pre 
 serve the Calaeombs, and not to permit their distruction. 
 Having spoken, he turns and enteis, followed by the visitors, 
 who advance in single file. Unless the party be very small, 
 the Ijrother ouide is soon lost to the view of those in the 
 rear. AVhere the gallery is straighter than usual, they 
 occasionally catch sight of him. through the sickly glare of 
 tlie burning tapers, as he turns around to make some short 
 remarks on the topography or the history nf the section they 
 are about to enter, or to })oint out some tomb or other obiect 
 <L\serving special notice. His words are carried back along 
 the lin.; of visitors, but are often seriously mutilated and 
 inter[)olated ])efore they rearch the rearmost. AVhen, from 
 time to time, they enter the chambtrs, or the crypts of the 
 saints, all are brought within reach of his voice : and they 
 press closely around him, while he relates the history of the 
 crypt and of its discovery, draws their attention to the 
 faded frescoes on the walls, and enumerates the saints 
 oiiginally buried there. He furthermore points out what- 
 ever is pe(.'uliar in the formation of the chamber, such as 
 shelf-like ex''avations in the wall, or rough seats hewn out of 
 the hard earth ; c»r, perhaps, in the end wall, something after 
 
16 THE CATACOMBS. 
 
 the manner of a very doep, wide nidie with i taWe-liko 
 base : and he will likely mention some of the more import- 
 ant inserijjtions and other memories tliat were found here and 
 are now in some puhlie museum ; and liow tin; discoveries 
 made i)y areheologists tally with (;ertain old d(>eument8 
 relating to the Catacombs and the saints therein interred. 
 Jiul(;('d, it is gratifying to learn how many facts recorded in the 
 lives of the early martyrs have been corrobe rated by recent 
 discoveries made in the Catacombs. We are aware that, 
 with the la[)se of time, many hearsays were inserted as facts 
 in the Acts of the martyrs. But these cannot vitiate the 
 whole work. Error ))resui)j>oses truth ; exaggerations and 
 wild, incoh(U'ent reports piesuppose an event which, in some 
 respect at least, excited more than common interest. The 
 historical critic cannot reasonably reject an entire narrative 
 because he knows part of it is exaggerated, or false. It is 
 his duty to distinguish between true and false testimonies, 
 and to determine, as far as his means will permit, what is 
 certain and what is only probable. The Acts of the martyrs 
 are m»t a collection of mere j)opular traditions. Pope 
 Clement I. (91-101) appointed notaries who would register 
 the names of those who should suffer in times of persecution, 
 ami the circumstances of their death. The successors of 
 Clement adopted this same plan ; and have thus 
 ])riiserved to us the history of the highest type of heroism 
 that has vet been recorded of men. 
 
' TIIK CATACOMHS. ; ^ 17 
 
 This (.'lass of giiido ditt'ei's widely from tlu; vulgar 
 Cicerone we somotiines seti at the liead of a band of 
 vsight-S(Miing strangers in Rome. He knows whereof he 
 s[)eaks ; while the other speaks first of what he 
 knows, and then of everything he is questioned about, 
 - whether he knows it or not. I never saw one of 
 ' those Ciceroni gesticulating bc^fore an astonished audience of 
 foreigners amid some historic ruins, Avithout being reminded 
 of the old miiJ'strel, as described by Walter Scott, who, when 
 he warmed up t(j the airs he had once known, but which 
 were now fading from his memory, could compeUvSate for 
 the defects of his mem(^ry from the productivness of his 
 imagination :— - 
 
 ]*]ach blank in faithless niemorv voi<l 
 The poet's glowing thought supplied. 
 
 This finished, the guide again immcuges into one of the 
 dark galleries, and again you pass between graves lying tier 
 above tier, some opened and some closed, with nothing, as a 
 rule, to distinguish one from another, except the names and 
 tlie symbolic tigures accompanying them. Here and there, 
 beside the tombs^ you can see sockets where lights were set 
 into the wall, to be kept burning day and night, on certain 
 Sv)lemn occasions and you can see also little vases of glass 
 or earthtuiware, which were used at the embalming of 
 the dead, when it became a mere ceri^mony. I say, when it 
 becanu; a mere ceremony, for during the first two centuries 
 
IS tin: tatacjumus. 
 
 I or so, all the Christian ilend wore embaliriod vviih aromatic 
 balsams. But, as their nimibers increased it became more 
 difficult to observe this custom/ and finally it was reduced 
 
 i ^to the ceremony of throwing some sweet-smelling balsams on 
 their tond)s. : : r , 
 
 ' Onward the guide leads you, occasi' nally descending a 
 
 few feet of stairway, and changing his direction so often that 
 
 you completely loose your bearing, and are no longer certain 
 
 of anything concerning the topography of the place, except, 
 
 perhaps, that the law of gravation still holds good, and that 
 
 your feet are pointing to the centre of the earth. If you 
 
 be of a thoughtful, or even of a nervous disposition, you 
 are likely to reflect how completely vou are at the mercy of 
 
 the guide. If al>andoned what could you do? You might 
 call out all day, and your voice would never reach the over- 
 ground. Twenty, thirty, perhaps sixty or -seventy feet of 
 cold earth shut you out from the light of heaven ; and, even 
 down where you are, your voice would reach but a short 
 distance around the frequent corners and winding galleries. 
 But naore than that, you have no idea in what direction 
 the entrance lies ; and ever if you had, there are fifty 
 chances against one that you would take the wrong way 
 at some point, and in your bewilderment, would be unable 
 to get back to the starting point. A feeling of awe over- 
 takes you, and instinctively you press close to the guide. 
 You recognize more clearly, perhaps, than ever before your 
 
\ 
 
 THE TATArOMIlS. 19 
 
 own litllent'SH, and wJuvt a small force you ai-e in the world 
 Tf the guide shoukl desert you, or should fall dead of heart 
 failure, there are fifty chances against one that you would 
 leave your hones there. With such thoughts floating 
 through their minds, the proudest and most cynicaJ 
 manifest a striking docility and simplicity of manner; and 
 though, if once again on the surface, with the bright sun 
 playing around them, they miglit sliow hut scant respect 
 for their guide/ they now regard him with childlike rever- 
 ence, as tli one in wliom, for the present, all their human 
 h )pes aie centered. So powerful is fear to dissipate the 
 mists of passion and prejudice which shut out from 
 our iew the good and noble in our fellow men, and 
 permit us to contemplate only the gloom and shadows that 
 the storms «»f human passicmw have cast over the^ir lives I 
 I may heie mention that Antonio Bosio, the world-renowned 
 archeologist of the 16th century, (mce lost his way, as he 
 himself relates, in the CatacomV)s of Domitilla, on the 
 Ardeatine Way ; but tlie fear that seized him was very 
 ditierent in its character from that which we have just 
 been considering. It was the fear of profaning such holy 
 grounds with his unworthy bones. But the procession 
 advances, and the wonders that surround you are inspected 
 one by one, till the low-burnt taper reminds you how long 
 you must be there. However, the brother guide has been 
 making the necessary calculations, and while you are still 
 
-0 THE CATACOMBS 
 
 perfectly ijjjnoiant i)f ycmr whereabouts, you iinineri^e into 
 the ]ijL,'ht of (lay, and look about you in bewilderment 
 
 Now, we have just taken a hurried survey of the 
 Catac;oml)s, without dcivoting mucli attention to any object 
 in particular. But later on we shall return to some points 
 of interest. Nevertheless, we have seen enough to con- 
 vince UH that the Cataoo nbs are extensive and represent a 
 vast amount of labour. Thus we have already learned 
 enough abj)Ut them to create difficulties for ourselves. How 
 could such extensive works be carried on by a persecuted 
 and ostracised society ? Is it p:)ssible that, in making such 
 exeavati'ms and meeting within them, they could evade the 
 vigilance of their blood thirsty parsejutors ? In order to 
 answer this difficulty, the first thing to hd taken into 
 account is, that thi primary and principal object of 
 christians in forming thi catacombs, wa? to prepare a burial 
 place for their dead. The Catacombs were, in the strict 
 sense of the word, cemeteries. At first they were some- 
 times called by different names, but there most common 
 name was * cemetery,' or the Latin ' coemeterium,' which 
 comes from the Greek word ' choim^terion,^ meaning 
 a place where one sleeps, a domitory, the dead being 
 called by the Fathers ' dormientes ' or ' ones sleeping. 
 It was not until a much later date that these cemeteries 
 were given the name of Catacombs. About the end of the 
 second century the designation Catacombs, or, in the Litia 
 
THIS CATAC;UMB8. 21 
 
 parlance, ' Catacumbus, was ^iveii to a certain part of 
 the Appian Way, about two miles beyond the present walls. 
 Etyiuolo^jfically consic'ered, it means bpside the sepnlrhres. 
 In the course of time it became the distinctive name of 
 one of tlie ^jroup of cemeteries in that vicinity, namely, 
 the Ceinet(!ry of St. Sebastian Martyr ; and later on in 
 the middle a^a^s, the term became general, and was applied 
 to all Christian underground burial places. 
 
