CIMITERI CRISTIANI ANTICHI

CIMITERI CRISTIANI ANTICHI

**Summary:**

I. General considerations

II. Property and administration

III. Theological significance of early Christian funerary monuments

IV. Ancient Christian cemeteries of Rome

V. Ancient Christian cemeteries in Italy

VI. Ancient Christian cemeteries in other regions of the West and East.

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### I. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

#### 1. Name
From the Greek *χωλμητήριον* (place of rest), Latinized as *coemeterium*. The term appears in Christian literature from the 3rd century onward, though it is not found in the New Testament. It is used, for example, in the *Didascalia Apostolorum* (II, 34) and by Origen (*Contra Celsum*, VIII, 48). The word *cimitero* (cemetery) is derived from II.
The term *coemeterium* is particularly striking due to the large number of small tombs, mostly arranged at the corners of underground galleries for structural reasons. This arrangement demonstrates how Christians, in contrast to the shameful pagan practice of exposing infants in places of refuse, daily upheld that *praeteriens misericordia* (mercy shown to passersby) mentioned by Tertullian (*Apol.*, 9, 17).

#### 2. Origins
The earliest Christian burials in Rome—those of the founders of its Church, the Apostles Peter and Paul—were located in pagan burial areas at the Vatican and on the Ostian Way. It is difficult today to determine precisely in which year separate Christian cemeteries were established apart from pagan or Jewish burial grounds. Only with Tertullian, at the end of the 2nd century, do we find explicit mention of *areae sepulturarum nostrarum* (*Ad Scapulam*, 3: PL 1, 701), and it is also Tertullian who writes: *vivere licet cum ethnicis, commori non licet* (*De idololatria*, 4).

By the mid-3rd century, St. Cyprian deplores Bishop Martialis for having buried his sons *apud profima sepulcra depositos et alienigenis consepultos* (*Ep.*, 67, 6). However, it is difficult to conclude that such separation was always strictly observed, since many examples show that originally pagan burial sites were later transformed and adapted for Christian burials. Particularly significant in this regard is the mausoleum of Marcus Clodius Hermes in the catacombs, where, at a later stage, purely Christian motifs were painted above the entrance door (the Good Shepherd, the Feeding of the Multitude, the Miracle of the Gerasene Demoniac). In the Roman burial ground of the Isola Sacra (near Porto), Christian tombs are also found; notable is the tomb of a Telesphorus adorned with the symbols of the anchor, the sheep, and the dove with an olive branch (3rd century).

Recent excavations in the Vatican grottoes have uncovered three further examples: the Christian tomb of Aemilia Gorgonia in the sepulchral cell of the Cetennii; another Christian tomb of a deceased woman, marked by a palm branch and a dove, placed in an *arcaosylos* (a small arched tomb) that originally belonged, it seems, to an Egyptian family; and a small mausoleum that was initially pagan, used for cremation, later converted into a Christian inhumation tomb with mosaic representations of the Fisherman with the Hook, Jonah cast into the sea, and the Good Shepherd. Moreover, within the same Christian cemeteries, pagan *cubicula* (burial chambers) are sometimes found, even if they predate the Christian use.

Finally, it should be noted that St. Ambrose in 392 discovered the bodies of the martyrs Vitalis and Agricola in a Jewish cemetery (*Exhort. virg.*, 1, 7: PL 16, 338).

As for the locations chosen by Christians for their cemeteries, it must be observed that they adhered to Roman legal norms. Therefore, cemeteries were always established *extra pomerium* (outside the city limits), in *ager publicus* (public land), or on private property, following the Roman custom of familial or hereditary burial grounds. Roman law recognized the right to burial (*ius sepulchri*) for all without distinction; even slaves were permitted to accumulate the means to purchase their own tombs, and after death, they regained their civil rights. The right to burial was granted even to the remains of a condemned person, which a judge could deliver to whoever requested them for interment (*Dig.*, XLVIII, 24, 1, 2, 3; *Cod. Iust.*, III, 44, 2). The Jews at Smyrna attempted to prevent the Roman authorities from handing over the body of Bishop Polycarp for burial (*Eusebius, Hist. eccl.*, IV, 15).

Christians always took the greatest care to bury the dead: Tertullian, as noted, recalls how it was the concern of the Christian community to gather resources for burying the poor (*Apol.*, 39). St. Cyprian warns his clergy that *maximum est, corpora martyrum aut ceterorum si non sepeliantur, grande periculum imminet eis quibus incumbit hoc opus* (*Ep.*, 8: CSEL, III, p. 488). St. Ambrose declared that to meet the necessary expenses for burying the faithful, it was permissible to break up, melt down, and sell even the sacred vessels of the Church (*De officiis*, II, 28, 142).

Every tomb was protected by Roman law: at the moment of burial, it became a *res religiosa* and, as such, *res extra commercium* (outside commercial transactions). Not all the land, even if destined for burial, was therefore subject to legal protection.

Even if it was indicated in the *titulus* both in the city and in the countryside, it was progressively occupied by actual tombs.

Christian burial grounds were not always respected. Tertullian indeed repeats the cry of the Carthaginian plebs: *"areae non sint"* (Ad Scapul., 3); and that this cry corresponded to reality is demonstrated by what Tertullian himself writes: that in his time *"not even the dead Christians are spared; even the already decomposed corpses are removed from this kind of asylum of death and are cut up, reduced to pieces"* (Apol., 37, 2).

Christians have always followed the rite of inhumation, as Cecilius observed: *"exsecrantur rogos et damnant ignium sepulturas"* (Octavius, 11), and Octavius replied: *"we Christians frequent the old and better custom of burying"* (ibid., 34). Unfortunately, however, Christians were often condemned to burning alive, as is recalled in the same *Octavius*: *"not only the right hand, but the whole body is burned, cremated"* (ibid., 37).

