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Catacombs of Rome
The Catacombs of Rome (Italian: Catacombe di Roma) are ancient catacombs, or underground burial places under or near Rome, Italy, of which there are at least forty, some discovered only in recent decades. Though most famous for Christian burials, , either in separate catacombs or mixed together. They began in the 2nd century,[1] much as a response to overcrowding and shortage of land. While past scholars have written, and much of the public today still thinks, that catacombs came about to help persecuted Christians to bury their dead secretly, this myth has been debunked: Among other reasons, catacombs always were along major highways (which would have meant they couldn't be kept secret for long), pagans also used catacombs although their religion was legal, and most catacomb building took place after Christianity's legalization.[2] The soft volcanic tufo rock under Rome is highly suitable for tunnelling, as it is softer when first exposed to air, hardening afterwards. Many have kilometres of tunnels, in up to four stories (or layers).
The Christian catacombs are extremely important for the art history of early Christian art, as they contain the great majority of examples from before about 400 AD, in fresco and sculpture. The Jewish catacombs are similarly important for the study of Jewish art at this period.
History
[edit] Precursors
The Etruscans, like many other European peoples, used to bury their dead in underground chambers. The original Roman custom was cremation, after which the burnt remains were kept in a pot, ash-chest or urn, often in a columbarium. From about the 2nd century AD, inhumation (burial of unburnt remains) became more fashionable, in graves or sarcophagi, often elaborately carved, for those who could afford them.[1] Christians also preferred burial to cremation because of their belief in bodily resurrection at the Second Coming.
[edit] Christian catacombs
The first large-scale catacombs were excavated from the 2nd century onwards. Originally they were carved through tufo, a soft volcanic rock, outside the boundaries of the city, because Roman law forbade burial places within city limits. Furthermore, the pagan custom was to incinerate corpses, while early Christians and Jews used to bury. Being most of the latter of lower classes and slaves, they usually lacked the resources to buy land for burial purposes, thus using the soft volcanic rock of the whereabouts of Rome to dig tunnels in which to bury their dead. At first they were used both for burial and the memorial services and celebrations of the anniversaries of Christian martyrs (following similar Roman customs). They probably were not used for regular worship. Many modern depictions of the catacombs show them as hiding places for Christian populations during times of persecution, but this has been thoroughly debunked.[2]
There are sixty known subterranean burial chambers in Rome. They were built along Roman roads, like the Via Appia, the Via Ostiense, the Via Labicana, the Via Tiburtina, and the Via Nomentana. Names of the catacombs – like St Calixtus and St Sebastian, which is alongside Via Appia – refer to martyrs that might be buried there.
Christian excavators (fossors) built vast systems of galleries and passages on top of each other. They lie 7–19 metres (23–62 ft) below the surface in area of more than 2.4 square kilometres (590 acres). Narrow steps that descend as many as four stories join the levels. Passages are about 2.5 by 1 metres (8.2 × 3.3 ft). Burial niches (loculi) were carved into walls. They are 40–60 centimetres (16–24 in) high and 120–150 centimetres (47–59 in) long. Bodies were placed in chambers in stone sarcophagi in their clothes and bound in linen. Then the chamber was sealed with a slab bearing the name, age and the day of death. Fresco decorations were typically Roman. The catacomb of Saint Agnes is a small church. Some families were able to construct cubicula which would house various loculi and the architectural elements of the space would be a support for decoration. Another excellent place for artistic programs were the arcosoliums.
[edit] Decline and rediscovery
In 380, Christianity became a state religion. At first many still desired to be buried in chambers alongside martyrs. However, the practice of catacomb burial declined slowly, and the dead were increasingly buried in church cemeteries. In the 6th century catacombs were used only for martyrs’ memorial services, though some paintings were added as late as the 7th century, for example a Saint Stephen in the Catacomb of Commodilla. Apparently Ostrogoths, Vandals and Lombards that sacked Rome also violated the catacombs, presumably looking for valuables. By the 10th century catacombs were practically abandoned, and holy relics were transferred to above-ground basilicas.
In the intervening centuries they remained forgotten until they were accidentally rediscovered in 1578, after which Antonio Bosio spent decades exploring and researching them for his volume, Roma Sotterranea (1632). Archeologist Giovanni Battista de Rossi (1822–1894) published the first extensive professional studies about catacombs. In 1956 and 1959 Italian authorities found more catacombs near Rome. The catacombs have become an important monument of the early Christian church.
[edit] Today
Currently maintenance of the catacombs is in the hands of the Papacy which has invested in the Salesians of Don Bosco the supervision of the Catacombs of St. Callixtus on the outskirts of Rome.
Responsibility for the Christian catacombs lies with the Pontifical Commission of Sacred Archaeology (Pontificia Commissione di Archeologia Sacra), which directs excavations and restorations. Study of the catacombs is directed by the Pontifical Academy of Archaeology.
[edit] Typology
Roman catacombs are made up of underground passages (ambulacra), out of whose walls graves (loculi) were dug. These loculi, generally laid out vertically (pilae), could contain one or more bodies. Another type of burial, typical of Roman catacombs, was the arcosolium, consisting of a curved niche, enclosed under a carved horizontal marble slab. cubicula (burial rooms containing loculi all for one family) and cryptae (chapels decorated with frescoes) are also commonly found in catacomb passages. When space began to run out, other graves were also dug in the floor of the corridors - these graves are called formae.
https://www.catacombe.roma.it/index.html