 Now, the Christians had no existence recognized by 
 laWj — '■'■Xon licnt csne ChrUtianos.^^ They were esteemed 
 only as material for arena amusements, — ■" christiani ad 
 hjync^y Still, at the time of the first Flavian AugustustC 
 they had there spacious cemeteries which, within, were 
 ornan.ented with the art of the period, and, without, had 
 large, cons{)icious openings on the public roads. The 
 explanation of this fact, which, to many people, will doubtless 
 seem strange, lies in the reverence of the Roman law for the 
 graves of the dead. With a strange inconsistency that 
 same law which proscribed the Christian religion^ and per- 
 secuted it in its every member, from the Supreme Pontift 
 down to the humblest slave, recognized as holy th« sod 
 under which a human corpse, whether of a Christian or of 
 a pagan, rested. Human life was of very little value 
 amongst the Romans. The poor, the slaves, and the 
 gladiator* might be made the victims ol famished lions 
 and tigers ; the victor might celebrate his triMmph by 
 
22 THE CATArOMIiH. 
 
 giving over to the populace thousands of his fellow beings 
 
 to be put to death. But the moment the earth received 
 
 their corpse the spot assumed a religious character, which 
 was the warranty of its protection. In the language of the 
 
 law the cemeteries were called loca religiosa, that is, 
 religious grounds. A ^cording to the law also the bodies 
 of those who suffered capital punishment were to be given 
 to whosoever asked for them. (It was on the strength of 
 this law that Joseph of Arimathea approached Pilate and 
 claimed the body of our Divine Saviour.) But many were 
 the exceptions made in the case of Christians. These 
 desired to have the mortal remains of their martyred 
 brethren in their possession, not (mly that they might give 
 them proper Christian burial, but also an account of their 
 profound religious reverence for them. Well knowing the 
 veneration in which the Christians held such relics, and 
 the courage against persecution .vhich the possession of them 
 inspired, the pagans used every art a diabolical malice 
 could suggest, in order that they might not pass into Christian 
 hands ; sometimes casting them into the sea, and consign- 
 ing them to dogs and wild beasts to be devoured ; and, 
 on some occasions, mingling them with those of cattle, so 
 as to render recognition impossible. But a desper-rooted 
 hatred than that which is satisfied with inflicting bodily 
 punishment prompted the pagans to these acts ; for it was 
 a common opinion amongst them, that if the body was 
 
THK CATArOMBS. 23 
 
 deprived of burial, the soul perished with it ; and then 
 there could lie no triumph after death. 
 
 Still, the Christians persevered in claiming the bodies 
 of their dead, and ran no small risks to reclaim them from 
 the indi<!;nities cast upon them by pagan hatred. They 
 ;L;athered up reverently the mangled remains of their 
 l)rethtrn, and bore them away, if not with pomp, at least 
 with true Christian love, to the place prepared for them 
 within the ('atacombs. The more distinguished saints and 
 martyrs were given special honors as regards the size and 
 li.agnihcence of their tombs ; and, as I have already said, 
 so-ne of them gave their name, not only to the crypt 
 wherein they were buried, but also to the little necropolis that 
 sprang up around it. We must bear in mind that the 
 Catacombs were the ctmimon burial places of the Christians : 
 not only the saints and martyrs were laid in their silent 
 vaults, but all other as well, whatever their social condition 
 or degree, so long as their sepulchral slab could receive the 
 words in parf, by which it was signified that they died in 
 peace, that is, in communion with the Church. Venerat- 
 ing as they did, these unwavering champicms of the faith, 
 whose example had encouraged them in so many trials, the 
 faithful Christians desired that in death they might find a 
 resting-place beside them They endeavoured, therefore, 
 to procure for themselves a burial place as near to them as 
 possible, and in their zeal they sometimes overstepped the 
 
24 TilE CATACOMJJH. 
 
 limits of prudence, and did damage to the tombs. In a 
 well-known inscription in the Catacombs of Callixtus, Pope 
 Damasus 1. very mildly checked this course of action, say- 
 ing that he himself wished to bo buried there, where so 
 many of his saintly predecessors rested, but that he feared 
 to disturb thieir holy ashes : 
 
 Hie fiiteor Damasus volui mea, coadere membra, 
 Sed cinares fimui sancfffs vexare piorum 
 But it Was reserved to an archdeacon named Sabinus, 
 of the Church of St. Lawrence, on the Tiburtine 
 Way, to give this imprudent class of the faithful a good, 
 strong lecturing. This he did in a metrical epitaph placed 
 on his own tomb He reminds them that it will be no 
 advantage, but will rather be a disadvantage to them, to 
 be near the graves of the saints, unless they be near to 
 them also in the holiness of their lives. It is not with the 
 body, he adds, that we pass onward to the saints, but with 
 the soul, which, being once saved, can well be tluj salvation 
 of the body. 
 
 However fiercely the storm of persecution raged 
 without, within the precincts of the cemeteries, which the 
 law recognized as inviolable, a haven was opened to the 
 endangered Christian. It was as unnecessary as it was 
 impossible to kwp the pagans in ignorance of the existence, 
 or the whereabouts ot the Catacombs. Accordingly, a gate 
 way opened from them into the public road ; and little 
 
^ TH£ CATACOMBS. ;, 25 
 
 overground dwellings of the grave-diggers and other 
 la))ourers, as well as small oratories, in honor of distinguished 
 saints buried beneath, were situated within the cemetery 
 groduds. 
 
 The limits and dimensions of these grounds were 
 indicated, if not always, at least in many instances, on 
 stone blocks, set up on the road-side and bearing inscriptions 
 telling how many feet of frontage (in /ronte) belonged to 
 the cemcitery, and how far back from the road (in agro) it 
 extended. The fossora, who sometimes had their little 
 houses within these limits, filled an office which, among 
 the early Christions, commanded distinguished respect ; 
 whereas the vespillones, who were engaged in similar work 
 among the pagans, were held in contempt by their own 
 lirethern ; and whoever desired to insult a pagan needed 
 only call him a vesjnllo. T\\Vi fossora looked after the 
 cemeteries, dug the graves, and prepared the dead for burial, 
 and in recognition of the noble character of their work, 
 and in proof of the honour in which they were held, they 
 enjoyed, among other things, the privilege of securing a 
 tomb for Jiemselves near the tombs of the saints. A certain 
 J'oHsor^ who had obt<ained the desired place, joyfully informs 
 us in his own epitaph, that l>e had ])een granted what many 
 desiie and few obtain: (J'uod niulti capiun (t) et rari 
 accijnun (t). 
 
 Availing themselves of this comparative immunity 
 
26 THE CAT '.COMBS 
 
 enjoyed be the cemeteries, the Christians met within their 
 silent chambers for other purposes tlian that of burying the 
 dead. Freedom of public worship was denied them, except 
 during the intervals between general or partial persecutions. 
 They therefore sought within the Catacombs, beside the 
 sepulchres of the martyrs, a -refuge where they might meet 
 to worship God in connnon. At the beginning, however, 
 before the Catacombs passed over from the private owners 
 of the grounds to the administration of the Church, that is to 
 say, up till near the end of the second century, the meetings 
 were comparati'ely small. But, as the numbers of the 
 faithful increased, and the Catacombs grew in dimensions, 
 larger numbers congregated within them. Still, the pagans 
 would think it only natural that th(; Christians would visit 
 the graves of their dead. It was only when susj)icions 
 arose that the Catacoml)s were being used for places 
 of worship, that the rights extended to them by 
 law began to be violated. Indeed, the Christians con- 
 tinued to congregate there for a long time without exciting 
 any special comment ; for just alwut the time the Catacombs 
 lost their private character and began to be used as places 
 of public worship, societies were formimg amongst the pagans, 
 whose object it was to procure a burial place and the desired 
 funeral services for their memV-ers. But, if such societies 
 existed amongst the pagans, might they not as well exist 
 amongst the Christians, and might not the cemeteries be 
 
" X THE CATACOMUS. ' 27 
 
 selected as a suitable place for their meetings ? Heuce, at 
 that critical period, when the safety of the Christians must 
 otherwise have been greatly endangered, this fortunate cir- 
 cumstance warded off suspicion from their gatherings, and, 
 at least for a time, baffled the vigilance of the pagan 
 Romans. But the state of affairs that afforded a certain 
 security to the Christians congregated in the Catacombs, 
 was not destined to continue long. These meetings at length 
 began to be regarded with suspicion ; the populace clamored 
 against them, until an edict of the Emperor Valerian, in the 
 year 257, piohibited further reunions within the cemeteries ; 
 consequently, the Catacombs began to be violated, sometimes 
 by officers of the law, sometimes by the infuriated populace, 
 and Cliristian blood began to purple their alleys and 
 crypts, as it had long before purpled the arena of the 
 Flavian Araphetheatre. Spies were engaged to watch the 
 movements of the Christians, and to give notice when they 
 assembled. The Christians, though they frequently 
 succeeded in evading the vigilance of the pagans, were, 
 nevertheless, sometimes overtaken and massacred. One of 
 the most memorable events of this nature, of which we 
 have any record, is the execution of Pope Sixtus II., who 
 was surprised while surrounded by a number of his 
 clergy in the Catacombs of Callixtus, and beheaded in his 
 pontifical chair. 
 