The open-air cemetery areas were enclosed by a wall; the tombs could be either simple pits (*formae*) for one or more burials placed one above the other, separated by tiles or marble slabs; in this case, the tomb was called *biscandens* (v. SISCIA), *tercandens*, or for many bodies *poliandron*; or they could be under a portico (*sub teglota*), or in terracotta sarcophagi, in stone, marble, or masonry coffins, or even in simple amphorae. Lead coffins were sometimes used (the *locellus plumbeus* was indispensable for translations), and wooden coffins, as has been found in Spain and North Africa.

It is essential to clarify that underground Christian burial was necessarily limited to those places where the geological configuration allowed it; it responded to a logical principle of space economy, being a deep exploitation of a limited surface area, both in the city and in the countryside.

Fr. Marchi deserves credit for definitively demonstrating that the so-called underground cemeteries were not simply reused pozzolana quarries for Christian burials, but tunnels expressly excavated by gravediggers for the burial of the *fratres* (G. Marchi, *Monumenti delle arti cristiane primitive nella necropoli del cristianesimo*, Rome 1844, p. 7 ff.). Only in some cases are areas of reused sandstone found, Priscilla (v.), COMMODIANO (v.), the so-called *cimitero di S. Gennaro dei poveri* in Naples (v.), and the one called *di S. Giovanni in Siracusa* (v.).

One of the most persistent legends is that the Church hid in the first three centuries within the underground cemeteries. But it is necessary to ask where and how the Christians of all those cities of the Roman Empire, where literary and monumental testimonies attest to flourishing Christian communities in the Mediterranean basin, could have hidden—cities where underground excavation was impossible. Moreover, in Rome itself in the mid-3rd century, there were no grand underground cemeteries, but only limited cemetery nuclei just beginning to develop around delimited family areas. The same cemetery of the Christian community on the Appian Way, the so-called *cimitero di Callisto*, had a very limited extent and was certainly not large enough to arouse concern from Roman police. The very massacre of Pope Sixtus II (August 6, 258), the preeminent martyr of the cemeteries, occurred, along with that of his four deacons (Cyprian, *Ep.*, 59, 1), in the area above the *cimitero di Callisto* and not in the underground crypt where his predecessors—Pontian, Anterus, Fabian, Lucius, Stephen—already rested; while it is known from Damasus that the Pope was not in that place alone with four deacons, but was presiding over a liturgical gathering of the Roman community, which at that time numbered over 25,000 souls.

The legend of living in underground cemeteries does not date back earlier than the 6th century. It certainly derives from the *Passiones* the phrase found in the biography of Pope Caius (283–96): *"fugiens persecutionem Diocletiani in cryptis habitando"* (Lib. Pont., I, p. 16r). Even in the 6th century, it is said that John III (561–74) *"retenuit se in cimiterio sc. Tiburtii et Valeriani et habitavit ibi multum temporis ut etiam episcopos ibidem consecraret"* (ibid., I, p. 305). But the tombs of the martyrs Tiburtius and Valerian were not underground but above ground.

Another legend is that all martyrs

Roman burials were not, in fact, confined to underground cemeteries. On the contrary, the two founders of the Roman Church were buried above ground: Peter in the Vatican and Paul on the Ostian Way; the martyrs were also buried above ground: Valentine on the Flaminian Way; Diogenes and Bonifacian on the Old Salarian Way; on the New Salarian Way: Felicity, Saturninus, Felix, Philip; on the Nomentan Way, St Emerentiana; Tiburtius on the Labican Way; Gordian, Epimachus, Quinctus, Quartus, Eugenia on the Latin Way; Zephyrinus, Tarsicius, Soter, Tiburtius, Valerian, Maximus on the Appian Way; Mark and Marcellian on the Ardeatine Way; and on the Portuense Way were buried above ground the saints Felix, Alexander, Candida, Polion, Abdon, Sennen; on the Aurelian Way, Pancras and Lucina.

3. Development

The names of the early Christian cemeteries of Rome can be partly determined by means of a singular document of the 4th century, known as the Chronography of the Year 354 (v.), Depositio episcoporum (v.) Depositio martyrum (v.). Here are listed some names of cemetery owners: Balbina, Bassilla, Callistus, Giordani, Maximus, Pontianus, Praetextatus, Priscilla, Trasone. These names suggest that the areas in question were originally private burial grounds later made available to the faithful. The same document also lists other burial areas either by their characteristic topographical name, such as in catacumbas, or by the name of the consular road on which they stood. Other names are provided by the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, such as, for example, the Major Cemetery on the Nomentan Way, the Cemetery of Apronianus, etc.; still others in the Liber Pontificalis, though this does not always give the original names but those current at the time the biography was written, i.e. not before the 6th century: thus the Cemetery of Maximus is called that of Felicity, and the Cemetery of Callistus on the Aurelian Way bears the name of Calepodius. Such changes are undoubtedly due to the *Passiones*, which also provide other names for cemeteries.

Styger has advanced the theory that the origins of the early Christian cemeteries of Rome are to be sought among the faithful of Caesar’s household mentioned by St Paul (Phil. 4:22). But apart from the fact that none of the Roman cemeteries known to date can be traced back to so remote an antiquity, the names of the oldest cemeteries listed above do not reveal the names of imperial freedmen to whom Styger would restrict the Christian community of Rome in the time of St Paul.

