Show LO 1 CATACOMBS OF ROME OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN cemeteries their history and purpose made v clear by modern research gal herlea extending hundred of miles under ground rome modern research has established beyond doubt the original ex elusive use of the catacombs cata combs by the christians as places of burial and of holding religious assemblies and the various other theories put forth to ex plain the origin ot these cemeteries have all been proved to be unfounded the christian mode of burial in the catacombs cata combs seems to have been cop led from the jews A short time be tore the birth of christ judea was made tributary to rome by pompey and many thousands of its inhabitants were transferred to rome where a special district on the right bank of the tiber was assigned tor their bab these first jewish settlers adhered to the customs of their forefathers especially in ja matter BO sacred as funeral rites and they laid their dead in rocky sepulchers outside the gate nearest their quarter here in fact was discovered in the so called jewish catacomb which it may be as fumed was the prototype of later christian sepulchers the earliest roman christians were very probably converted jews were naturally familiar with the jewish mode of burial and in all adopted it for themselves A gravestone discovered in one of the roman catacombs cata combs bears the date of the third year of the reign of vespasian Vesp aslan A D 71 and thus affords liroff of the antiquity of the cata combs as places of burial in early times christiana were probably burled on property a garden sr vineyard belonging to private fam hies and in fact nearly all the an entrance to catacomb dent names of the catacombs cata combs were taken from those of the owners of the land with the passing of time and the increase in the number of christians the original cemeteries were extend ed excavations on a larger scale were undertaken and gradually the cata combs were formed the catacombs cata combs originally were used exclusively as cemeteries but later they provided places for religious as and in some cases worship in apostolic times they generally met in the house of some wealthy mem ber of the community later they hullt churches after la ordered the churches to be de strayed the christians evidently then took refuge in th e catacombs cata combs which although known by their persecutors to exist could hot be reached or entered as neither their precise position nor their entrances could be ascertained the catacombs cata combs were also used occa elo nally as places ol 01 concealment several popes used them as hiding places from the beginning of the sec end century onward st stephen was murdered in the catacombs cata combs where ha had lived for some time during the valerian persecutions and his sue cassor SL sextus was also martyred marty red in the catacombs cata combs for several centuries the cata combs were used as places of devotion the entrances of the cata combs were rendered public shafts or air holes called wera opened for purposes of ventilation about the middle of the fifth cen tury a portion of catacombs cata combs was rifled by tha barbarians in hopes of finding treasures and thus began the devastation which led ultimately to their neglect and ruin from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century all knowledge of the ancient cemeteries beems to have perished the accidental falling in of a portion of the high road outside tho porta salaria in 1578 led to the discover of the catacomb of st priscilla llla public interest n the subterranean christian cemeteries was awakened and archaeologists turned their attention to their examination and study the name catacomb Is campara alvel speaking modern the chris alon cemeteries were named either after some saint buried in them pr the person who originally owned the land where they were situated the use of the present name batea back to about the sixteenth century almost all the catacombs cata combs are outside the walls of the city the ag gregatos length of their galleries Is to be about miles and they are excavated on different lev cla and brosi and across each other hence although the area which they underlie Is not considerable yet it the galleries were in a aws line they extend throat ice whole of kai aa A |