 A few words on the administration of the cemeteries 
 
28 THE CATACOMBS. , 
 
 will here be in order. Towards the end of the second 
 century, they passed, as I have already said, into the 
 hands of the Church, and henceforward remained under 
 her administration. In the year 197 Pope Sepherinus 
 placed the deacon Callixtus (afterwards Pope Callixtus I.) 
 over the large cemetery on the Appian Way, which 
 still retains his name — Callixtus, and which, after 
 the abandonment of the Vatican cemetery, became 
 tlie official burial-place of the Bishops of Rome. 
 Within a short time deacons were appointed to oversee the 
 Dtlier public cemeteries also. Pope Fabianus (236-251) did 
 much towards having a fixed system of administration 
 established ; and Pope Dionysius (258-270), on whom 
 devolved the work of reconstruction after the revocation 
 of the edict of Valerian, placed the cemeteries under the 
 jurisdiction of the titular, or parish priests, of whom there 
 were then about twenty-five in the city of Rome. Each 
 cemetery, therefore, was subject to the spiritual jurisdiction 
 of a titular, or parish priest of the city, and served as the 
 parish burial place. There was one exception — the cemetery 
 of Callixtus, which always remained under the immediate 
 jurisdiction of the Popes. Pope Marcellus, (304 309) during 
 whose pontificate the cemeteries were confiscated by 
 Maximian and Dioclesian and soon after restored, found it 
 necessary to undertake the work of reorganization. He 
 established (as we read in the Liher Pontificalia) twenty- 
 
THE CATACOMBS. ^ 29 
 
 five titles m the Gity of Rome on account of the baptism 
 t\nd penance of many who were being converted from 
 paganism, and for the burial of the martyrs : XXV, titulos 
 tfi urbe Romana constituit quasi dioceses, propter baptismum 
 et poenitentiam multorurriy qui convertehantur ex paga/nis 
 et propter sepulturas martyruni. 
 
 The escape from the Catacombs and the entrance to 
 them in ease of persual by the enemy, was sometimes more 
 expeditious by way of the areiiaria, or sandpits, which 
 were attached, if not to all, at least to the larger ones. 
 The entrance by them was freer, and the pits themselves 
 were much wider than the galleries of the Catacombs. 
 Some people have thought, and perhaps many of you have 
 heard it said, that the Catacombs were as first nothing 
 more than sandpits, from which building material had been 
 brought to Rome, and that they were subsequently occupied 
 by the Christians as hiding places and burial grounds. 
 This opinion was likely set afloat by those who could not 
 explain how the Christians could excavate and possess such 
 extensive cemeteries in times of persecution, and who, 
 perhaps, had never sufficiently studied the points of difference 
 between a sandpit and a Catacomb. But the difficulty that 
 kept such persons from arriving at the truth vanishes, when 
 we remember the immunity enjoyed by the cemeteries on 
 account of their religious cha-racter. Nor does the fact that 
 sandpits are found in connection with some Catacombs, 
 
30 THE CATACOMBS. 
 
 offer any dilHculty ; for the mason-work tliatr had ^-o be 
 done in the Catacombs themselves rendered a goodly amount 
 of sand necessary. , ; 
 
 You will now understand how we are to interpret 
 forms of expression used at times by ecclesiastical writers, 
 when, for instance, they speak of the Church ' living m 
 the Catacombs,' while the persecutions lasted, and ' rising 
 out of the Catacombs,' when the persecutions ended. We 
 must not understand them as meaning that the faithful 
 inhabited the Catacombs. They visited them as we visit 
 our cemeteries, they met there to worship God in common, 
 they found a hiding place there when sought after by the 
 enemy, and a temporarj'' protection when closely pursued. 
 Such was the use of the Catacombs. 
 
 Whatever protection the Christians found in the 
 Catacombs after the pagans became aware of the use to 
 which they were being put, was due, not altogether to the 
 fear the pagans entertained of being lost if they should 
 enter, but in part also to the reverence with which, even 
 then, they regarded the graves of the dead. The fear of 
 being forever imprisoned in dai'k underground apartments, 
 the extent and devious windings of which they knew not, 
 did much to cool the ardour of their religious hatred, and 
 to arrest their steps at the entrance ; but the reflection 
 that they were seeking the blood of their fellow-men in the 
 regions of the dead, within grounds that the law ca^^ed 
 
THE CATACOMHS. 31 
 
 " holy," had its inHuence also. You will easily perceive, 
 however, that the lot of the faithful during this period, 
 must have been a hard one. The doubtful refuge which 
 the Catacombs occasionally offered some hunted Christian, 
 did very little to light up the general gloom of persecution 
 that hung over the Christians of the Empire. But that 
 last and terrible effort of pagan Rome to destroy Christi- 
 anity within her dominions was made ; Diocletian passed 
 away, and after a few years a brighter day dawned on the 
 faithful people - \. .; - , . . ; - ; 
 
 ^ ' //I hoc siynv vinces,'' 'in this sign thou shalt 
 contjuer,' were the prophetic words that emblazoned the 
 cross which appeared to Constantine, and his embattled 
 hosts. In this sign he con(iuered, and in this sign, he soon 
 learned to believe mankind shall eventually triumph. In 
 this sign a young and proscribed community, without 
 jirmies or gold, had sustained for almost three centuries 
 the sliock of his imperial predecessoi-s ; waxed strong 
 beneath the goad of the persecutor; made jo)rful victims 
 to its precepts, not only among the poor and lowly, but 
 even in the Imperial Court itself, and had be come awful to 
 the power that had presumed to despise it. With the 
 conversion of Constantine a great change took place in the 
 relations between the Church and the civil power. He was 
 not, it is true, altogether free from the spirit of Ct«sarism ; 
 yet he knew that civil rulers and magistrates are not the 
 
32 THB CATACOMBS. 
 
 divinely-appointed guardians of tne Gospel truth, and that 
 they cannot be legislators for a society iuperior to themselves. 
 He therefore proclaimed the Church free in the exercise of 
 its sacied and inviolable rights, and assisted and defended 
 it in its labour for the sanctitication of souls. In this new 
 state of things the Catacombs were not forgotten. They 
 were too closely associated with the history of auflering to 
 be f org( tten in the hour of triumph. New and more com- 
 modious entrances were made to them ; (churches, to the 
 construction of which Constantine freely (jontributad, were 
 erected over the tombs of the saints, without their bodies 
 being removed from their original resting place. A certain 
 religious rever3nce fur the dead withheld the early Christians 
 from interfering with their graves. And this circumstance 
 accounts for the fact that various of the Churches built (^ver 
 the cemeteries in that period, have their floor below the 
 surface of the soil. The high altar was to be immediately 
 over the tomb of the saint to whom the chorch was dedi 
 cated, and the remains of the saint should be left untouched. 
 Consequently, the body of the Church was lowered to the 
 level of the tomb. For a striking instance of this custom, 
 visitors to Rome can see the church of the Virgin Martyr 
 St. Agnes, on the Nomentan Way. 
 
 The richness and beauty of the Churches constructed 
 over the Catacombs, in this new period of their history, w^ere 
 the administration of the pilgrims who, in succeeding cen- 
 
I I IK ('\r\('OM|{H. 'M) 
 
 tui'it't!, niiii(3 to KoiiK! I'rcjiu all parts of the (.'hristian world. 
 Till* a^^c of I)ania.siis, who was Jiislm)) of Homo from 3G7 
 till ^i^<^), was tln' ^f(»lil('n aj^u of the Cutacoinhs. Diiiiiasus 
 was a i»oi't' of no inferior order, and besides liis other works 
 for the end>el]ishinent (»f the eeini^terii'S, lie ealled into action 
 his fine poetic talent, in celehrate in verse the memory and 
 the merits of the Christian heroes of darker dfiys. Marble 
 slabs bearing' his inscriptions are found throughout the 
 Catacond)s ; and apart from the >])irit of true Christian 
 humility and of admiration for all that is noble, which per- 
 \ades them and immediatel}' gains for the author the 
 affection of every true archeologist, they ar<^ most important 
 •from an historical standpoint, as they give in brief the 
 history of the times in which the i)eisons for whom they 
 were written lived, and sometimes throw light, when very 
 little is had from otlier sources, on difficult points of Church 
 history. In fact, nobody need expect to })e recognized as a 
 full-fledged archeologist who cannot ., iti' from memory 
 the sepulchral inscriptions of Damasus. 
 
 When the fetters of religious persecution were broken 
 off the limbs of the Christians, and they were permitted to 
 add external splendour to their private devotions, what a period 
 of joy it must have been for them ! Who can form an adequate 
 idea of the spectacle the Catacombs must have presented in 
 those days, es[)ecially on the feasts of the saints therein 
 interred ? Vent was given ])y public act to their feelings of | 
 
.31 THK CATACOMIJy. 
 
 tlianksgiving to (rod, jiiiJ of love for tlicirdtquirtc*! l)i'etliprii 
 of loss favoured days. The faithful wended their way thihter 
 from all parts of the Christian world, hut espet.'ially from 
 Rome and its neighhourhood, to venerate in [)uhh(' thoir 
 hrethem and relatives, wlK)se maitrydom they had, perhaps, 
 witnessed, hut whose nuMuory th«\y had hitliorto hoen unahle 
 to honour, except in silence and tears. Led on hy the 
 example of their devoted leader, these fervent children of 
 the Church raised a universal hynui of thanksgiving to God, 
 and of praise i>f their departed hrethern of darker days, who 
 had sown and nourished with their blood the seed of faith, 
 which they now saw grown to a mighty tree, that spread high 
 and wide its virgin branches, bidding fair to obscure, with 
 its richly-budding foliage, the unstable growth that had 
 threatened to suffocate it. The freshest flowers adorned the 
 tombs, the sweetest incense imparted its fragrance to tho 
 humid air, aurl the nielodeous chant of the most fervent- 
 hf-iit"d wtrsbippers rebounded through the dark recesses of 
 the Catacond)S. By the uncertain light of the lamps and 
 caiid! s that burned before the tombs on such occasions, the 
 dv'V',t-d Christian could read — not the story of some mythical 
 hero, not the pompous eulogy of somii semi-deified pagan, 
 but the simple epitaphs of martyred saints whose blood still 
 marked the clay where they rested. Tender sisters came to 
 breathe a prayer beside the remains of their loved brothers, 
 who had preferred to suffer the lingering torments of the 
 
riiK cATAcoMiis. :;.') 
 