The development of every underground cemetery is connected to the burial area above ground; indeed, above the underground cemeteries of Callistus, Domitilla, Praetextatus, Pontianus, Pamphilus, St Agnes, the Major Cemetery, and Bassilla, open-air burial areas or monuments have been found. Moreover, it is inconceivable that an underground area served by stairs and ventilation shafts could have been developed without ownership of the above-ground burial area, which in Roman law was inseparable from II.
These burial areas were indistinctly called after Callistus, Praetextatus, Priscilla, etc., whether referring to the above-ground or the underground part. Archaeological explorations, since the time of De Rossi, have shown that the large underground cemeteries, and even the smaller ones, were not all dug at the same time, but originated from small family nuclei with their own staircases and were later enlarged when the individual owner made his area available to the community. The first and necessary element of every underground burial area, as has been said, is the staircase; this could be replaced by an entrance sloping into the living rock, as, for example, in the tombs of the Scipios or in the Cemetery of Priscilla in the region of the cryptoportico, or in the chamber tombs, whether Jewish or Etruscan, since the system of underground chamber burials is of very ancient usage, predating Christianity, both in the East and in the West (Etruscans). Moreover, in 1938, near Anzio, a hypogeum was discovered which is dated to about the 4th century BCE: cf. L. Morpurgo, *Un sepol-

(from P. Styger, *Die römischen Katakomben*, Berlin 1935, p. 86, 89. Early Christian cemeteries – Cemetery of Callistus, the region with the Crypt of the Popes (L. 1), the Crypt of St Cecilia (2), and the so-called Cubicles of the Sacraments (A 1-6) (3rd century) – Rome.)

The pre-Christian cret of Anzio and the problem of the origin of the Christian catacombs, in *Rendiconti della Pont. accad. rom. di archeol.*, 3rd series, 22 (1948), pp. 155-66. Recently G. B. Frey has argued for the priority of the subterranean Jewish catacombs over the Christian ones, basing his claim on the dating criteria of brick stamps; but this element is far from conclusive, since it can only constitute a *terminus ante quem non*. Meanwhile, the epigraphic and decorative elements of these Jewish catacombs (v.) do not at all permit such an early dating as Frey would have it (*L'ancienneté des catacombes juives à Rome*, in *Rendiconti della Pontificia accademia romana di archeologia*, 3rd series, 12 [1936], pp. 183-98). It must therefore be concluded that those who excavated the subterranean Christian catacombs, namely the *fossores* (v.), developed and perfected a well-known system, as rightly observed by P. Styger (*Heidnische und christliche Katakomben: Pisciculi, Studien zur Religion und Kultur des Altertums*, Münster in W. 1939, pp. 266-73).

From the small independent regions consisting of an *hypogaeum* equipped with one or more cubicles and one or more galleries, a greater development is seen in the 3rd century, as can be observed in the region Domitilla (v.), in that of the two parallel staircases in Callisto (v.), or in another area of the same catacomb known as the Crypts of Lucina. In all three of these regions, the *fossores* resorted to the expedient of lowering the levels of the three aforementioned areas delimited on the surface, thus in Domitilla leaving the original cubicles at a higher level, or lowering them; in Callisto, in the region of the two parallel staircases, by lowering the level they were able to obtain deeper galleries and excavate cubicles where the 3rd-century popes and the Orpheus cubicle were deposited; in the region known as Lucina, deepened cubicles and galleries, one of which contained the remains of Pope Cornelius (d. 233), later transferred there from Civitavecchia. Meanwhile, during the course of the 3rd century, the Christian community of Rome, growing in number, required greater cemetery development. In the *Catalogus of the Popes*, known as the *Liberian Catalogue*, inserted in the *Chronography of 354*, it is recorded that Pope Fabian (236-50) "multas fabricas per cimiteria fieri iussit"; it is from this period, therefore, that a greater extension of the cemetery networks dates. Styger put forward the theory that the subterranean catacombs were enlarged by the *fossores* through a system of branching either palmate or grid-like; but it is far simpler to think that the *fossores* developed their excavations according to the configuration of the surface and the quality of the underlying tufa. In fact, a great variety is observed in the excavation of individual catacombs, and while, in broad terms, the observations already made by Bonavenia regarding the theory of levels in subterranean galleries are correct, it must be borne in mind that no constant rule can be established to recognize, for example, the priority of the different planes to which the *fossores* had recourse, given the limitation of space. In some catacombs, for example in Priscilla, the plane immediately below the surface is the oldest, while the deeper one is later; in Pamphilus, the opposite occurs. In some catacombs, a depth of about 20 m. is reached in only two levels, while in others, with three levels, a depth of about 25 m. is attained.

The gallery or ambulatory was called *crypta*, as indicated by a graffito on the second level of Priscilla: *undecima crypta, secunda pila* (O. Marucchi, *Di alcune iscrizioni recentemente scoperte nel c. di Priscilla*, in *Nuovo bull. di archeol. crist.*, 10 [1904], p. 207); often it has the simple meaning of an underground chamber, e.g.: *descendentibus in crypta* (O. Marucchi, *Di una iscrizione recentemente scoperta, ove è ricordata la tomba del martire s. Lorenzo*, ibid., 6 [1900], p. 127). A *pila* was the vertical wall space containing a series of superimposed graves; each grave excavated in the wall was called a *locus* (now generally *loculus*): it was a rectangular opening, averaging six feet in length, one and a half feet in depth, and one foot in height; the depth was greater at the head and less at the feet. The grave could accommodate one body (*monomus*), two (*bisomus*; v.), three (*trisomus*), four (*quadrisomus*), or more (*poliandron*). Closure was generally effected either by means of tiles joined together with mortar or by one or more marble slabs; sometimes a layer of plaster was applied over the tiles; not infrequently a strip of mortar was used for hermetic sealing to engrave the funerary inscription or to insert a mark of identification, which could range from a simple potsherd to ivory, small bronze, gilded glass, vitreous paste, one or more coins, rings, jewelry, glass or metal cups, terracotta or marble vessels, statuettes, lamps, or bells. In some cases, before proceeding to excavate the *loculi*, the *fossores* marked out individual *pilae* with whitewash, in which they then excavated up to twelve graves one above the other.

