Out
of the Depths...
The Christian Catacombs of Ancient
Prepared
by Dr. Joseph Byrne
Belmont
university
A typical gallery, this one
in St. Callixtus;
showing the burial niches
or loculi.
| The Roman catacombs are comprised of 36 separate Christian sites and several pagan and Jewish sites located around the old pomerium, or sacred boundary of the city. As any guide will tell you, these were meant exclusively as places of burial, and only later did the practice of conducting liturgies grow up around the graves of the martyrs. The tradition that these were places of refuge for the Roman Christians in times of active persecution is persistent, but no evidence survives to support this romantic notion. They were excavated and utilized for a little over two hundred years, from about A.D. 150 until the later fourth century. | |
Experts estimate that between 60 and 90 miles of galleries were dug by  professional fossores,
who served as
both
tunnelers and guides to
visiting families and
pilgrims. While actively in use between 500,000 and
750,000 Christian dead may have been buried in the loculi
(niches), arcosolia (sarcofaghi surmounted by an arch) and cubicula
(family mausolea).
Many of these latter were decorated with frescoes on plaster depicting
a range
of subjects, and this art is a most precious relic of the early
Christian
community. Only a few of these sites are open to the public today, and access
is generally limited. One of the great threats to these sites is human
breath
with its high humidity and potential for weakening or destroying
the frescoes.
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HISTORY OF THE
CATACOMBS
St. Callixtus complex
The Roman
catacombs are comprised of 36
separate Christian sites and several pagan and Jewish sites located
around the
old pomerium, or sacred boundary of the city. As any guide will
tell
you, these were meant exclusively as places of burial, and only later
did the
practice of conducting liturgies grow up around the graves of the
martyrs. The
tradition that these were places of refuge for the Roman
Christians in times of
active persecution is persistent, but no evidence survives to support
this
romantic notion. They were excavated and utilized for a little over two
hundred
years, from about A.D. 150 until the later fourth century. Experts
estimate
that between 60 and 90 miles of galleries were dug by professional fossores,
who served as
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In the
decades after the establishment of the Christian religion in the Roman
capital
by Saints Peter and Paul, Christians began burying their dead as a
community in
ground that belonged to relatively wealthy members of the
congregations. Unlike
the pagans who often cremated their dead, Christians interred theirs
without
destroying the body, in whose ultimate resurrection they firmly
believed. After
several generations the top layer of the soil became filled with
corpses, and Christians
turned to excavating beneath
the surface layer to create more room. The earliest known example of
this was
the catacomb known as Domatilla, dating from about A.D. 150 and named
after the
woman on whose land it was excavated. Most are similarly named and only
one,
St. Callixtus, was owned by the Christian community, or church, from
the
outset. The name catacomb derives from the name of the location of |
Excavation was
simplified by
the fact that the ground involved consisted of relatively soft volcanic
tufa,
a stone that was easy to dig through and that hardened when exposed to
air,
eliminating the need for internal bracing. The excavated rock was
useful as
building material and was readily saleable. Whether the fossores
were
Christian or not remains unknown, but several tributes to their heroic efforts
decorate the catacombs.