 tyrant mtlicr than prove falso to faith and virtue ; ihihhvn 
 came to shed tears of H)ial atlec-tion on tlie tombs of tlieir 
 fond parents, (>t whom, i)erhaj>s, their ordy remend)ranee 
 was the cruel scene of martyrdom ; and even tottering' par- 
 ents soujjfht the spot where they had laid their martyred 
 child, there to raise their ai^ed voices in thanks<^ivinjj[ to 
 (rod, who «j;ives to the timidity of youth courage and 
 stren;;th lo preserve, even at the cost of litV, the priceless 
 treasuri' of vir<;:inal innocence. What impressions such 
 scenes must have made ui)on the cluistian youth, what feel- 
 ings of love they must have elicited, what noble resolves 
 they must have inspiied I Indeed, the Catacombs wen* 
 one of the most fruitful schools of saints. Tn them the 
 faithful learned, in a striking mannei', the power of faith 
 over all the pjjins the world can inflict, and from 
 them the}' went joyfully forth, ready to take up 
 their cross and follow in the footsteps of their Diviiie 
 master. St. Jerome tells us how his companions 
 and himself used to spend the Sundays in visiting 
 the Catacombs. "When, as a boy, he writes, I was 
 engaged in the liberal studies in Rome, I used to go on 
 Sundays, together with others of my own age and calling, 
 through the sepulchres of the Apostles and martyrs, which 
 are dug deep in the earth, on both sidfcw as you enter, 
 and in their walls have the bcxlies of those buried there." 
 Peace being given the Church, overground cemeteries be- 
 
36 THE CATACOMBS 
 
 gan to be used, and underground burial gradually fell into 
 disuse. We have no record of anybody being buried in 
 the Catacombs after the year 410. Costly churches and 
 oratories sprang up over them, and became centres of de- 
 votion to the faithful of Rome and the pilgrims from all 
 parts of the Christian world. But darker days awaited 
 the Catacombs. The barbarian legions who poured in up- 
 on Rome, and eventuall}^ effected the downfall of the em- 
 pire, bid not spare the Christian cemeteries. In the fifth 
 century these suffered the first spoliation at the hands of 
 the Goths, especially those situaled to the north of the 
 city. Various popes labored to restore them. On the 
 restoration of peace after the defeat of Totila, leader of the 
 Ostrogoths, Pope John III gave them his immediate atten- 
 tion, and established a fund to defray the expenses of keep- 
 ing them furnished with the necessaries tor the celebration 
 of Mas« within them on Sundays. Instituit ut oblationes 
 ei amiiJae vel luminaria per eadem coemeteria omni die 
 duminico de Lateranis ministrarentur. Accordingly, a 
 priest was sent on Sundays, from the city parishes, to each 
 of the cemeteries, for the purpose of celebrating Mass — a 
 custom which remained in vigour until the seventh century. 
 But the insults offered to the tombs of the saints became 
 BO frequent, and the possibility of preserving the catacombs 
 became so slight, that it was thought better, to remoye 
 the remains of the saints to churches within the city. 
 
THE CATACOMBS. S7 
 
 Consequently, about the middle of the 8th century, they 
 began to be removed, notwithstanding the reluctance with 
 which the early christians interfered with the graves of 
 the dead. (It was at this time the Pantheon, the best pre- 
 served of ancient Rome's monuments, became the recep- 
 tacle of so many relics of saints ) Towards the end of the 
 9th century the last were removed, and the Catacombs 
 began to fall into oblivion. Remember that I now speak 
 of the removal of the remains of the saints and martyrs 
 only, or of as many as could be identified as such. You 
 can readily conclude for yourselves that the multitude of 
 the faithful remained untouched. In the course of succeed- 
 ing centuries occasional visits were made thereto by pil- 
 grims, some of whom have left us an account of the ne- 
 glected condition in which they found them. In the case 
 of those Catacombs which had a church over ground, 
 the parts closely connected with the church were kept open 
 and cared for long after the date of which I speak. But, 
 in general, they were f 3rgotten. The hand of time gradu- 
 ally destroyed the works of man within them. The 
 mason-work crumbled away, and sepulchral slabs, which 
 at the time of their abandonment were still in place, fell 
 and were broken ; the rain entered unchecked through the 
 sky-lights, and beat upon the walls of the crypts, blurring 
 the frescoes, and loosing the ceilings, which fell and buried 
 tip the fragraments of precious inscriptions that lay upon 
 
.*JS Tin<: (ATACO.MHS. 
 
 tiie tlocw. After this inlerva' of forgetful iiess a period of 
 revival succeeded. The earliest record we have of aiiy- 
 oody visiting the Catacombs in this new epoch of their 
 history is thn name of a ct»rtain Joannes Lonck, written in 
 a chamber of the Catacombs of Gillixtus, with ihe date 
 14*i2. From this time forward the traces of visits thither 
 become more frequent. One of them is deserving of a 
 passing remark, as it sbovs from what distant parts of the 
 world people were led to the Catacombs at a time when so 
 comparatively little was known about them. Who would 
 suspect that the sons of the heather would wander so far 1 
 Nevertheless, in the same chamber in which, thirty-five 
 years earlier, Lonck had left his name, we find the record 
 of a visit made by a party of Scotchmen. It is written in 
 Latin, and says: "1467, certain Scotchmen were here" 
 (MCCCCLXVII Quklam Scoti Ilic Fiierunt). But the 
 Columbus of the Catacombs at length appeared in the per- 
 son of Antonio Bosio. Born about the year 1575, this 
 pious and learned student of 1 he Catacombs began his ex- 
 plorations at an early age, and in a pothumous work en- 
 titled Roma Sotterranea, or Underground Rome, has left 
 us the fruits of his unweried studies. There is scarcely a nook 
 or corner of the Catacombs of Rome in which he has not 
 not left his name written. The publication of his work 
 gave a fresh impetus to the study of Christian archeology, 
 and his careful descriptions of the places he had visited arid 
 
, TIIK CATACOMBS. 39 
 
 the monuments he had discovered, served as a guide to 
 those who, in succcetling centuries, undertook to explore 
 those long-forgotten places. 
 
 Archoulogists of great merit arose, from tiim; to time, 
 since the days of IJosio ; but our own generation has had 
 privilege of knowing the greatest of them all. Fragmentory 
 inscriptions, decaying manuscripts, fading frescoes, symbt>lical 
 engravings, and varying forms of cemcterial excavations, 
 had at other times lieen made to yield invaluable gifts to the 
 store of Christian knowledge ; but never was it known how 
 elocpiently, and convincingly, they could be made to speak of 
 the doctrine and practices of the early Christian Church, 
 until th3y became vocal beneath the magic touch of the 
 learning and genius of Chovanni Battista de llossi. 
 This wonderful man (for such 1 may term him) 
 was born in Rome in February of 1822, and has passed 
 from this life only a few months ago. A stutlent of 
 antiquities and inscriptions from his childhood, a master of 
 all learning, whether Greek or Koman, sacred or profane ; a 
 clear reasoner, an impartial judge, a sincere lover of truth, 
 and a devout Christian, he spent 50 years of his life in 
 searching the Catacombs, adjusting arrd classifying the mem 
 ories he discovered there, and illustrating them with the 
 simultaneous study of every manuscript and other document 
 bearing on these topics, which the libraries of Europe and 
 Asia could furnish, and has given to the world a worthy and 
 
40 THK CATACOMBS 
 
 enduring nioniinient to his' worth, in his Roma ISotterranea 
 and Ilia Hollitino di Archeologia Cristicma ■ vi 
 
 It is customary, even at the present day, to have Mass 
 in certain of the larger Cataconihs on the feast d.iys of the 
 more distiui^uished saints whose remains once rested there • 
 and on sucli (x^casions a short lecture is delivered l)y a lead- 
 ing archeologist. It was here, for the first time, I had the 
 pleasure of seeing de Rossi It was the last day of Decem- 
 ber, 1891. Mass had just be(Mi finished in the Catacombs of 
 Priscilla, on the Salarian Way; the candles which had burned 
 iiround the rude altar an«i had helped to dispel the humidity 
 of the air, were extinguished, and had left a cloud of heavy 
 smoke hanging Ijeneath the low ceiling, as it had oft(;n hung 
 nearly two score centuries before, — when a man well past 
 middle age, of medium stature, and rather inclined to be 
 fleshy, was seen to rise from his place among the worshipp- 
 ers, and to quietly shoulder his way through the crowd to 
 the corner of the largest chamber, where a stand formed of 
 a bottomless biscuit box with a couple of boards thrown over 
 it, was prepared. Those who knew it was de Rossi bent 
 reverently back to leave him room to pass. He took the 
 stand with the humility of a novice and the undisturbed 
 confidence of a master, and discoursed on the history of the 
 place and the discovories made therein, since the time when, 
 ar, 1 little boy, he had first visited it ; meanwhile a number 
 of young anil ardent archeciigists — Wilpert, Marucchi; 
 