A more luxurious type of tomb was the *arcosolium* (v.). Family tombs were those excavated in a room or *cubiculum*, which could be double (*duplex*); in some cases, up to three or even four connected *cubicula* are found (Callisto; v.). Sometimes the gallery and the *cubiculum* (or the latter alone) were illuminated by a skylight (*luminare*), especially when the *cubicula* opened onto both sides of the gallery. The need for burial could lead to the excavation of graves in the floor called *formae*; only in the Catacomb of Pamphilus (v.) has a case been found of the rear wall of the gallery being used for the burial of children. A quite exceptional type of mass burial is offered by the series of shafts in Commodilla, where a single shaft contains about 50 graves, all without inscriptions, suggesting an epidemic. The architectural forms of the *cubicula* vary with the development of the cemetery network, and the regular, older ones of quadrilateral shape give way

It is impossible to provide an exact count of the persons buried in a gallery or cubicle because it has been established that tombs were used more than once; indeed, marble or tile slabs with reused inscriptions are often found, and ossuaries are frequently encountered either within the gallery itself (Panfilo; v.) or in large polyandrions (Pretestato; v.), or even in a great ossuary such as the one discovered beneath the crypt of St Cecilia in Callisto (G. Wilpert, La cripta dei Papi e la cappella di S. Cecilia nel c. di Callisto, Rome 1910, p. 75). Nor can it be determined with certainty whether burials, once begun in a gallery, continued in the same gallery until its exhaustion, for in the so-called catacomb of Novatian on the Via Tiburtina intact tombs with painted inscriptions from the years 266 and 270 are found in different galleries, and in a small gallery of Panfilo an initial tomb from the year 348 and a final one from 361 are found, with a thirteen-year interval between them.

The great expansion of cemetery networks occurred only in the Constantinian peace period, that is, during the time of mass conversions, and then progressively declined until excavation ceased in the first decades of the fifth century.

Burial took place in the evening, following Roman custom; people returned to the catacomb on the third, seventh, and thirtieth days, and for the anniversary of death, not of birth as was the pagan custom. Already by the beginning of the third century, Tertullian attests repeatedly: “oblationes pro defunctis pro nataliciis annua die facimus” (De corona, 3; De exhortatione castitatis, 11; De monogamia, 10); St Cyprian recalls the “sacrificium pro dormitione” (Ep., 66). St Augustine, describing the funeral of his mother Monica, writes: “cum offerretur sacrificium pretii nostri, iam iuxta sepulcrum posito cadavere, priusquam deponeretur, sicut illic fieri solet” (Confess., IX, 12). The bishop Evodius writes to the same Augustine that for the burial of a reader, “per triduum hymnis Deum collaudavimus super sepulcrum.” G. B. De Rossi, considering the size of the fourth-century cubicles, believes it probable that within them the oblationes pro dormitione were celebrated for the deceased not only at the time of deposition but also during the commemorations on the third, seventh, and thirtieth days and on anniversaries. Certainly even older and dedicated to this rite is Priscilla (v.). A Christian inscription of 573 concerning psalmody at the sepulchre states: “sanctique tui Manes nobis petentibus adsint ut semper libenterque psalmos tibique dicamus” (CIL, XI, 4629).

II. Ownership and administration

The earliest notice regarding the administration of cemeteries is provided by the Philosophumena (IX, 11): Zephyrinus (199–217) appointed the deacon Callistus to administer the cemetery on the Appian Way. This cemetery always retained the name of Callistus, even though he was not buried there, having been interred at the third milestone on the Via Aurelia in another cemetery also bearing his name. The Appian Way cemetery remained under the direct jurisdiction of the pope until the end of the third century, as is shown by the double cubicle excavated by the deacon Severus for the burial of his family at the command of Pope Marcellinus. Between 236 and 20 January 250, Pope Fabian divided the regions among the deacons and ordered many structures to be built in the cemeteries. There were seven deacons for the fourteen regions, assisted by seven subdeacons mentioned in the letter of Pope Cornelius to Fabius of Antioch. It is difficult, however, to determine whether the cemeteries were at that time administered by deacons or already by priests, as appears to have been the case around the middle of the fourth century, when inscriptions found in individual cemeteries reveal their dependence on the respective titular churches, and consequently the direct jurisdiction of priests over them can be recognized; for example, the catacomb in catacumbas was under the priests of the titulus Byzantius, later SS. Giovanni e Paolo, and the catacomb of Domitilla under the priests of the titulus Fasciola, later SS. Nereo e Achilleo. Even the purchase of tombs sometimes took place in the presence or with the consent of a priest of the titulus.

A completely new period opened with the establishment of the veneration of the tombs of the martyrs and their annual commemorations. Already in the time of Tertullian altars were erected over these tombs for offerings, since he recalls the martyrs “sub altari quiescentes” (De resurrectione carnis, 28: PL 2, 848). St Cyprian exhorts his clergy to carefully record the day on which the martyrs were slain so that offerings and sacrifices might be duly celebrated in their commemoration (Ep., 12: PL 4, 328; cf. H. Delehaye, Les origines du culte des martyrs, 2nd ed., Brussels 1933, pp. 24–99).

