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 CATACOMBS 95 Cemeteries of the Holy Martyrs and Ancient Christians of Rome." This work is exceedingly valuable. These two enthusiastic and meritori- ous priests have been succeeded by such inves- tigators as Bottari, Marangoni, Lupi, Fabretti, Filippo, Buonarotti, Allegranza, &c. Seroux d'Agincourt is one of the most distinguished authorities of modern times ; he went to Rome in the latter part of the last century to study Christian archaeology and remain there for six months, but he became so interested in his in- quiries that he stayed nearly 50 years. His great work, Histoire de Vart par les monumens, depim sa decadence au 4* siecle jusqu'd, son re- nouvellement au 16, treats of the catacombs with profound learning and discrimination. Among more recent works is the magnificent one published at the expense of the French government, Les Cataeombes de Home, by Louis Ferret (Paris, 1853); and in English, those of the Rev. Spencer Northcote, "The Roman Catacombs" (London, 1859), and "Roma Sotterranea" (London, 1869). The distinguished Roman antiquary, the chevalier de' Rossi, is preparing for publication a com- plete collection of all the Christian inscriptions, amounting to upward of 11,000, of which one voL folio appeared in 1861. The same author is engaged upon a general work under the title of Roma sotterranea cristiana, of which vol. i. appeared in 1866. Among other recent writers of importance on the Roman catacombs may be mentioned Maitland, "Church in the Cata- combs;" Kip, "The Catacombs of Rome;" Schaff, R6musat, Jehan, Martigny, and Bouix. Under Pius IX. their exploration has been car- ried on with much intelligence and energy, and has resulted in many interesting and valuable discoveries. A full statement of these re- searches since November, 1871, is given in De' Rossi's Bollettino di Archeologia, new series, No. IV. "When Bosio's discoveries were made known Pope Clement VIII. took the catacombs under his special protection, and decreed ex- communication and severe corporal punishment against any one who should enter them without leave, or remove from them the least object whatsoever. So highly were the virtues of the Christian martyrs esteemed, that personages of the highest distinction were buried in the cata- combs, and were happy if they thought that after their death such honor should be paid to their remains. Among illustrious men thus entombed were the popes Leo I., Gregory the Great, Gregory II. and III., and Leo IX. ; and the emperors Honorius, Valentinian, and Otho II. The catacombs of Naples have larger and higher chambers and galleries than those of Rome ; they are excavated in the volcanic tufa in the face of the hill of Capodimonte, forming a long series of corridors and chambers, ar- ranged in three stories communicating with each other by steps. The only entrance now open is that of the church of San Gennaro. Their construction has given rise to many spec- ulations among the antiquaries of Naples, but is now generally ascribed to the colonists from Greece. Subsequently they were used by the early Christians for purposes of sepulture as well as of worship. St. Januarius and other mar- tyrs were interred here. In the middle of the 17th century they were made the burial place of the victims of the plague, and at the begin- ning of this century several bodies were found by Domenico Romanelli. The catacombs of Syracuse form an immense subterranean tqwn, with innumerable tombs cut out of the solid rock, containing the dead of all ages, nation- alities, and creeds. They, also, were con- verted by the early Christians into places of refuge from persecution. The entrance to them is under the church of San Giovanni. The catacombs of Malta are of small ex- tent, but in good preservation. They seem to have been used for a place of worship as well- as of sepulture. The so-called catacombs of Paris were never catacombs in the ancient sense of the word, and not devoted to sepulchral purposes until the year 1784, when the council of state issued a decree for clearing the cemetery of the Innocents, and for removing its contents, as well as those of other graveyards, into the 161 VOL. IV. 7 The Catacombs of Paris.