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Show I Description of the Catacombs. The Roman Catacombs are long and narrow passages or cross galleries, esca- : vated in the bowels of the earth in the hills outside and around the city, for the burial of the dead. They are dark and ; gloomy, with only an occasional ray of , light from above. The galleries have two or more stories, all filled with tombs, and form an intricate net work or sublet ranenn labyrinth. Small compartments (locnli) for the reception of the dead were cut out like shelves in the perpendicular walls, and rectangular chambers (cubicula) for families or distinguished martyrs. They were closed with a slab of marble or tile. The more wealthy were laid in sarcophagi. sar-cophagi. The ceiling is fiat, sometimes slightly arched. Space was economized so as to leave room usually only for a single person, the average width of the passages being 2 1-2 to 3 feet. This economy may he traced to the poverty of the early Christians, and also to their strong sense of community in fife and in death, The little oratories with altars and episcopal choirs cut in tho tufa are probably of later construction, and could accommodate only a few persons at a time. They were suited for funeral services and private devotion, but not for public worship. Professor Philip ScliafT in The Century. |