It should not be thought that in the early cemeteries the witnesses of the faith originally had a special tomb. As has been seen, St Peter was buried in a simple open-air sepulchre in the Vatican, and St Paul and the martyrs Valentine, Saturninus, Felix and Philip, Emerentiana, Tiburtius, Abdo and Sennen, etc., on the Ostian Way. The third-century popes—Pontian, Anterus, Fabian, Lucius, Stephen, Sixtus II, Dionysius, Felix, Eutychian—were buried in simple loculi in the walls; likewise in simple loculi were Laurence, Sebastian, Protus and Hyacinth, Marcellinus and Peter, etc. Only with the growth of veneration were their tombs honored; around them the faithful eagerly sought—and even at the cost of gold—to be buried: ad sanctos or retro sanctos. St Paulinus of Nola posed the question to St Augustine: “utrum prouit cuique post mortem quod corpus eius apud sancti alicuius memoriam sepelitur”; the answer was given by Augustine in the treatise De cura pro mortuis gerenda, in which he concludes: “such proximity seems to benefit the deceased only in this way, that by commending him also to the patronage of the martyrs, the affection for him in prayer is increased.” The archdeacon Sabinus, who preferred that his tomb be considered almost as the doorkeeper of the basilica of St Lawrence (“ianitor esse loci”), warned the faithful that “nihil iuvat imo gravat tumulis haerere plarum... corpore non opus est animo tendamus ad illos” (G. B. De Rossi, Scoperte nell’Agro Verano e nel sotterraneo c. di Ciriaco, in Bull. di arch. crist., 4th ser., 4 [1886], pp. 16–26). Thus arose adaptations and enlargements of the spaces containing the venerated tombs, leading to the construction of actual

Cemetery basilicas were built to honor worthily the witnesses of the faith. To construct these buildings, even the oldest regions were demolished to obtain sufficient space for the crowds of the faithful and pilgrims. Thus, in the Constantinian age, basilicas were built over the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul, and of the martyrs Lawrence, Agnes, Marcellinus and Peter. Pope Julius built basilicas at the third milestone on the Portuense road, at the second on the Flaminia (St. Valentine), and at the third on the Aurelia (St. Callistus). Beneath the floors of these sacred buildings, tombs accumulated, while mausolea, even sumptuous ones, surrounded them, as can still be seen around the Basilica Apostolorum on the Appian Way, erected at the beginning of the 4th century to contain the tomb of the martyr Sebastian and the Memorial of the Apostles Peter and Paul venerated there since 258.

The pope who more than any other sought out and found many bodies of holy martyrs, whose names he also recorded in inscriptions, was Pope Damasus (366-84; cf. v.). The administration of the cemetery basilicas of the Apostles Peter and Paul, and of the martyrs Lawrence and Pancras, was entrusted to praepositi; that of St. Agnes to the priests of the title of Vestina, and the others to mansionarii. Pope Simplicius (468-83) established a weekly service for the cemetery basilicas of St. Peter (assigning the priests of the 6th and 7th ecclesiastical regions), St. Paul (the priests of the 1st ecclesiastical region), and St. Lawrence (the priests of the 3rd ecclesiastical region: Liber Pontificalis, I, p. 249).

But with the Gothic siege and occupation, the cemetery buildings and the martyrs' tombs were devastated (536-37). The damage was repaired by Pope Vigilius and his successors: John III (561-74) restored the cemeteries of the Holy Martyrs and decreed that offerings and lamps or lights should be provided daily in them from the Lateran every Sunday (Liber Pontificalis, I, p. 305). The cemetery basilicas were also restored by Popes Pelagius II and Honorius. Pilgrims from central and northern Europe came in succession to the martyrs' tombs, transcribed their inscriptions in their honor, and compiled guides to facilitate visits to the venerated shrines (Itineraries: cf. v.).

Later, Gregory III (731-41) decreed that in the cemeteries situated around Rome, on the feast days of the martyrs, lamps should be lit for the vigils and offerings should be brought from the patriarchium by an oblationarius (ibid., p. 421).

The first translation of martyrs' bodies was that of SS. Primus and Felician, translated by Pope Theodore from the cemetery ad arcus Nomentanos to the basilica of St. Stephen on the Caelian Hill.

The abandonment of the cemetery basilicas of Rome began especially during the Lombard period. Pope Paul I (757-67), after building a basilica dedicated to SS. Stephen and Sylvester on his own property, transferred there countless bodies of saints which he had taken from the aforementioned demolished cemeteries (Liber Pontificalis, I, pp. 464-65). Later, Paschal I (817-24), with pious care, sought out and collected many bodies of saints lying in ruined cemeteries, not wishing them to remain neglected, and brought them with great reverence to the church of St. Praxedes, the Martyr (ibid., II, p. 54).

Not earlier than the 9th century, indeed after the translations, the Index coemeteriorum (cf. v.) must be placed—an incomplete list without topographical order, probably derived from the names in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, the Liber Pontificalis, and the Passiones. Thus, the cemeteries stripped of their precious relics fell into neglect, their names were altered, and their memorials were displaced; all those on the Appian Way were concentrated in St. Sebastian, those on the Aurelia in St. Pancras, the only survivors among the ancient shrines, together with St. Agnes, St. Lawrence, and St. Valentine, still visited.

This state of affairs continued until 1578, when a team of pozzolana quarrymen on the Via Salaria came across a group of cemetery galleries with intact tombs adorned with paintings. "Thus," wrote De Rossi, "was born the science and the name of underground Rome" (Roma Sotterranea, I, Rome 1864, p. 12). From then on, the study of Christian antiquities began, with O. Panvinio (cf. v.), A. Ciaconio (cf. v.), P. Ugonio (cf. v.), and especially with A. Bosio (cf. v.), his pupil, who discovered many ancient underground cemeteries and understood the importance of studying ancient documents for topographical reconstruction; his Roma Sotterranea was published after his death by A. Severano in 1634 (the title page bears the date 1632). The work was translated into Latin by Aringhi and enjoyed wide circulation. However, Bosio’s studies were not continued, and the underground cemeteries were explored with the aim of finding holy bodies, often damaging marbles and sarcophagi. With M. Boldetti (cf. v.), the detachment of frescoes also began, though not always successfully.

