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 CATACOMBS

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CATACOMBS

right bank of the Tiber the catacombs explored were those of Pontianus and Generosa on the Via Portuen- sis. The most thorough explorations were carried out in the catacombs of Callistus, Domitilla, and Priscilla. In a large number of cases the graves of the martyrs mentioned in the old authorities (mar- tyrologies, itineraries, the "Liber Pontificalis", and

Papal Crypt, III Century, Catacomb or St. Caijjstu

the legendary accounts of the martyrs) were redis- covered. At the same time there was dug up a treasure, valuable beyond expectation, of early Christian epitaphs and paintings, which gave much unlooked-for information concerning the faith of the early Christians, their concepts of life, hopes of eternity, family relations, and many other matters. III. Inscriptions. — Although thousands of the inscriptions on the graves of the early Christians have been lost, ami many more contain nothing of impor- tance, there is still a valuable remainder that yields more information than any other source concerning the first Christian centuries. That Christianity as early as the days of the Apostles found entrance into distinguished families of the Eternal City, and that, as time went on, it gradually won over the nobility of Rome is evident from the epitaphs containing the titles clarissimi, clarissimce (of senatorial rank), as well as from epitaphs in which appear the names of noted clans (gentes). The change wrought by Chris- tianity in tin- social relations of master and slave is I .lain from the exceedingly small number of Christian inscriptions containing the words scrrux (slave), or libertus (freedman), words which are constantly seen

on pagan gravestones; the often recurring expression

alumnus (foster-child) characterizes the new relation

between the owner and the owned. Many of the epitaphs give eloquent voice to tin' love of married couples, dwelling on the fact thai man and wife had

lived chastely (virginius, Virginia) before entering the married state, on the virtues of the dead com- panion and the faithfulness to the departed observed through long years of solitary life in order that, lying side by side in the same grave, they might rise to- gether at the Resurrection. Others record the love of parents for a dead child and conversely. Reference to the virgin state, which seldom appears in heathen epitaphs, is often met with in the Christian inscrip- tions; from the fourth century on mention is made of a virginity specially dedicated to God, virgo Deo dicata, famida Dei. Besides allusions in the inscrip- tions to the various ecclesiastical ranks of bishop, priest, deacon, lector, and excavator (jossor), there are references to physicians, bakers, smiths, and joiners, often with emblems of the respective imple- ments. Especially interesting are inscriptions which throw light on the religious conceptions of the time, which speak not only of the hope of eternity, but also of the means of grace on which that hope rests — above all, of the faith in the one God, and Christ, His Son. They also dwell on membership in the Church through baptism, and on the relations with the dead through prayer. Naturally, the older the epitaphs referring to dogma the greater their importance.

Next comes the question as to how the age of an inscription can be ascertained. In the first place the inscriptions are limited to the first four centuries of the Christian Era, since, after the invasion of the Goths (410), burial in the catacombs occurred only in isolated instances and soon ceased altogether. The later Roman inscriptions and all the inscriptions of Gaul, Africa, and the Orient, however much ad- ditional information they may give in regard to dogma, cannot here be taken into consideration. The most natural and certain method of determining the age of an inscription, i. e. through the reference it usually contains to the annual consul, can scarcely be used a dozen times in the epitaphs of the first two centuries. There are, however, many auxiliary means of determining the question, as: the names, the form of the letters, the style, the place of discovery, the pictorial emblems (varying from the anchor and the fish to the monogram of Christ); these permit, with a reasonable degree of certainty, the assignment of inscriptions to the fourth century, to the time before Constantine, to the beginning of the third or the end of the second century, or even to an earlier period. The Roman gravestones of the first four centuries furnish numerous proofs not only for the fundamental dogmas of the Catholic Church but also for a large additional number of its doctrines and usages, so that the epitaphs could be employed to illustrate and enforce nearly every page of a modern Catholic catechism. Some inscriptions are here given as examples.

Catacomb of Callistus, second century (text some- what restored): —

♦ponton brohi<rcv SEnTIMIOS nPAIrefrATOS kAIK-

iXtdvos O AOYA05 TOY 0eoY AHIOS Bin<roS OY METENOHSA KAN OAE EOl YIIEPSTHlv KAI EYKApiirTHEn TO ONOMATI SOY \\\p£dwK€ TUX *YXJ)C TO BED TPIANTA TPlCty (twv

E3 MRNON IIETEIAos. . . XaMIIP6roTos

ETaip. . . TrapidnKE ttjp \pvxv" T V # f <? lll'o . . . (TfirrEMHI'IUN

This inscription was found in a fragmentary eon d:ti::n slang with other incinptions. f th- ( i. ill in family, near the grave of St. Cecilia. I'hronton made the grave. The epitaph mentions two dead. Septi- mius I'nrtextatus Caa ilianus and PetiliuS, the latter with the additional statement Xapirpiraros. rlaris- simus, signifying one of senatorial rank. Septimius

is called a "servant of God" and is then represented

as speaking: "If 1 have lived virtuously I have not