ERCOLANO - House of the Bicentenary, room of the Cross, earlier than the year 79. Photograph at the moment of discovery.
HERCULANEUM. - A small town in Campania buried together with nearby Pompeii (v.) by the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79 and only in the 18th century begun to be uncovered. It is probable that there were already Christians there, since St. Paul had found some in nearby Pozzuoli when he landed there while coming as a prisoner to Rome (Acts 28:14). Moreover, the existence of a Jewish community in nearby Pompeii also seems proven. But recently the question has been much debated whether monumental evidence of that ancient Christian community exists. In H. in 1937, in the House of the Bicentenary, a wooden cross of the Latin form was discovered, affixed to a wall within a stucco panel, and its discoverer, A. Maiuri, after long study, decided to argue for its Christian character. Perhaps a curious piece of furniture found in front of it served as a kind of little altar. Naturally many afterward raised objections and reservations, but in fact nothing serious and positive has been found that explains the curious monument apart from its Christian character. - See plate XXXVII.
Plate XXXVII(Vol. Alizar)ST. HERCULANUS. Panel attributed to Meo da Siena (14th cent.) - Perugia, Pinacoteca.Bibliography5 worksA. Maiuri, La Croce di E., in Rendic. della Pont. accad. rom. di arch., 15 (1939), pp. 193-218; A. Ferrua, Il segno della Croce scoperta ad
BIBL.: A. Maiuri, La Croce di E., in Rendic. della Pont. accad. rom. di arch., 15 (1939), pp. 193-218; A. Ferrua, Il segno della Croce scoperta ad E., in Civ. Catt., 1940, I, pp. 60-85; for an archive of the difficulties raised by various people one may consult G. de Ierphanion, La Croix d'Herculanum?, in Orientalia Christiana periodica, 7 (1941), pp. 5-33, to which Maiuri replied pertinently. Distensi e consensi intorno alla Croce di E., in Roma, 19 (1941), pp. 309-413; L. De Bruyne, La « Crux interpretation » di E., in Riv. di arch. crist., 21 (1945), pp. 281-300; F. di Capua, Il « mysterium Crucis » di E., in Rendic. dell'Accad. di arched. e belle arts di Napoli, 23 (1947-48), pp. 1-35.
Ferrua, Antonio. “Ercolano.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. V, coll. 479–480. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950. https://azioneromana.com/article/ercolano.
MLA
Ferrua, Antonio. “Ercolano.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. V, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950, coll. 479–480. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/ercolano.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec5_ercolano,
author = {Ferrua, Antonio},
title = {Ercolano},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {V},
pages = {479--480},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1950},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/ercolano}
}
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