Both light and ventilation were problems, and shafts to the surface
addressed
both problems. Catacombs could have several levels, however, as many as
five,
and this exacerbated the problems greatly. Simple oil lamps were
carried and
hung on brackets (as above) and facilitated both tunneling and
visiting. Bodies
were prepared for burial and wrapped in
cloth and placed in the more or less
fancy niche prepared for it. The opening was then sealed with a slab of
rock
and mortar. These slabs could be inscribed or decorated, not unlike
modern
tombstones, as ways of identifying the deceased. Symbols might be used
to
identify the person by
occupation, as with this example of a carpenter's or mason's compass and plumb-bob integrated with the symbols of fish and anchor, both representing Jesus Christ. For the illiterate, other symbols such as coins or medallions or even small toys might be embedded in the soft mortar to identify the inhabitant. |
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When
the
Emperor Constantine
legalized Christianity in the early fourth century, he and other
Christians
began building permanent structures for worship in the city, and began
transferring bones from the catacombs to these new centers of the
Christian
communities. Burials in the catacombs themselves ceased in the later
fourth
century. Pope Damasus (366-384) revered these sites and spent precious
resources refurbishing them as sacred places of worship: plaques
commemorating
these repairs can still be seen at several of the sites. Many of
the
remaining human bones were transferred during the early fifth and sixth
centuries when barbarians invaded the area and threatened to desecrate
the
underground cemeteries. Further removals occured when northern European
churches and monasteries requested the earthly remains of early
Christian
saints, and acquiescent bishops of |
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Romans
began to
rediscover their lost
history during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as early
archaeologists
began excavations at nearly thirty of the sites. Antonio Bosio
(1575-1629) was
the most prolific of these men, and is sometimes called the Christopher
Columbus of the catacombs. Several more were discovered in the
eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries, and further clearing, mapping and preservation
took on a
systematic flavor under the direction of Giovan Battista De Rossi and
the newly
formed Pontificia Commissione di Archeologia Sacra (1852). The latest
and
probably last catacomb to be discovered was found in Via
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The Art of the
Roman Catacombs
The
catacombs of |
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Some decorations, as here in San Sebastiano, reflect the secular art of the day. These rather simple delineations are from the so-called Villa Piccola and demonstrate a style datable to about A.D. 230 - 240. Plaster was first spread over the rough surface and the paint applied either while the plaster was still wet, or fter it had dried. Fragmentary remains of a similar nature can be found in many cubicula and some arcosolia.
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Around
the arcosolium below
(Via |
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this context, however,
the meaning is blurred, as no other purely Christian imagery is
displayed, and
several clearly pagan figures do appear: the Winged Victory to the
left, the
gorgon on the ceiling and the reclining Tellus, goddess of the earth
and
flowers. The goat kids on the ceiling could represent Christ, as the
"scape goat" sacrificed for the Hebrew people. The gorgon might
represent the reconciliation of opposites (death and eternal life?) and
the
Winged Victory the victory of Christ and the Christian over death. Such
mixing
of pagan and Christian meanings was not unusual, just as Christ/Orpheus
and
Christ/Apollo are often conflated in early Christian art. On the other
hand,
the grave might have belonged to a pagan, for they were sometimes
buried in the
catacombs. In the arcosolium the body was laid in the sarcophagus
carved from
the wall and had a slab (here in fragments) placed over the opening. |
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Around this arcosolium, also in Via |
| Praying
figures, or orantes,
extend their arms as did Christ on the cross: "We not only lift
up our hands, but
spread them out, modelling them after the Lord's passion." (Tertullian)
Earlier art
shows this to have been a
classical form of praying, and related in art to the virtue of pietas.
