Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-10-22
The Roman Catacomhs.

; rocks, tu!a, and pozzolano, which ulderlie
the soil OF Rome, and its vicinity. The tufa
hardens on exposure, but the pozzolano is
little more than sand and, of these two
materials, Rome. and perhaps other cities
before her, has been built. From the ear
/ lest Etruscan period this deposit of stone
was quarried {: and thus it is supposed the
Catacombs originated. As long as Rome re-
} tanned her prosperity. and added to the num-
ber of her temples and palaces, new quar-
ries were opened and the extent of the Cata-
combs was enlarged but, when the Empire
declined, the necessity of resorting to them
eeased,-the decaying edifces in the city
furnishing ample material for all new struc-
tures.
After the quarries iell into disuse, they
became the haunts Of robbers and outlaws.
and the burial places of slaves and plebeians
The Romans disposed of their dead BY Gre
. nation but the careasses of those who were
too poor to provide the means FOR funeral
pile and the costly attending ceremonies,
were emptied from the dead-carts upon un-
occupied ground ust without the city, or
were thrown into the recesses of the Gaia
combs. Horace saws of the cavern under
the Esquiline Hill - This was the COM
mon sepulchre of the miserable pebian ="
Daring the first three or four centuries, the
CatacoSbs afforded shelter to the Christians
who fled from the cruel persecutionsA the
Roman Emperors. They cut new chambers
and more intricate corridors, one below an
others for the accommodation and security
Of the throngs who cheerfully left home and
the sweet light of day that they might have
liberty 10 practice the rites Of the hew faith
they had adopted.
Living springs supplied water to these
subterranean habitations and ,illamed by arti-
fetal light, they were not very much more
comiortless than the dens above ground that
served as homes for the poorer classes. The
dwellings of Roman patricians were desti-
tute OF bedrooms providing for seclusion
during the hours given to sleep and to the
performance Of the toilette, and the houses
OF the lower orders herded their inmates
together in quarters scarcely better than
those occupied by cattle. The early Chris
tlans were mostly poor, and accustomed to
the pnyations and hardships Of lowly lot
10 Imperial Rome hence the sacrifice en-
tailed by lie in the Catacombs was not SO
great as might be supposed. When these
deyout followers Of Christ lost their beloved
ones by maItyrdom, or BY death from natu-
raj causes, they were animated by new de-
sire to preserve the sacred remains in hope
OF the promised resurrection. They there
fore prepared graves for their dead in the
walls Of :he Catacombs
Tier above tier of these crypt5 lined the
galleries and passages for many miles. 1t
has been estimated that q 900 900 of bodies
were thus entombed. The graves were sim
pie beds cut in the wall, and closed with
stones, and were usually finished with tile
or slab bearing the name and faith of the
sleeper laid within. Ii was in the adorn-
ment of these graves that Christian art
found lis first expression. The earliest deco
rations consist simply of monogram or
type symbolical Of the Christian Church.
The monogram was composed Of the letters
ID. NJ. (DsO Maxima), or II. P, the initial
letters of the Greek name of Christ. A
little later the Greek cross appears, and then
the pictorial acrOstic of the fish, and after
wards the figure Of ship and the dove
with an oliye-branch, and diagrams of Dan
iel IN the lions den, and Jonah swallowed
and disgorged By the whale Among the ear
lest pictures is that Of lamb, or of a cross
standing on mound whence issue four
streams Of water and rude figures of
| Christ as Orpheus, OF az the Good Shepard,
and always young and beautiful Evidently
no converts from the host OF painters and
seulptors inhabitins Rome joined the holy
society in the Catacombs, for the designs on
all the tombs Of the first centuries are of
the crudest description.
There is no date upon the earliest graves,
and the only elew to their age is found in
the name of the contemporary Consul, which
Is occasionally given. The Oldest vet dis
covered belong to the year IS and l02 But
the errors OF grammar and spelling, and the
rude style Of the embellishments, indicate
those that belong to the first centuries, and
give evidence that the Christians who peo-
pied the CatacOmbs were mainly drawn from
| the uneducated classes. When Constantine
embraced Christianity, in the fourth CEN
tury, he gave the Cataeombs TO the Chris
tiaus as ehurch-property, and for two centu-
ries or more they continued to bury their
dead in this place, halfowed to them by the
| graves Of so many martyrs and saints. Many
persons Of the highest distinction sought
burial here. Among them we're the Popes
Leo l., Gregory the Great, Gregory III. and
III, Leo IN, and the Emperors Honorius,
Nalentinian, and Ohio III. During this pc
Rod, good deal of effort was expended in
enlarglng and adorning these underground
cemeteries, and Christians from far and near
visited them, sometimes oele )rating the holy
rites OF their Church in tie little chapels
used by the early saints
When the Lonbards ba9eged Rome, in
the eighth century, many the Catacombs
were destroyed and sulupVSeptly the re-
mains Of a considerable nus. f-of the mar
| tyrs and saints were removed and buried in
churches. During the centuries following
the overthrow Of the Western Empire, the
Catacombs again became the resort of the
yilest and must degraded of the inhabitants
of Rome. When, at last, the growing pow
er of the Popes enabled them to clear the
cemeterie, OF robbers, assassns, and villains
of every dye, the entrance to many Of them
was closed.
In 1885 a new interest was awakened in
the Catacombs, and many of the corridors
were closed and lighted with lamps. Faith
er Bosio, a Catholic priest, fred with de-
yout enthusiasm, spent thirty years explor-
ing and clearing passages, and copying in
scriptions, paintings, and relics, found in re-
eesses that had not been penetrated In CEN
turies. His work was paralleled by Father
BOldetti, who also spent above thirty years
cropping and digging for new discoveries in
the same field are Seroux d'Agincourt, who
spent fifty years studying the relics found in
the crypts. and NJ. Perret, whose important
works on the Catacombs have been recently
published by the French Government
In the graves OF the early Christians
many little articles were deposited, as lamps,
vials, and vases and, in the graves of little
children, dolls and marionettes. The most
interesting objects are the small glass plates,
embellished with pictures il gold. These
are single portraits or groups representing
the holy Family, or Peter and Paul attired
in the Roman dress
At irregular intervals. the galleries OF the
Cataconbs, which are generally or feet
wide Ind or feet high, expand into wide
apartments, that were probably constructed
as places for worship. These little subter-
ranean chapels were the first churches built
for Christian service. On the eastern side of
the chapels, the fiat lid of an arched tomb
was used as table or altar, while barrier
in front divided the room in two parts, an
swering to chancel and nave Some of these
chapels were double,-one being exclusively
used by the men, and the other by the wo-
men. This declaration of the inferiorty of
women was long afterwards maintained in
the Basilicas, where women were restricted
to the left side of the hall. or nave of the
building.
FOREIGN OYSTER BEDs.-While, owing to
lavish consumption and neg lect Of protec-
tiOn or provision for reproduction, the 0ys-
| ter-beds in Englabd are seriously dlmipls-