Early Christian Cemeteries

Happy. Thus it continued throughout the 17th century until Fr. G. MARCIA (v.), who, appointed by Gregory XVI in 1842 as "conservator of the sacred cemeteries," put an end to the abuses of those entrusted with the exhumation of holy bodies. In 1845, he discovered the intact tomb of the martyr Bassilla (v.), promoted the renewal of studies in Christian archaeology that led to the foundation of the Lateran Christian Museum and the establishment of the Sacred Archaeology Commission tasked with the exploration and preservation of ancient Christian cemeteries (R. Faust, Fr. G. Marchi S.J. (1795–1860) and the Renewal of Christian Archaeology, under the auspices of Gregory XVI and Pius IX, in Xenia Piana [Miscellanea historiae pontificiae, 7 (Rome 1943), pp. 445–514]). His pupil was G. B. De Rossi (v.), the true founder of the science of Christian archaeology through the comparative method between documents and monuments. As early as 1832, he began using the former to reconstruct the topography of ancient Christian cemeteries, thereby achieving the discovery of a distinguished series of martyrs’ tombs (historical crypts) with the identification of the cemeteries that contained them. His discoveries and publications attracted around him, particularly with the establishment of the Society of Adherents of Christian Archaeology (v.), a group of Italian and foreign disciples who perpetuated his tradition, applying his method not only in the exploration of the cemeteries of Rome and Italy but also in other regions of the West and the East.

III. Theological Value of Paleo-Christian Funerary Monuments

The importance of the contribution made by the study of ancient Christian cemeteries to the ethnic and social composition of the early Christian communities, their hierarchy, and their organization is such that, together with the complex of their architectural and artistic monuments, they constitute for the Church as a whole an archive of the faith of these first generations. Pope Leo XIII, addressing G. B. De Rossi, affirmed that studies on the ancient Christian cemeteries illustrate the cradle of the Church; the stones themselves, as it were, and the monuments uphold the cause of religion and bear witness to the endurance and constancy of Roman faith and authority (Acta Leonis XIII, I, p. 153). Pope Pius XI, in the motu proprio of December 11, 1925, thus defined the value of the ancient Christian cemeteries of Rome: “The primitive cemeteries of Christian Rome, with their crypts and tombs of the popes and martyrs and the shrines erected over those glorious sepulchres... the countless series of inscriptions, the paintings and sculptures, the funerary and liturgical furnishings, constitute for the Holy Roman Church a sacred patrimony of unparalleled value and importance. These are indeed witnesses, equally venerable and authentic, of the faith and religious life of antiquity, and at the same time of the highest order for the study of Christian institutions and culture, from times close to the apostolic era.... The Roman Church... from the discoveries of its most ancient cemeteries and the shrines of the martyrs, has regained a most notable part of its most ancient patrimony, has seen entire pages of its history recomposed, and has brought to light documents and monuments of the highest historical value to demonstrate the antiquity of its dogmas, its faith, and its venerable traditions.”

IV. Ancient Cemeteries of Rome

Topographical List of the Cemeteries of Rome. – Hypogeum of the Aurelii (v.). Via Flaminia: Cemetery known as that of St. Valentine (v.). – Old Salarian Way: Cemetery known as ad septem palumbes (v.); Bassilla (v.) and Cemetery of St. Pamphilus (v.). – New Salarian Way: Cemetery of Maximus (v.), later called that of St. Felicitas; Trasone (v.); Giordani (v.); Priscilla (v.). – Nomentan Way: Cemetery known as that of St. Nicomedes (v.); Cemetery known as that of St. Agnes (v.); Major Cemetery (Maius; v.). – Tiburtine Way: Anonymous cemetery at the entrance of Viale Regina Margherita; Cemetery known as that of St. Hippolytus (v.); Cemetery of St. Lawrence or of Cyriaca (v.). – Labicana Way: Cemetery known as that of St. Casulus (v.); LAURA (v.). – Latin Way: Cemetery known as that of SS. Gordian and Epimachus (v.); Cemetery known as that of Tertullinus, a martyr known only from the *Passio* and two itineraries (E. Jesi, C. c. sulla via Latina, in Riv. di arch. crist., 16 [1939], pp. 12–15), not identified; Cemetery of Apronianus (v.): to it perhaps belongs the region known as the Hypogeum of Trebin Giusco (O. Marucchi, ap. cit., p. 308). – Appian Way: Hypogeum near the tomb of the Scipios, prior to the Aurelianic wall (272); Anonymous hypogeum between the Appian and Latin Ways within the same wall, with paintings and inscriptions (O. Marucchi, Le catacombe romane, Rome 1933, p. 672); Hypogeum known as that of the Hunters (P. Styger, Die römischen Katakomben, Berlin 1933, p. 307); Cemetery of Callistus (v.); Cemetery of Praetextatus (v.); catacumbas (v.). – Ardeatine Way: Cemetery of Belbina (v.); Cemetery known as that of Basileus (?) or of SS. Mark, Marcellian (v.) Damasus (v.); Domitilla (v.). – Ostian Way: COMMODIANO (v.): tomb of St. Paul; Hypogeum known as that of Timothy (from the martyr remembered on August 22 in the *Depositio martyrum*) near the cliff north of the basilica of St. Paul; Cemetery known as that of St. Thecla (v.). – Portuense Way: Cemetery of Pontianus (v.); Cemetery known as that of St. Felix (at the third mile, the basilica is indicated in the so-called Liberian Catalogue). Trastevere: St. Onuphrius on the Janiculum (P. Crostarosa, C. anonimo a S. Onofrio al Gianicolo, in Nuovo bull. di arch. crist., 4 [1898], p. 231; O. Marucchi, Scoperta di altre gallerie cimiteriali cristiane sotto il Gianicolo, ibid., 8 [1902], pp. 954–58). – Old Aurelia Way: Cemetery known as that of St. Pancras (v.); Cemetery known as that of SS. Processus and Martinian (v.); Cemetery known as that of the Two Felices (v.); Cemetery of Callistus, known as that of Calepodius (v.). – New or Cornelia Aurelia Way: Tomb of St. Peter in the Vatican (v.).