THli OATA(X)\|]JS. 41 
 
 Arniellini, and ullicrs — wlio had first lit tlic slender taper of 
 their knowledge from the strong and steady Hanie of 
 <k' Rossi's lamp, tnrned an attentive ear to the words of their 
 old master, wluini they had listened to for years, hnt whose 
 luminous mind, they knew, might, at any moment, east a 
 beam of light on some hitherto undiscovertMl truth. About 
 two years ago de Kossi was strieken .vith i>artial [)aralysis, 
 and Eeo XI 1 1, put at his disposal the historic i)alace of the 
 Popes, (.'astel (lundolfo, situat<Hl on the western slopL' of the 
 All)an Mountains, a distance of 12 miles from Konn*. A 
 titling place for the veteran student of the Catacombs to en4l 
 his days. On one side he could look out from his bed oi 
 sickness and see the Roman Compagna stretching away to 
 the west and south till it meets the Mediterranean ; on the 
 i»ther, he couM look down upon the deep green waters of 
 Lake Alljano, from whose oj>posite bank the furry side of 
 Mottle Cava tapers slowly up to its hifty summit, on which 
 the monastery and church of a Christian religious com- 
 munity occupy tlie site of the temple of Jupiter Latialia. 
 Turning a little to the left, he could see the hill on which 
 Tusculum, almost the equal of Rome, once stood ; but instead 
 to pagan temples, he cou'd discern, through the clear Italian 
 atmosphere, a mighty wooden cross, which lifts itself heaven- 
 ward from the topmost peak, and with inarticulated eloquence 
 preaches a philosophy ileepei than Tusculan sages could 
 understand. Still turning to tlie left, his gaze would fall on 
 
42 TUB CATA(X»MB». 
 
 a smoky spot in tlio middle of the Compagna, where the 
 gniv domes of Rome treml)le in the caloric glare. His 
 heart wouhl miturally go out to that spot - the seem?- of his 
 labours, the home of tlie martyrs. But a thought would 
 sadden his mind : the monuments of Christian Rome are 
 now subject to a vandalism, not, perhaps, so ostensible in 
 its purpose as that conducted by the soldiers of Alaric, 
 yet more deadly in its design, and more scientific 'in its 
 method. An<l thus, while the modern occupants of Rome 
 \ver(^. celebrating the 24th anniversary of the breach of 
 Porta Fia, the noble soul of De Rossi, as if unable to suffer 
 the sight of men glorying in a shameful vi:tory over so much 
 that it held most dear, passed to its reward on the 
 20th of last September.* 
 
 Here, then, you have a sketch of the Catacombs as to 
 their topography, origin and history ; but only incidental 
 reference has been made to the objects of special interest 
 which they contain. When we take into consideration 
 their antiquity and the number of important memories 
 that have been destroyed within them, and the number 
 that has been carried away and converted to profane uses, 
 we can hardly expect to find much remaining besides the 
 bare walls and floors. However, as they exist to-day, 
 they supply us, notwithstanding the ravishes of time and 
 of vandalic hands, with a large amount of most interest- 
 
 *EI« Rossi died on Sept. 20tli, 1894. This lecture was delivered on April 30th, 1806. 
 
THE OATAroMBS. 43 
 
 ing material for study. Yet, did nothing remain but the 
 bare walls, what true Christian could visit them and not 
 profit thereby ? for who could walk through these passages 
 beaten by the footsteps of his brethren of the 3rd, 2nd, and 
 even the 1st century ; enter the little chambers where they 
 so oft<3n met to adore God ; see the other evidences of 
 their piety and devotion ; breathe, I had almost said, the 
 very air that once quivered with their song, — and not feel 
 himself moved to higher and nobler aspirations ? 
 
 The historical inscriptions and epithaps, the writings 
 left by pilgrims on the walls, and the frescoes that adorn 
 the crypts and other small picture galleries, may be said to 
 constitute the chief objects of interest in the Catacombs. 
 The historical inscriptions generally describe the restor- 
 ations made by the Popes in the parts that had been 
 damaged, the embellishments added by them to those al- 
 ready existing, and the basilicas built by them over the 
 tombs of the saints. They are of much interest, and some- 
 times throw light on obscure questions of Church history. 
 The sepulchral mscriptions correspond to the inscrip- 
 tions on our tOTnbstones, except that they are usually more 
 brief. Many of the older ones contain nothing but the 
 name and age of the deceased. The words in paoe^ in 
 peace, are the oldest adjunct we find to the name. Apart 
 from whatever reference they had to the future state, they 
 signified that the deceased departed this life in peace, ihaJt 
 
■i'i THE CATACOMBS. 
 
 is, incomnuinion, with the Church. The perilous condition 
 of the Christianw in these early days withhejd them from 
 using signs or forms of speech that would unnecessarily 
 reveal them to their enemies. And henc(> we see that 
 when they did begin to give expression to their faith and 
 practices, it was in a deeply symbolical manner. The 
 anchor is, perhaps, the oldest symbol used on the tombs of 
 the Christian Roinans. It was the symbol of faith ; but 
 it furthermore served as the symbol of redemption — the 
 cross, partially disguised ; and so true is this, that with the 
 advance of time it gradually loses its form as an anchor, 
 and assumes the perfect form of a cross. Another of the 
 oldest ligures that marked the closing slab was the mono- 
 nograin of Clirist, formed of the letters Chi and Bho of the 
 Greek alp]iaV)cet. With the advance of time, however, a 
 less laconic form of epitaph was introduced, which noted 
 .the chief virtues of the deceased, and the sentiments of 
 aS'ectioii and esteem by which their friends were moved 
 towards them. It is refreshing to turn from the pompous, 
 but gloomy, pagan epitaphs to the simple, affectionate 
 epitaphs of the earnest Christians, which, at every word, 
 breathe of divine hope and consolation With these, 
 death was not death, but only a sleep. Hence the term 
 Coewieterium, wliich means domnitoriiwh that is, a 'sleeping 
 place,' a 'dormitory.' The chilly sepultura of the pagans 
 found no place in the terminology of the early Christians. 
 
THli CATACOMHH. 45 
 
 Tn its stead they used the vrord dt'//().sifin, a depositifm, or 
 v'iepositin;:;, which, in its very essence, inelucK s tlie idea of 
 a future i-estoration. And death was called (tcrf^rtiio, a 
 calHng, or summoning; so that W(» Hnd the beautiful 
 epitaph : '"Accermttis ah Anyeiis,'' "called away by angels.'' 
 These inscriptions are often roughly perfoi-med, and show 
 bad spelling and other evidences of having been written in 
 the imperfect Latin of the common p(M»ple. It is by no 
 means uncommon to Hnd the words " more or less " 
 appended to the age of the deceased, under the abbreviated 
 form "P. M.,' jdns vd nun>i,s. As an instance of tliis custom 
 let us select the epitaph of a I^ector, which was 
 discovered on the lloor of the old basilica, in the Catacombs 
 of 8t. Hermes, on the old Salarian way, thus : Hie 
 reqiiiescif Rufinas Lectin' Qui irlxit Ann. P. M. XXXI, 
 DeposUna in pace J III. Id. Sept, Arcadio et llonorio Augg. 
 V Conss. That is: "Here rests Rufinus, Lector, v/ ho Uved 
 31 yeais, more or less ('P. M.') : deposited in peace 
 the 10th tlay of September, Arcadius and Honorius 
 beinf Consuls ' It was a most convenient qualifying 
 phrase, and, T think, might well be adopted by the epi- 
 taphists of the nineteenth century, without any danger to 
 -their reputation for veracity. By the way, the stone slab 
 was removed from the tomb in 1816, and, notwithstanding 
 the lapse of fourteen centuries and a half, the good Lector's 
 .skeleton was entire within. - A short ejaculatory prayer is 
 
46 .THK CATACOilBS. 
 
 not unfrequently added, for instance, " Paulina Pax 
 Tecu"{m) "Paulina, peace be with thee !'' Another instance 
 of this sort of epitaph belonging to the second century, is 
 taken from the cemetery of Trason on the new Salarian 
 Way, and runs thus : Zonon Benedictus Redidit An- 
 Nobe Berus (here stands the monogram of Christ) Ispirum 
 in Pace. P^t P«jt. Pro Nobis." "Zonon blessed (child) died 
 at the age of nine years. May the true (Christ) 
 receive his spirit in peace, — and do thou intercede for 
 us." But j>erhaps the most beautiful (jpitaph of this 
 class is one belonging to a female named Agapes (who was 
 buried in the Catacombs of Priscilla), which, when literally 
 translated into English prose, runs thus: " Eucharis is my 
 mother, Pius my father ; I beseech you^ brothers, when you 
 come hither to pray, and invoke in your common prayers the 
 Father and the Son, do not forget dear Agapes, that 
 the all-powerful God may preserve Agapes for (!ver," 
 It is nothing strange to tind the trade, or occupation of the 
 deceased mentioned in the epitaph, for inaiance : Sabinus 
 Santias, glazier, sweet soul, aged Jfi years and 6 months. 
 Diogenes, fossor, in peace ; deposited the 8th day before the 
 Kalends of October. 
 
 A very interesting, or, I had more correctly said, amus- 
 ing epitaph of this class was discovered in the Catacombs of 
 Domitilla. It is of a woman named Pollecla, and specifies 
 that she used to sell Imrley in a certain quarter of the city. 
 
