Novatian Cemetery (Cimitero detto di Novaziano)

NOVATIAN CEMETERY (Cimitero detto di Novaziano). - Discovered in 1926 and 1929 on the occasion of the widening of the Via Tiburtina and the opening of the Viale Regina Margherita at the height of the basilica of St. Lawrence outside the Walls. No Christian topographical document marks it, and therefore its original name is unknown; that of N. comes to it from the tomb of a martyr of the same name, equally unknown to the ancient sources, discovered in a gallery.

Originally the cemetery consisted of two levels: the first, discovered in 1926 and found stripped of all archaeological material, is now almost completely destroyed as a result of the road works. The second, on the other hand, brought to light in 1929 and not yet completely explored, is preserved quite well. The cemetery area has been excavated in a very regular manner. From the original entrance, situated to the west, one descends into a large gallery from which two others branch off perpendicularly, which allow convenient access to five others parallel to the first and through them to secondary tunnels. These galleries were in part lowered by about two meters; moreover it has been established that some of them were filled with dump material by the fossors themselves. No painting has come to light and the use of arcosolia and cubicula is rather rare. The loculi, in part intact, are closed by marble slabs, by tiles, or by tiles, plaster and stucco, with evident traces, in some cases, of the liquid odores poured on the tombs as a sign of devout veneration. On the sealing lime numerous minor objects were found fixed, among which a winged Victory in alabaster, gilded glasses, articulated ivory dolls, lamps, one of which with Serapis, a stone with the god Apis, a bronze blade with an Egyptian deity adorned with (false) hieroglyphs, a superstitious amulet probably of gnostic origin, coins of emperors of the 3rd century, etc. The numerous inscriptions in Latin and in Greek, in which often only the name of the deceased appears, are carved on marble, scratched on plaster or painted in red. Of these some are important for their consular dates, which make it possible to establish that the cemetery complex was in use in the 3rd and 4th centuries, and for Christian onomastics and the formulae of acclamation. Worthy of note are the inscriptions of Marcianus of the year 323 and of Valeria Euche of 270, situated in the first parallel gallery, after the one placed at the foot of the ancient stairway. In the third parallel gallery are found the inscriptions of Gamice (in Greek, unpublished) and of Calpurnia, both of 266, that of Cirilla of 270 (in Greek), as well as a loculus closed with plaster on which is painted an equilateral cross. The two inscriptions of 266 are the oldest dated ones of subterranean Rome still in situ.

In the fourth parallel gallery deserve to be remembered: 1) the loculus of Antistia Euphanilla in which were found the curled hair of the deceased, treated with henna and covered with a gold net; 2) the empty tomb of the martyr N. (rediscovered on 1 April 1932), consisting of a large niche with a table tomb, once decorated with marbles and mosaics. The dedicatory inscription of the 4th century: NOVATIANO BEATISSIMO / MARTYRI GAUDENTIUS DIACONUS / PEC(IT), does not clarify the personality of the martyr who remains, despite all research, uncertain. It has been proposed to identify him, but without decisive proof, both with an obscure martyr N. of the Roman Church, of whom traces remain in the latercula of 27 and 29 June of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum (Martyr. Hieronymianum, pp. 337, 342), and with the schismatic N. (antipope), killed during the persecution of Valerian (257-58: Socrates, Hist. eccl., IV, 28; cf. also Pacian of Barcelona, Epist. II ad Sympronianum: PL 13, 1062; Eulogius of Alexandria [Photius, Bibliotheca, codd. 182, 208, 280: PG 103, 533, 677; 104, 353] calls that of N. a false and pseudo-martyrdom). Against the identification with N. the antipope stands the fact that the inscription does not bear the qualification of bishop, that the gallery, where the tomb of the martyr is found, seems to have been excavated after 270, and that moreover no indication of the cemetery's belonging to the Novatian schismatic sect has so far been found in the numerous inscriptions discovered there. The end of the same gallery is occupied by a large and rich cubiculum, the family tomb of a certain Tulliana of the equestrian order; there were found four marble sarcophagi, three of which with valuable scenes of a Christian character.

A. Pietro Frutza