Page:A Letter from Mr John Monro to the Publisher, concerning the Catacombs of Rome and Naples (IA paper-doi-10 1098 rstl 1700 0043).pdf/6

 till Christianity brought it in. Of the whole we have many instances, and Il Signior Abbate Bengini, Bibliothecary of the Propaganda, a Gentleman of good ancient Learning, assured me in the conversation I had with him on this argument, that on the great Roads in most parts of Italy little Catacombs have been and are still found under ground, and that 'twas the custom to build little Houses over them. This, and the testimony of the Labourers whom I consulted on the matter, made me abandon an opinion of which I was once fond, that the Catacombs are of the nature of our Gravel-pits, as old as the City itself, and yet out of them was taken the Puzzolana, the famous Ingredient in the Roman Mortar. The same learned Gentleman added, relating to the marks of a Martyr, that they don't conclude much; that the so fam'd Cypher Χρ was in use among the Ancients long before Christianity begun: And when I ask'd him what the meaning of it might be among them, return'd, that twas compos'd of the two Greek Letters Χ Ρ, under which something mystical was comprehended, but that he met with no Author that gave account what the mystery was.

Thus, after a multitude of thoughts about the Catacombs, I'm forc'd to take up with this; so natural it is, arising from the sole theory of the place, and falls in so appositely with the Religion and Praice of the Ancients, among whom the Dii Manes were the Tutelary Gods of the Country, and D. M. at the head of an Inscription, argues the Moles, the Sepulchre, the Monument, ℰc. was in the primary intention made for and dedicated to the Soul. Upon the same maxims, in foreign expeditions, when a Hero dy'd or was kill'd, as the Body was liable to a quick corruption, and for that reason unfit to be transported entire, they fell on the expedient of Burning, in order to bring home the Ashes, to oblige the Manes to follow, that ſo