THE CATACOHiW. 47 
 
 Thn woi'knijuisliip i« luissuoly gor-d, hut thu spelling is de- 
 rid«'dJy Itud. ( hi tlic upper poitii.n (»f the slab the epitaphist 
 informs n.s whenee the deeeased had c(jnn!, in the words, 
 I)E J]IAN()1JA (i. e. i),. Via Nova), from the New Road; 
 he then h-aves a wide lijank in the centre, and neartlie lower 
 edge of the slab, furnish(;s her name and occupation, at 
 folh.ws: VOIAVXLA (,)VE ORDEV BKNDKT DE I51A 
 NOBA, (i.e. INilleela (^uac; hordeuni vendebat, de Via Nova), 
 PvUeda who .sold harly on the New Road. The good 
 Pollecla probably kejtt a huckster shop on the new road; and 
 little didshe think, as she measured out her iSextariiskudniodii 
 of barley to her Christian friends and pagan customers, 
 that her name would survive the destruction of all the 
 iniperial grandeur she saw around her, and that, after 
 seventeen centuries, her brethren from parts of the world 
 "whose existence never entered into the suspicion of the all- 
 conquering Roman, would come to see the spot where her 
 remains had been laid to rest, when only a few weed-covered 
 mounds and some broken pillars would mark the site of 
 Csesar's Golden House and Rome's world-renowned forum. 
 It is worthy of note that some (.'/atacombs have groups 
 of names peculiar to themselves — a circumstance that often 
 aids in discovering their origin, and the names of the 
 families to which they originally belonged. It enabled, for 
 instance, the late lamented professor Armellini to discover 
 with, lit least, well-founded probability, the family name of 
 
48 THK (.'ATAroMns. 
 
 the celehratrd Virgin-Martyr, St. A^^iies. From her Acts 
 we knew that she was buried in lier family burial 
 place, " in- pr<w(liolo suo,'' "?">/ (ffj/p/lo suo^^^ and in 
 order to discover her family name, it remained to 
 learn to whom the cemetery originally belonged — who 
 were its founders. Careful research in the oldest part of 
 the cemetery— a part containing well preserved sepulchral 
 inscriptions dating back to the days of the first Flavian 
 Emperors — revealed to professor Armellini, that it was 
 first occupied by the family Claudius and the slaves whom 
 they had set free. The cemetery, therefore, belonged to 
 a Christian branch of the noble family of Claudius ; hence, 
 it was reasonably concluded that the forefathers of St. 
 Agnes, who was buried in her family burial place, inagello 
 riuo, were no other than the family Claudius. Here are 
 three specimens of epitaphs found in the family circle of 
 the Catacombs of St. Agnes : 
 
 Clodia Ipses. liib. Clodi Crecentis, 
 Clodia Lpseit freedwimian of Clodus Creeens, 
 
 L. ClodiuH Crecen. Clodise Victoria* 
 Coniugi incomparabili, 
 X. Clodius Crecens to Clodia Victoria his incovajmrabU 
 
 wife. 
 
 Clodius Crecentianus. 
 
 Again, in the Catacombs of Priscilla, the name FeteVy though 
 
 rare elsewhere, forms a group. Nor are we at a loss for an 
 
t'Xplanatioii of this liict, as I'liscilla, after \vli(»in llic Catn- 
 comljH arc named, was iiiotlirr oi I'lulciis, witli whose family 
 ancient traditions so closely unite the history of tlie Apostle 
 8t. Peter. 
 
 Notliinj^f in these epita])hs is too small to he 
 laki'ii into aciMamt 1-y the critical enquirer. 1 may give an 
 inijtanceof how valnahlean a[)}jarently indiU'e rent, word may he 
 tot he critic, in the Church ('alen<lars, onlhe 10th July, isgiven 
 the feast of se\'en hidthei' martyrs, sons of a m»]»l(; Roman 
 matron named Filicitas, who also di(Ml for the faith. Accord- 
 ing to the Acts wdnch we posses.-', they snliered under Marcus 
 Aurelius (101-180). Now, however, mudi-rn matter-of-fact 
 [►eo])lc may liesitate 1 efore accepting the history of Felicitai> 
 and her seven sons, yet from a little clause, in an epitaph in 
 tlie Catacomhs of Processus and Martinianus, on the Aurelian 
 Way, wt- learn, that (!ven in the tliird century, that same 
 •<lay was de<licate<l to the memory of distinguished martyrs; 
 for the 11th of duly, the day after the interment of the 
 <leceased, is callexl the day aft<'r the day of martyrs, Dies 
 Martyrtivt, as if the tenth was, hy excellence, the day of 
 martyrs. Here is the text: "To Pecus sweet soul; he 
 ■was brought to the cemetery the 10th July, was deposited 
 the day after the day of martyrs." (Pecori Dulcis Anima 
 Beiiit in Cimitero VIIJ. Idua Jul. D. F Poatera Die 
 Maturou). The day on which a Christian died for the 
 faith, and in general, the day on which he was believed to 
 
50 THK (\\TA(l^MB.^ 
 
 l>t' admitted into the liappiriess of lieaven, was called 
 the day of his birth. And unless we keep this fact before 
 our mindS) we shall be strongly tempted te accuse the good 
 Christians of seventeen centuries ago, of foolish errors; for 
 instance, of a seven-year-old child, who died the day after 
 Ids Baptism, it is said that he received the grace of Baptism 
 the day before his birth. 
 
 The epitaphs in verse are generally beautiful and 
 instructive. Many of the larger ones are the work of Pope 
 Damasus. and were placed on the tombs, not at the deposition 
 of those for whom they were composed, but later on, when 
 Damasus undertook the work of rest, ration. 1 have not 
 time to enter at length upon them. Ami yet 1 can hardly 
 pass them over without taking notice of some. An inter- 
 esting inscription from his pen was placed in the Catacombs- 
 of St. Sebastian, in commoration of an event which is said 
 to have taken place while the bodies of SS. Peter and Paul 
 were temporarily guarded there, not long after their martrydom . 
 Though it can scarcely be placed in the catagory of historical 
 facts, still it is held by a number of distinguished historians, 
 that at this time certain persons came from the East to 
 claim and carry away the bodies of SS. Peter and Paul, as* 
 those of their own countrymen; but being intercepted by 
 the Roman people, they hid them in a part of these Cata- 
 combs. Now, Damasus speaks of this as of an acknowledged 
 fact, and seem? to rejoice that Rome retained her pre(^iou& 
 
Trili; CATACOiIRS 51 
 
 trust. He writes : — i; ' . 
 
 "Here first dwelt saints, whose names, if you would 
 
 ask thenj, iire Peter and Paul. The East sent tht<e d^fciples 
 
 (uf Christ) — that we freely admit. By the merit of their 
 
 bloody death having followed Christ through the stars, they 
 
 souglit the heavenly abodes and the kingdom of the holy 
 
 But Rome rather merited to defend them as her own citizens." 
 
 • 
 
 A very beautiful metrical epitaph has been brought to 
 light in the Catacomlis commonly c&Wed Ad Sejjtem ColnmbaSt 
 on the old Salarian Way, It belongs to a certain Consul 
 named Liberalis — of whom ecclesiastical records and pro- 
 fane history are alike silent, — who, as the epitaph says, 
 acquired the honor of Consul through the favour of his 
 Prince, but now enjoy« the eternal honour of martyr 
 through his disfavour. Here is the text: — 
 
 Martyris hie sancti Liberalis membra quiescunt. 
 Qui quondam in terris Consul honors fuit; 
 Sed crevit titulis factus de consule martyr, 
 Cui vivit semper morte creatus honor ; : 
 
 Plus fuit irato quam grato principe felix, 
 Quern perimens rabidus misit ad astra furor. 
 ~^ '~^ Gratia cui trabeas dederat, dedit ira coronam, 
 
 Dum Christo procerum mens inimica fuit. 
 Obtulit haec Domino ccmponens atria Flornt 
 Ut Sanctos venerans praemia justa ferat. 
 
 For the benefit of these who are not acquainted ^fh 
 the Latin language, I would venture the following free 
 
52 THK CATACOMBS. 
 
 translation : — ^^.; ■.":'\v,; ; '■.,:■■> .^.v^^/.'^'. /•^;;^'.-;/v--r; ,-,^ ■,■".' -,' ii^ ■■•/,," :• 
 
 Here holy Liberalis' limbs repose, 
 
 Whom earth in knightly honours once arrayed ;; 
 
 Now higher titles, born of death, he knows, . 
 
