The Catacombs.
Ancient and Christian Rome seem to be separated by a wide chasm,
if the modern appearance of the city alone be regarded. The most ancient
churches having disappeared, or being concealed beneath a modern garb,
the earliest Christian monuments of any importance are several centuries
later than the last Roman structures. This interval is satisfactorily
filled up by the Catacombs, or burial-places of the early Christians
(comp. p. lxi). — Most travellers will be satisfied with a visit to the
Catacombs of St. Calixtus, and perhaps those of St. Domitilla or St.
Agnes (all shown daily, except in midsummer; comp. pp. 453-55). The
custodians furnish lights, but for anything like a close inspection visi-
tors are advised to provide themselves with candles also. On 22nd Nov.
the Catacombs of Calixtus, and on 31st December the Catacombs of
Priscilla are illuminated and open to the public. Information as to ad-
mission to the other catacombs may be obtained of the custodians of
the Calixtus Catacombs.
I. History of the Catacombs . The term 'Catacombs' is mo-
dern, having been extended in the 15th cent. from those under San
Sebastiano, which lay in the district of Catacumba (p. 443), to the
others also. The early Christians gave their burial-places the
Greek name of Coemeteria, i.e. resting or sleeping-places, with
reference to the hope of the resurrection. The Roman law, fre-
quently re-enacted during the empire, prohibiting the interment of
the dead, or even their ashes, within the precincts of the city, was
of course binding on the Christians also. We accordingly find their
burying-places situated outside the gates, on the great highroads.
While the European nations had become accustomed to dispose
of their dead by cremation, the Egyptians and the Jews retained
the practice of interment. The prevalence of the Jewish influence
among the Christians gave rise to the excavation of subterranean
passages, in the lateral walls of which recesses were made for the
reception of the corpses. Burial places of this description are to be
found at Naples, Syracuse, Chiusi, Venosa, in Alexandria (in Egypt),
and elsewhere, as well as at Rome, where they are chiefly excavated
in the strata of soft tufa which is found in the immediate vicinity
of the town, and is of no value for building purposes.
The Roman Catacombs took their rise from Family Tombs,
which were named after their original proprietors, such as those of
Lucina, Priscilla, Pontianus, and others. The approaches to
them are everywhere wide and conspicuous. The oldest belong
to the first century of our era, the most recent to the first half of
the 4th century. In the 3rd century the Church began to establish
burial-places of its own and to take the management of those already
existing; and this supervision seems soon to have embraced all the
Christian burial-places. Each district was presided over by a
presbyter.
During the 3rd cent. the persecuted Christians frequently sought
safety in the Catacombs; and not a few suffered martyrdom in their