Page:The early Christians in Rome (1911).djvu/261

 To enable the reader fairly to grasp something of the vast extent, the nature, and importance of these Catacombs of Rome, whose silent witness to the "Inner Life" of the early Church is invoked, this Fourth Book will give: (1) a brief description of the way in which the investigations into this wonderful "City of the Dead" in later years has been carried out by careful scholars and experts; (2) a general and somewhat detailed account of the situation and features of the several Catacombs, dwelling especially on the more important of these cemeteries; (3) the teaching contained in the inscriptions, carvings, and paintings on the graves in the Catacomb corridors.