 From Consul vain a glorious martyr made ; 
 
 Whom Prince's rage, more favouring than his smile^ 
 
 With rabid fury sent unto the skie?^ . 
 -• And gave immortal crown, where love erstwhile ■■ > 
 
 a ^d; Had given a purple mantle — woe's disguise. , 
 
 These things hath Floi'us, caring for these halls, 
 
 In huml)le tribute offered to the Lord, 
 
 That venerating here these sainted souls 
 
 He yet may glory in a just reward, 
 
 T*wo other metrical inscriptions, not however the work 
 Dainasus, may be desirin*!: of a passing notice, on account of 
 their stronp; resomblance to each other. They both belong 
 to the ceire«.ery of St. Lawrence on the Tiburtine Way.. 
 One is *of a bishop 80 years of age ; the other is of 
 that archdeacon whom we have already heard lecturing 
 those of tiie faithful who had made imprudent eiForts to 
 secure burial near the tombs of the saints. The venerable 
 old bish(;p, after having informed us that he was at one 
 time a rich unbeliever, but became converted and followed 
 Christ, distributing his goods to the poor, adverts with 
 evident pleasure, to the fact that he u.sed to sing sacred 
 music with the people. The archdeacon mentions the same 
 circumstance in his own life, saying that he had " modu- 
 lated the psalms with voice and art, and had sung the sacred 
 
THE CATACOMBS. ft3 
 
 xrords with divers sounds : " which, I suppose, implied that 
 he had a rich voice. "-'■■■-'■■'-■■-■■::.,:::■:'■■ .v^ ■:-^ ■*':■;,>■;,■; v>-.v,. ■^:.ri/: -ii: ::%■■.-■■ 
 
 It was customary to occasionally interrupt the chant- 
 ing of the psalms with a short solo, with a view to exciting 
 greater devotion in the minds of the people. But solos are 
 accompanied by strong temptations to vanity, and even 
 here they degenerated into soft, theatrical singing, until St. 
 Gregory abolished the custom, and instituted the Gregorian, 
 or plain chant, as being, in his judgment, more suitable to 
 the nature and purpose of sacred music. 
 ..,, The wonderful speed with which Christianity permp 
 ated every grade of Roman Society, from the humblest 
 •^lave up to the highest dignitaries", is clearly shown from 
 the epitaphs of distinguished personages which have been 
 brought to light throughout the Catacombs of Rome. The 
 Emperor Valerian, when, in 257, he published his edict 
 against the Christians, made express mention of Roman 
 Senators and Knights, Senatores et Equites Romani; 
 Tertullian in the second century, writing to Scapula, 
 Proconsul of Africa, reminds*him that the Emperor well knew 
 that among the Christians there were men and women of 
 Senatorial rank, claris.Hmi viri et clarissimae feminae ; and 
 when the Proconsul threatened persecution in Carthage, 
 Tertullian asked, " And what will you do witli so many 
 thousands of every sex, of every age and of every dignity?^ 
 Pliny (Epist X, ad Troj.) bears similar testimony. One of 
 
54 ^ - r UK CATACOMBS. 
 
 the most noteworthy discoveries th'Towing further light on 
 this f.ict, was made in the Catacombs of Priscilla in the 
 year lcS89. Various pagan writers mention Acilius 
 (.Talijrion, Consul for the year 91, as having fallen into 
 disfavour with the Emperor Dcmitian. Sentonius says he 
 suffered fcrbeinga '■^molitor rermn novariiiu,'^ SiU introductor 
 of new ideas. Tlie term seems to correspond to the epithet, 
 noirt ^uperiditio^ w-hich the pagans not unfrequently applied 
 to tlie Cliristian religion. At any rate Christian historians 
 gcneniiiy agree that the Consul Acilius Galbrion died for 
 the fciith. But at length the Catacombs yielded up the 
 treasured testimony which, for nearly nineteen centuries, 
 they had kept wrapt in their silent bosom. In the years 
 138S-89, excavations in the Catacombs of Priscilla laid bare 
 the burial-place cf a Christian Roman family of senatorial 
 rank, bearing the name of Galbrion. i;i 
 
 As a concluding remark on the epitaphs, I may say 
 that among l;!io thousands of sepulchral incriptions scattered 
 throughout the CJiristian cemeteries of the first four 
 coniiiries, not one instance is known where the name of 
 slave ajpears, and very raiely the name of freedman, 
 Christianity found slavery a part of the political life, and 
 tjould not abolish its actual existence by a stroke of the pen. 
 But this absence of even the faintest reference to distinction of 
 class, shows how firmly the Church held and practised that 
 doctrine which Laotantius drew from her bosom, when he 
 
TUt; (ATACUMBM. 55 
 
 wrote : "Amongst us theie in no distinction between 
 servant and master, noi- is there any reason why we give 
 ourselves the name of 'brothers,^ except that we believe we 
 are all equal " The Church undoubtedly recognized the 
 social distinctions of subject and ruler, servant and master, 
 but she did not recognize them as arising from inferiority 
 and superiority of nature. Whatever might be the 
 respective values placed by the world on the souls of men, 
 within the sacred precincts of the Christian Church, all 
 joined in worship with equal humility, and equal hope, for 
 they served a common Father, rind strove after a common 
 inheritance, being all united in a true Chrstian brotherhood, 
 "Where there is neither (rentile nor Jew, circumcision nor 
 uncircuuicision, Barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor free. 
 But Christ is all, and in all." (Col. iii., 11.) . i 
 
 The inscriptions left from the earliest Chirstian times 
 on the walls and around the tombs of saints by pilgrims 
 and other visitors form another instructive group of monu- 
 ments. The faithful sought those places where the mem- 
 ories of saints and martyred heroes were fresh ; and when 
 they found themselves within such holy grounds, and 
 surrounded by such ennobling influences, their hearts burnt 
 with enthusiasm and holy ^desire, and they gave vent to 
 their feelings in words written upon, or carvedinto, the walls. 
 They are many and various, but usually take the form of 
 short aspirations, or ejaculatory prayers. They are fre- 
 
56 Till!: (JATACOMlJi? 
 
 uently addivssed to the saints on whose tombs thev aro 
 written, in the popular foi-ni of expression, familiar to the 
 students of tlie Cat<\conil)S, Ahcf/^ In niHntc 'remember 
 me,' or ' keep me in your mind.' Tn the cemetery of 
 Praetestatus, on the wall just in front of the tombs of two 
 celebrated deacons, B'elecissimus and A<4'aj)it(), arc? written 
 the word, " Sitccurrite (mihi, utarti/rcs) nf vincam hi. die 
 judiri,'^ assist (me, (> martyrs) that \ may con({uer in the 
 day of judgment." One pilgrim was so struck with the 
 sanctuary of Ht. 8ixtus IT , in the Catacombs of Callix- 
 tus, as to compare it to the Jerusalem of the saints. He 
 writes, " Gervsale civifas et ornamentum Martirmu Domini 
 (Jujus^^ . . "Jerusalem the city and ornament of martyrs 
 of the Lord whose," — here the sentence ends unfinished. 
 Perhaps the poor pilgrim was pressed onward by the throng 
 or perhapA he beciime "l:>ecalmed in a sea of thought." 
 
 But one of the most touching of those little records of 
 pilgrims' visits, is that of a person who can.e to the Cata- 
 combs of Calli^tus while sorrow for a departed friend, or 
 relation, was fresh in his soul. The holy memories that 
 encompassed him impressed and strenghtened him, till 
 Christian hope beamed triumphantly through the gloom of 
 his sorrow. When he entered the outer chamber where 
 Pope Sixtus II. had b^en executed, the thought of the 
 dear departed — his mother, perhaps, or sister, or 
 wife, or bethrothed, it matters not, but her name 
 
. -f 'r '-■ 
 
 Tlirw CATACOMBS 67 
 
 Ma^ S )t'rv>nia -arose in his mind, and he wrote on 
 tlu' wall, "Sofronia inayest thou live with thine." 
 (Sofroiiia vihas <-}iin tnix.) He enters a little farther, and 
 the thoui^ht oouies back to him, and again he writes, 
 '•Sjfrjnia mayest thou live in the Lord." (Sqfronia 
 i.i I)t)mi(io.) Bat he has njt yet done: on the end 
 wall of an inner elianiber he again gives vent to the pressing 
 thougiit, and writes in large letters. " Sofronia ever dear? 
 thou shalt live in God." (So/ronia diileis semper vives in 
 Domino); and immediately under, lie writes a fourth time, 
 "Sofnmia thou shalt live !" (So/ronia vives.) 
 
 The pictures that adorn the walls of the Catacombs 
 are many and precious. They are in great part illustrative 
 of scriptural texts, and are deeply symbolical. There are 
 also the images of saints therein interred, as well as 
 engravings symbolizing various articles of Christian doctrine. 
 A scene very often met with is that of Jonas and the 
 "great fish." This was the connnon symbol of the resurrection 
 You see Jonas being thrown into the sea, with 
 the fish ready to catch him In some instances the 
 fish is very difierent in appearance from any we know. 
 The neck is long, and the head bears a stricking resemblance 
 to a horse's, while the body reminds us of the cuts which 
 scientists furnish of an extinct species to which they have 
 given the big Greek name Ichthyosaurus (fish-reptile). In 
 the same scene you sometimes see Jonas cast upon the 
 
5S THE CATArOMRF!. ' 
 
 shore by the fish, and finally reposing in his booth outside 
 the walls of Nineveh. Birds dispoi-ting among flowers are 
 also 'X.ninun. In fact, birds are often found, in rough 
 engravings, on the sepulchral slabs. They signified the soul 
 of the deceased, and, represented anu ngst fU.weis, signified 
 tlie soul admitted into the heavenly garden. Paradise. 
 Another svmbol of the soul is a woman in the attitude of 
 (»ne praying. Over an arched tomb, in the Catacombs of 
 . Ciriaca, an the Xiburtine Way, the soul is represented as a 
 woman between two saints, who are in the act of lifting up 
 veils, according to the idea caught from 8t. Paul, Kob. VI., 
 19, to introduce it into the inner taleinacle cf Christ. 
 Then there is the Good Shepherd carrying heme the lost 
 sheep. Few pictures meet the eye of the visitor as often as 
 this. Closely allied to it is the scene of the man sick of 
 the palsy, as, in obedience to the healing command of 
 Christ, he arises, takes up his bed, and goes into his house. 
 (St. Mark II., 11). It would seem that the faithful took 
 this means of signifying their belief in consoling doctrine 
 that Christ is ever ready to receive the repentent sinner; 
 as also of protesting against the Novatian errors concerning 
 the forgiveness of sins. Those who have read that inimi- 
 table story entitled, "Fabiola; or, the Church of the 
 Catacombs," will remember how charmingly the author 
 describes the effect produced by the pictures of the Good 
 Shepherd, on the heart of the apostate Christian, Torquatus, 
 
THE CATACOMBS. 59 
 
 wlio had betrayed liis bretliern, and acted an guide to a 
 detachment of pagan .soldiers in tlie Catacoin})s of Callixcus. 
 
