MARUCCHI, ORAZIO. – Archaeologist, born in Rome on 10 November 1852, died there on 21 January 1931. A disciple of G. B. De Rossi, from 1872 he took part in the successful explorations of the cemetery of Domitilla; his first personal discovery was the identification of the burial crypt of the martyr Valentino at the first mile of the Via Flaminia (La cripta sepolcrale di s. Valentino sulla Via Flaminia rinvenuta e descritta, in Studi in Italia, 1 [1878], pp. 1–70; Il Cimitero e la basilica di S. Valentino, Rome 1890; Ulteriori osservazioni sulle antichità cristiane scoperte al primo miglio della Via Flaminia, in Bull. della Comm. archeol. comun. di Roma, 56 [1928], pp. 119–32).
He rendered valuable assistance in the exploration of the hypogeum of the Acilii Glabriones in the cemetery of Priscilla, and after the death of his teacher (1894), Armellini (1896), and Stevenson (1898), he was largely responsible for directing the Nuovo bollettino di archeologia cristiana from 1898 to 1922.
Among the numerous discoveries he made and illustrated, mention should be made of those of the crypt of the martyrs Marcellino and Pietro, on the Via Labicana; of the crypt of Felice and Adautto, in the cemetery of Commodilla; of the excavations in the cemetery of Priscilla (he upheld the hypothesis, though it was not accepted, that it was there, on the Salaria and not on the Nomentana, that the primitive memorial of Pietro’s apostolate in Rome should be recognized); of the excavations at S. Sebastiano fuori le mura, which confirmed the ancient tradition concerning the apostolic memorial « in catacumbas »; and of the identification of the place where the martyrs « quos Graecia misit » were buried. He was also highly skilled in Egyptian antiquities, epigraphy, and Roman topography; for this reason, his works on the Roman Forum and the Palatine (Rome 1883), the Nuova descrizione della
casa delle Vestali (there 1887), and the Osservazioni sulla Regia e sull'atrio di Vesta (there 1890) should be mentioned; as should his studies of the obelisks of Rome and of the Museo Egizio Vaticano, of which he was director for many years; and his studies of the antiquities of Palestrina, especially the monograph on the Prenestine martyr Agapito, whose place of martyrdom he identified (Memorie storiche della cattedrale di Palestrina, Rome 1918; Guida archeologica della città di Palestrina, there 1932). He was also director of the Museo Lateranense (I monumenti del Museo cristiano Pio Lateranense, Milan 1910), a writer for the Vatican Library, a member of many Italian and foreign scientific academies, and secretary of the Pontificia commissione di archeologia; an incomparable popularizer: Il matrimonio cristiano sopra un antico monumento inedito, in Studi in Italia, 5 (1882), pp. 1–15; l'Antichità del culto della Beata Vergine (Rome 1883); Difeso del pontificato di Damaso contro un nuovo attacco dei protestanti, in Rassegna italiana, 3 (1883), pp. 1–13; La supremazia della Sede romana considerata nei monumenti dei primi secoli, in Bessarione, 2 (1897), pp. 1–15; etc. Professor of Christian archaeology at the Collegio di Propaganda Fide and at that of S. Anselmo dei Sulpiziani (the lectures delivered at the latter were collected and published in Éléments d’archéologie chrétienne, 3 vols., Paris 1900–1903; Manuel d’archéologie chrétienne, resumé des éléments d’archéologie chrétienne, Bruges 1906; Manuale di archeologia cristiana, Rome 1908, 1933; Manuale di epigrafia cristiana, Milan 1910). He held the chair of the topography of the Roman cemeteries at the University of Rome; he was among the founders of the « Collegium Cultorum martyrum », of which he was a revered « magister ».
Of exuberant and enthusiastic temperament, M. at times expressed hypotheses that, although ingenious, were not entirely well founded, and constructed arguments upon premises that were not always sound; nevertheless, in his publications, numbering more than 400, one must always admire his clarity, dialectical skill, and inexhaustible erudition.
His last wish was that the humble inscription be placed on his tomb: « O. M. romano cultore dei martiri ».