List of the so-called suburbicarian cemeteries. – Via Aurelia: at the ninth

miglio: tomb of SS. Rufina and Seconda; at the 12th mile: tombs of SS. Mario, Marta, Audiface and Abacuc (G. P. Kirsch, *Le memorie dei martiri sulle vie Aurelia e Cornelia*, in Miscellanea Ehrle, II, Rome 1924, pp. 63–100). — Via Triumphalis: c. a Monte Mario (G. B. De Rossi, *C. sotterraneo di ignoto nome sul monte Mario*, in Bull. di arch. crist., 5th ser., 4 [1894], p. 133). — Via Aurelia: at the 12th mile: c. Basilide (v.). — Via Portuense: c. Generosa (v.), PORTA (v.). — Via Ostiensis: at the 7th mile c. called that of S. Ciriacus (v.). — Decima, at the 15th km., locality Malpasso: burial chamber with sarcophagi (A. L. Pietrograude, *Ruderi e sarcofagi scoperti sulla via di Decima*, in Notizie degli scavi, 1934, pp. 155–68). — Via Ardeatina: at the 4th mile, locality Nunziatella: subterranean hypogeum (G. B. De Rossi, *Scoperta di un piccolo c. cristiano adorno di pitture assai antiche presso la chiesa della Nunziatella al IV miglio della via Ardeatina*, in Bull. di arch. crist., 3rd ser., 2 [1877], p. 136; 3 [1879], p. 27; 4th ser., 1 [1882], pp. 168–70; 3rd ser., 3 [1892], p. 28; Wilpert, *Pitture*, p. 501); at the 7th mile: Felicula, recorded in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum on 13 June and in the Passio of SS. Nereus and Achilleus (BHL, 6061; cf. M. Armellini, *I c. c. di Roma e d’Italia*, Rome 1893, p. 596). — Via Appia: ALBANI (v.); Velletri (v.). — Via Latina: at the 5th mile: Christian hypogeum (G. B. De Rossi, *Ipogeo cristiano al V miglio della via Latina*, in Bull. d’arch. crist., 3rd ser., 1 [1876], pp. 32–53); locality Tavolato (R. Kanzler, *Di un nuovo c. anonimo sulla via Latina*, in Nuovo bull. d’arch. crist., 9 [1903], pp. 173–86; O. Marucchi, ibid., pp. 23–282, 301); at the 10th mile, near the villa Senni (O. Marucchi, *La scoperta*

[^0]: (per cortesia di monte. A. P. Frutos, da Vilcire-Martin-Frutos, II, pianta fuori testo)

Ancient Christian cemeteries — Topography of the ancient Christian cemeteries of Rome: 1. S. Valentinus; 2. S. Pamphilus; 3. Bassilla; 4. Maximus; 5. Trasone; 6. Giordani; 7. Priscilla; 8. S. Nicomedes; 9. S. Agnes; 10. Maius; 11. Anonymous; 12. S. Hippolytus; 13. S. Lawrence or of Ciriacus; 14. S. Castulus; 15. Ad duos laurea; 16. SS. Gordianus and Epimachus; 17. Apronianus; 18. Anonymous; 19. Balbina; 20. Region called of Lucina; 21. S. Callistus; 22. In catacumbas; 23. Praetextatus; 24. Marcus and Marcellianus; 25. Domitilla; 26. Nunziatella; 27. Commodilla; 28. Tomb of S. Paul; 29. S. Timothy; 30. S. Thecla; 31. Funzianus; 32. Generosa; 33. S. Pancratius; 34. SS. Processus and Martinianus; 35. Two Felices; 36. Calepodius; 37. Tomb of S. Peter.

CIMITERI CRISTIANI ANTICHI — CIMITERO

of an ancient Christian cemetery, ibid., 19 [1913], pp. 230-37; F. Grossi-Gondi, Conclusion of the excavations at Decimum on the Via Latina, near Grottaferrata, ibid., 24 [1918-19], pp. 87-94; id., Tusculan Catacombs, Discovery of an Important Greek Inscription, Grottaferrata 1914); at the 30th mile: cemetery known as that of St Hilary at the bivium. Ravaged; inscriptions in the Doria Palace at Valmontone. — Via Labicana: at the 7th mile the sarcophagus of Prosenes, freedman of Caracalla, from 217 (G. B. De Rossi, Inscriptiones Christianae, I, Rome 1857-61, no. 5); at the 10th mile: cemetery known as that of Zoticus (v.). — Via Prenestina: near Gabii: cemetery known as that of St Primitive (O. Marucchi, Le catacombe romane, Rome 1933, p. 661). — PALESTINA (v.), near Paliano: Christian cemetery with graffiti inscriptions from the year 341 to 420 (O. Marucchi, Discovery of an Ancient Christian Cemetery at the 36th Mile of the Via Prenestina, in Nuovo bull. d'arch. crist., 20 [1914], pp. 131-46). — Via Tiburtina: at the 9th mile (E. Stevenson, The Double Basilica of St Symphorosa and Her Seven Sons Discovered at the Ninth Mile of the Via Tiburtina, in Bull. d'arch. crist., 3rd series, 3 [1878], pp. 75-81); at the 18th mile: cemetery basilica of St Vincent, commemorated on 23 July in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum (C. Piccolini and G. Mancini, The Excavations of the Basilica of St Vincent in the Territory of Monte Celio, Tivoli 1926). — Via Nomentana: at the 15th mile: cemetery known as that of SS Primus and Felician at the Arches of Nomentum (O. Marucchi, Le catacombe romane, Rome 1933, p. 664). — Via Salaria: near ancient Fidenae: anonymous cemetery (O. Marucchi, ibid., p. 664); near the 20th mile: cemetery known as that of St Antimus (cf. loc. cit.). — Via Flaminia: 8 km from Morlupo in the territory of Leprignano: Christian cemetery with dated inscriptions between the years 344-350 (cf. ibid., p. 665). — Rignano Flaminio (v.). — Via Cassia: Baccano (v.), Sutri (v.), NEP (v.).

