CIRIACA, CEMETERY of. — On the Via Tiburtina; it derives its name from the legend attributing to a widow named C. the deposition of the martyr deacon St. Lorenzo on one of her properties called the Agro Verano.
The underground cemetery, consisting of two levels of galleries, evidently had its oldest section demolished by the construction of the two basilicas erected in honor of the martyr Lorenzo, who had been buried in a gallery on the lower level. Other martyrs venerated in the cemetery and commemorated there by the Hieronymian Martyrology were SS. Abbondio, Ireneo, Crescenzione, Giustino, and Concordia, to whom the itineraries of the seventh century add others.
Its vast extent is attested by A. Bosio, who explored various sections of it (Roma sotterranea, Rome 1632, pp. 397–411). Others were subsequently seen by Boldetti, who read there an inscription mentioning the purchase of a tomb in crypta noba retro sanctos; Marangoni discovered there a cubiculum decorated with mosaics. Other monuments of the cemetery were published by Fr. G. Marchi (I monumenti delle arti cristiane primitive, Rome 1844, pp. 109–112, 225–26). But with the establishment of the modern cemetery, the cemetery sections suffered damage and devastation, so that today only a few badly damaged sections remain of the great necropolis that developed around the most venerated tomb of the martyr Lorenzo. They can be accessed either from the basilica itself or from the cloister of the Capuchin convent attached to the basilica, as well as from entrances located near funerary monuments in the modern cemetery (Annivitti, De Romanis, and Odescalchi).
Some paintings can still be seen there, representing the judgment of a deceased man named Zosimiano; the fall
Epigrafi del cimitero sono state pubblicate dal Bosio, dal Boldetti, dal Marangoni, dal Lupi, dal Marini, dal de Rossi, dal Marucchi; un gruppo di esse è riunito nel chiostro adiacente alla basilica; ma la maggior parte sono oggi disperse; alcune sono nella galleria lapidaria al Vaticano, nel museo cristiano Lateranense, nelle collezioni capitoline e fuori Roma.