It may be assumed that the figure is the deceased, praying before the
throne of
God on behalf of loved ones left behind. Inscriptions seem to bear this
out: "Atticus: sleep
inpeace, secure in
thy safety, and pray anxiously for our sins;" "Pray for thy parents,
Matronata Matrona. She lived one year and 51 days." Others found in
this pose include
Hebrew figures such as Daniel and the three boys in the fiery furnace:
characters who were protected in their hour of need by a gracious God
and
preserved in life. Both prayerful supplication and thanksgiving seem
natural in
these situations. Orant figure from Catacomb of
Priscilla
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Orant figure
from the Giordani Catacombs
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| Scenes from the Hebrew Bible tie the Christian experience to its Jewish roots and to the fulfillment of the promises God made to His early servants. The stories surrounding these men and women are not merely symbolic of the message of the Gospel of Christ, but are prefigurations of the Life of Christ and His message. From the expulsion of Adam and Eve to the Maccabbean-era story of Daniel and the Lions, taken together the catacombs provide a visual Bible. | |
 Adam and Eve |
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| The story of Jonah and the "whale" has been interpreted as a prefiguration of Christ's three days in the tomb and His (and the Christian's) eventual resurrection. Depictions from numerous catacombs show his being tossed into the sea, being regurgitated and in repose after his work was finished. Here a rather canine-appearing fish is about to swallow the unfortunate traveller. |
| The story of the
Sacrifice of Isaac by
his father Abraham contains many themes of great interest to the early
Christians, and finds its place in many of the catacombs. God's promise
to
Abraham and its fulfillment, Abraham's sorrow and obedience in carrying
out
God's command to sacrifice his son, Isaac's simple acquiescence, God's
mercy in
rewarding Abraham's obedience and the prefiguration of God's Sacrifice
of His
own Son on the Cross all work together in this simple image of father,
son,
altar and ram. Beneath is Balaam and his ass, characters in another Hebrew story used by the early Christians as a prefigurement of Christ's incarnation and the importance of faith, |
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| So, too, the story of the boys in the fiery furnace, here seen in the familiar orant position of prayer (Catacomb of Priscilla). Their story of persecution and faithfulness, and of God's reward for their faithfulness helped reassure those undergoing the persecutions of their own day that they, too, would be the beneficiaries of God's mercy and promise of Life. |  |
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So, too, the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den: the wicked authorities persecuting the innocent believers whose only power was their faith in God and his promise to His people. Those these particular lions may not appear too threatening, those used in the Roman circuses against the Christians were all too real and spilled the real blood of contemporary believers. Even the orant pose that Daniel assumes links his persecution and salvation to those of the Christians. |
| The life and miracles of Christ as depicted in the New Testament found their way onto the walls of the catacombs as well. Here was the immediate message of the Gospel, of Salvation and eternal Life for the faithful believer. Scenes range from the Annunciation to Christ in His Glory, but tend to emphasize the power of Christ over death and His continuing life among His people, especially in the Supper of the Lord, or Eucharist. | |
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This Madonna and Child from the Catacomb of Priscilla is the oldest known representation of this most touching and human aspect of Christ's Incarnation. The emphasis on the maternal love of Mary for the Child Jesus reflects the early Christian community's reverence for the Mother of God, and for its understanding of God's love for humankind in sending His only Son to earth to share in our humanity. |
The Good Shepherd figure has firm roots in pagan antiquity, and became very popular in its application to Christ's characterization of Himself. Like a mother's love, the shepherd's concern for his flock was legendary, and helped reassure Christians of the quality of God's promise and love. This depiction is in the Catacomb of Domatilla. |
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The miracles of Christ that displayed to the world His divine power often included both physical and spiritual healing. In this fresco from the Catacomb of SS. Marcellinus and Peter we see the woman with an issue of blood trying merely to touch the hem of Christ's garment in order to be healed. The typically unbearded Christ gestures openly to her, as if to say, "Your faith has saved you." |
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The greatest
power of Christ was over death itself, and the raising of Lazarus the
greatest
example before His own Resurrection:
The
Raising of
Lazarus from
Cubiculum C, Via |
| Christ's continuing life among people on earth was through His institution of the Eucharist at he Last Supper. Whatever meanings Christians give to the bread and wine used, they accept the charge that this meal be reenacted "In memory of Me". Eucharistic imagery could range from simple grapes, bread and even fish, to fully cast scenes of the Last Supper: | |
 San Sebastiano |
 San Callisto |
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so the Roman catacombs
remain to us a testimony of early faith and hope, a graveyard of
martyrs and a
gallery of the images that best displayed the beliefs of those who
trusted in
God's promises through the ages. The monograph of Christ (Chi-Rho)
flanked by
the Alpha and the Omega (Christ as beginning and end of all), all
within the
victor's garland marked the grave and testifies to the faith of Seberus
(Severus) the cooper or wine merchant, whose earthly remains once lay
in peace in the catacombs of Rome. |
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This site was
prepared by Dr. Joseph Byrne of |