V. CIMITERI ANTICHI D'ITALIA

ARGENTO (v.); Albenga (N. Lamboglia, Discovery of a Paleochristian Sarcophagus, in Riv. Ingauna e Intemelia, 3 [1937-38], pp. 58-61); Amiterno (v.); Anzio (v.); Aquileia; Atripalda (G. A. Galante, The Cemetery of St Hippolytus, Martyr of Atripalda, Naples 1893; CIL, X, 1188, 1191-95); Avellino (v.); Bazzano (v.); Bolsena (v.); Cagliari (v.); Calci and Teano (v.); Castelvecchio Subequo (Abruzzi): underground cemetery under exploration; Stabia (v.); CATATONIA (v.); CHUS (v.); Civitocastellana (v.); I CONCORDIA (v.); Como (v.); Ferento (Germano di S. Stanislao, The Acts and the Cemetery of St Sutizio of Ferento, Rome 1886); Massa Martana: underground cemetery (G. Sordini, On an Underground Christian Cemetery in Umbria, in Atti del II Congresso internaz. di archeol. crist., Rome 1902, pp. 109-21); Milan (v.); MODERATI (v.); Naples (v.); Nola (v.); Pozzuoli (v.); Syracuse (v.); Salerno (v.); Sutri (v.); TROPO (v.); Terni (v.); Venosa (v.); Vercelli (v.); Malta (v.).

VI. CIMITERI ANTICHI NELLE ALTRE REGIONI D'OCCIDENTE E D'ORIENTE

Gaul (v. FRANCIA): Arles (v.); La Gayole, sepulchral cell and sarcophagi (A. Chaillan, in Bulletin archéologique du Comité, 1913, pp. 308-14); Marseilles (v.); Narbonne (v.); St-Bertrand de Comminges: 4th-century cemetery basilica (R. Lizop, Histoire de deux cités gallo-romaines: Les Convenae and Les Consoranni, Toulouse 1931; F. Benoit, Paleochristian Cemeteries of Provence, in Cahiers archéologiques, 2 [1947], pp. 7-15; L. Bréhier, Merovingian-Era Cemeteries and Funerary Chapel at Coudes [Puy de Dôme], in Comptes rendus de l'Acad. des inscript. et belles lettres, 1941, pp. 322-32).

Spain: Córdoba (v.); Gerona (v.); Saragossa (v.); ARAGONA (v.).

Germany: Bonn, Cologne, Mainz (v.); Trier (v.); SENTENZA (v.).

Pannonia: Csongrád (v.); Sirmium (v.).

Greece: Athens (v.); Corinth: Christian cemetery (F. J. De Waele, The Fountain of Lerna and the Early Christian Cemetery of Corinth, in The American Journal of Archaeology [1935], pp. 325-59).

Illyricum: Dalmatia (v.); Salona (v.); Stobi (v.).

For Asia Minor (cf. W. Schultze, Altchristliche Städte und Landschaften, Gütersloh 1922, I, Aegae, p. 119; Amasea, p. 119; Andrapa, p. 141; Cyzicus, pp. 367-369; Mudrianoun, pp. 341-42; Proconnesus, p. 396; II. Kleinasien: Amastris, p. 214; Auhara, p. 207; Apamea, pp. 456-460 and W. H. Buckler, W. M. Calder, Monuments and Documents from Phrygia and Caria [Monuments Asiae Minoris Antiqua, 4], Manchester 1939); Caria, Schultze, p. 165; Claudiopolis, pp. 223-24; Eumenia, pp. 463-67; Phrygia (P. Franchi de' Cavalieri, Hagiographical Notes [Studi e testi, 49], Rome 1928, pp. 241-43); Lycaonia: open-air cemetery (W. Ramsay, Luke the Physician, London 1908, passim); Myra, Schultze, pp. 415-17, 427-35; Nicaea, pp. 322-23; Nicomedia, pp. 300-302; Pompeiopolis, p. 210; Prusa and Miletupolis, pp. 234-35; Sozopolis, p. 217; Tieium, p. 230.

Africa (v.): Adrumetum (v.); Benian (S. Gsell, Feuilles de Benian, Paris 1899); Carthage (v.); Cherchell (v.); Constantine (v.); Djemila (v.); Lambesis (v.); MACARIUS (v.); Mechera Sfa (S. Gsell, Monuments antiques de l'Algérie, I, Paris 1901, pp. 34-35); Morsott (id., ibid., II, p. 234); Mouzaïa-zolle (id., ibid., p. 235); Setif (v.); Sbeitla (v.); Tabarca (v.); Tenes Cartenna (S. Gsell, Monuments antiques de l'Algérie, II, Paris 1901, p. 408); Thaenae, Henchir Thina (G.-L. Feuille, The Necropolises of Thaenae, in Bulletin archéol. du Comité, 1938-40 [1942], pp. 641-53); Timgad (v.); Tipasa (v.).

Egypt: al-Baqawāt (v.); Alexandria (v.).

Libya (v.): Ain Zara (v.); TRIPOLITANIA (v.).

Mesopotamia (v.).

Palestine: Jerusalem (v.); Gerasa (v.).

For epigraphy and iconography

V. the respective entries

See Plates CIV-CV.