 Souie of the other more favourite objects of Christian 
 art in tlie Catacombs are : Tl»e three children in tne fiery 
 furnace, Daniel among the li(ms, the shepherd among his 
 sheep, Moses stricking the rock from which a stream of water 
 Hows, jjazar-us rising from the tomb at the call of Christ, 
 and various others. The happiness of heaven was symbolized 
 in a l)an(piet scene. For instance, in the Catacombs of 
 8S. Peter and Marcel line, on the Labican Way, persons 
 are seated at a small table on which the lohthus, 
 or mystic tish, is prepared, and are served by two women. 
 The respective names of the women are written over their 
 heads. One is called Irene (i. e. peace), the other is called 
 Ayape ( i. e. love) ; for love and peace are our attendants at 
 the heavenly banquet. ' . 
 
 It is needless to say that the image of Our Divine 
 Saviour was the one with which Christian art delighted 
 most to adorn the walls of the Catabombs. After him, the 
 most favourite subject for the brush of the artist was his 
 Blessed Mother. She is represented in various circum- 
 stances. Sometimes in midst of the apostles, and not rarely 
 between SS. Peter and Paul; sometimes seated with the 
 Divine Infant in her arms, butmo8t frequently in the scene 
 of the adoration of the Magi. The most celebrated image of 
 her — celebrated by reason of its antiquity, was discovered 
 
GO Tin: (ATACOMBS. 
 
 ill a small t'rv[)t of the Catacombs of Priscilla, ind belongs 
 to the 2n(l century. She is seated with the Divine Infant 
 in her bosom; over his head is a star, and rii^ht in front of 
 her and facing towards her, is a man, who is understood 
 to be a prophet, with an open volume in his hand. Perliaps 
 no j'resco appears so strange, to those who are not acquainted 
 with the symbolism of the Catacombs, as that of a horse 
 running a race, and, at the same time, stretching out to 
 catch in his mouth a piece of bread marked with the sign 
 of the cross. 
 
 I have no doubt, the natural desire to know will here be 
 be excited in many of you who would wish to ask, 'What, 
 then, does it mean?' Well, all may notagreein interpreting it 
 and, as I said at the outset, the plan of this lecture 
 keeps me aloof from interpretations. I shall therefore 
 merely inform you how archeoligists commonly understand 
 it. They say : by the horse we are to understand the 
 Christian in the course of this mortal life. The thought, 
 they add, is taken from St Paul, who, in his 2nd epistle to 
 Timothy (iv. 7), says he has finished his course; and in his 
 1st to the Corinthians (ix., 24), writes: " Know you not that 
 they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth 
 the prize'?" And the bread marked with the sign of the 
 cross, they tell us, signifies tho Eucharistic bread which 
 supports the spiritual life of the Christian in his weary race. 
 
 Nowhere in the Catacombs do we find, within the same 
 
THE CATACOMDS. CI 
 
 space, so largo a colloction of inteivstiiig picture« as in ftve 
 small crypts in the ('atacouibs of Callixtus, known as the 
 (Typts of the Sacraments. The nature of tiie pictures 
 suggested the name. Many of the scenes are reproduced 
 in each of the hve chambers. The most common amongst 
 them is the miracle of the multiplica Jim of the loaves and 
 (ishes. Persons sit at a table on which is prepared one 
 large fish. Neai' by are baskets of bread. In one instance 
 the brearl and tish are together on a small three-legged table; 
 a man wearing a imllinm stands beside it, with his right 
 hand extended over the Hsh, whil«^ a woman, in the attitude 
 of one praying, is not far off. We know that the early 
 Christians used the ft-ih as a symbol of Christ, the letters 
 of the Greek word for Hsh, iehthus, being the initial letters 
 of the name of Christ. Another common picture of this 
 group is Moses striking the rock. But the scenes taken 
 from the New Testament which surround him, lead one to 
 suspect that he is onl}'^ a symbolical personage ; and one is 
 strengthened, if not conttrined, in this sdspicion, on seeing the 
 name of Petei written over his head. In one of these 
 tive crypts of which I am at present speaking, this Moses- 
 Peter, if I may so call liim, is striking the rock, 
 from which a stream of watei flows ; a short distance 
 below a fishermen is sitting on the bank in the act of taking 
 a small fish with a hook; then comes the usual banquet scene; 
 next is a child standing in the stream, while a man wearing a 
 
('}'2 tjikCatacomhs. 
 
 juiifintH jfoiir.s water (»ii his liciiil; not far <»11 is the favourite 
 scene of the iiitirni man of the yo8pel taking \\\> his ))e(l and 
 walking. J .shall not stop to giv(! any detailed interjMudation 
 of tliese scenes. What the mystic rock is we h arn from St. 
 Paul (1 Cor. X., 4) where, .speaking of the Isiaelites in the 
 desert, lie says, "They drank of the spiritual rock that followed 
 them, and the rock was Christ." Tlu^ leader of ('hrist's 
 people, therefore, strikes tlu^ mystic njck by the exercise of 
 his office, and the waters of grace flow out to the faithful, 
 and are aj>plied to their souls through the Sacraments. 
 
 1 have now completed the plan which I laid down from 
 the beginning. But, as you see, my lecture has been a 
 geiisral introduction to the study of the Cataccjmhs, rather 
 than a critical study of each or any one in particular. 
 Ilia\e said notliing of the Vatican cemetery, the first official 
 cemetery of the bishops of Rome, over which the church 
 of St. Peter's now stands ; I have said nothing of the 
 Ostrian cemetery, with which the life and labours of St. 
 Peter in Rome are so closely connected ; I have said nothing 
 of a very large number of other cemeteries ; and when I did 
 make reference to any one in particular, it was only by way 
 of illustration of the general facts to which 1 have necessar- 
 ily limited my discourse. 
 
 How many precious memories still lie hidden in Rome's 
 ancient Christian cemeteries we cannot say ; — future excava- 
 tions shall tell. Their present condition is not promising. 
 
THE CATACOMBS. C3 
 
 Quitr n number of thfiii an- (•niiiiimiulcd l>y private owners 
 wlio, in 8()ni(; iiKstjinccN, will not permit the arch«(»lugi.st8 to 
 carry <»u the work <»f excavation and research. Besides, the 
 riding geniu> of moilern politics seems resolved not to be 
 wooed by tlie memory of earl\ Chriitian life and customs. 
 And un(!oubtedly the pctwersthat bein Italian p(»litic« give us 
 |»oor hopes of a future piM'iod of rehabilitated good feeling. 
 *' Tear down the old, build up the new " is the watchword. 
 They seem t<>think that nothingthatdoes not .scent of the mor- 
 tar and varnish of the 19th century is worthy of our enlight- 
 ened age. With thy (;ry of "progress'' and "intellectual 
 emancipation" on their lipvs, they trample on every manner 
 of science that tends mojst to ennoble the mind and purify 
 the heart, then look about for loud applause, which 
 some are l)lind enough to give, while they wage war against 
 the treasures with which Christian art. Christian learning 
 and Christian piety have been adorning Rome for nineteen cen- 
 turies, and have long since rendered it the attraction of the 
 civilized world A fresh discovery in the Catacombs will not 
 help to buihl a powder magazine ; where then the profit? The 
 record.s of early Christian virtues and heroism will not 
 equip another soldier from the field ; where then the attrac- 
 sion? The holy shrine before which pious Christians have 
 for ages whispered their prayers, and found consolation in 
 their afflictions, and where the joyful hymns of pure-hearted 
 worshippers fell, like a sweet dew from heaven, on the 
 
u 
 
 riJi: (JATACOMJJS. 
 
 lianlencd lioart of tlu; sinner and prepaj'ed it for rcpfiilaiicp, 
 is worLlilcsH to u race of mortals su[>«rior to tlie weakness of 
 relij^ioii Let the blasphemies and obscene songs of the 
 sol<liery, therefore, replace the prayers of the penitent 
 sinner and the hymns of the consecrated Virgin, to show 
 to the w^orld tliat men have arisen from their bondo-^e 
 and are marching triumphantly on the ]iighrt)ad of 
 progress! Bui aJl nohle minds will feel and understand that 
 modern institutions, however admirable thev may he, are not 
 Vm oidy ihiiejs in the woild deserving of our respect; and 
 they will fuitlicmore agree, that the world is wide enough 
 for their dcivelopnient, without violating those sacred reserves 
 around which the history of faith, hope, and love has raised 
 a wall too holy for man to profane. They hear u[) to us the 
 thoughts and records of a venerahle |)ast, and, at the same 
 time, carry us hack to the companionship of hrelhern who 
 knj,w nothing, it is true, of steam engines and electric lights, 
 hut who were familiar with the mechanism of a nobler art — 
 the art of living well, and who walked in the light of a 
 brighter lamp — the lamp ef faith, which illumined a more 
 arduous, though more noble way than modern scoffers have 
 courage to tread. Whoever loves and reverences the lives 
 of those far-ha(;ii Christians, will certainly resjject the monu- 
 ment's that have survived the ravishes of time to tell their 
 history, amongst which few can hold an equal place with the 
 Cataoombs of Home.