In the same year building operations in the Via di Sant' Onofrio
revealed the presence of catacombs beneath the foundations: examination
of the _loculi_ showed that no martyrs or illustrious persons were
buried here.
In 1903 a new cemetery with frescoes came to light on the Via Latina,
considered by Marucchi to have belonged to a heretical sect. In the same
year the Jewish cemetery on the Via Portuense, known to Bosio but since
forgotten, was rediscovered. The subterranean basilica of SS. Felix and
Adauctus, discovered by Boldetti and afterwards choked up with ruins,
was cleared again: the crypt, begun by Damasus and enlarged by Siricius,
contains frescoes of the 6th-7th centuries.
A good plan of the catacombs at Albano (at the 15th milestone of the
Appian way), discovered by Boldetti and described by De Rossi, has been
published by Marucchi (_Nuovo Bulletino di archeologia cristiana_, 1902,
pp. 89 ff.). In 1904 a small subterranean cemetery was discovered at
Anagnia. Catacombs have also been recently discovered on the site of
Hadrumetum near Sousse in Tunisia. (+ W. R. B.; O. M. D.)
AUTHORITIES.--The classical work on the catacombs of Rome is G.B. De
Rossi's _Roma sotterranea_, on which most of the accounts in other
languages than Italian have been based. The fine volume by Mgr.
Wilpert, _Le Pitture delle catacombe romane_ (Rome, 1903), in which
all the important frescoes are reproduced in colours, is to be
regarded as an addition to the _Roma sotterranea_. All new
discoveries made by the active _Commissione di archeologia sacra_ are
chronicled with as little delay as possible in the _Nuovo Bulletino de
archeologia cristiana_ published in Rome.
The most recent accounts of the catacombs are to be found in the
following books:--Armellini, _Gli Antichi Cimiteri cristiani di Roma e
d' Italia_ (Rome, 1893); O. Marucchi, _Le Catacombe romane_ (Rome,
1903; also translated into French), _Manuale di epigrafia cristiana _
(Milan, 1904); M. Besnier, _Les Catacombes de Rome_ (Paris, 1909).
Among the older works are: Bosio, _Roma sotterranea_, Severano's
edition (1632), and Aringhi's edition (1651); Boldetti, _Osservazioni
sopra i cimiteri dei santi martiri_ (Rome, 1720); Bottari, _Sculture e
pitture sagre, &c._ (Rome, 1737-1754); Seroux d'Agincourt, _Histoire
de l'art par les monuments_ (Paris, 1823; German ed., 1840); G.
Marchi, _Monumenti delle arti cristiane primitive_ (Rome, 1844); Raoul
Rochette, _Tableau des catacombes de Rome_ (2nd ed., Paris, 1853);
Perret, _Les Catacombes de Rome_ (Paris, 1855)--a sumptuous folio
work, but not always accurate, Roller, _Les Catacombes de Rome_
(Paris, 1881); V. Schultze, _Die Katakomben_ (Leipzig, 1882).
Works written in English are: Northcote and Brownlow, _Roma
sotterranea_ (London, 1869; based upon De Rossi); Wharton Marriott,
_The Testimony of the Catacombs_ (London, 1870); J.H. Parker, _The
Archaeology of Rome: the Catacombs_; Smith and Cheetham, _Dictionary
of Christian Antiquities_, s.v. "Catacombs"; R. Lanciani, _Pagan and
Christian Rome_ (London, 1892); W. Lowry, _Christian Art and
Archaeology_, ch. ii. (London, 1901; a useful introduction to the
subject); H. Gee, "The Church in the Catacombs," in W. Lefroy's
_Lectures in Ecclesiastical History_ (1896); Th. Mommsen, in the
_Contemporary Review_, May 1871.
Accounts of the catacombs will also be found in the encyclopaedias and
manuals published under the following names: Martigny, Perate, F.X.
Kraus (_Realencyklopadie_ and _Geschichte der christlichen Kunst_),
Reusens, V. Schultze and C.M. Kauffmann, and in the large new
_Dictionnaire d'archeologie chretienne et liturgie_, published at
Paris under the editorship of Dom F. Cabrol.
The catacombs at Naples are described in C.F. Bellermann, _Uber die
altesten christlichen Begrabnisstatten und besonders die Katakomben zu
Neapel_ (Hamburg, 1839); Armellini, as above, and V. Schultze, _Die
Katakomben von San Gennaro dei Poveri in Neapel_ (Jena, 1877).
For the catacombs in Malta, A.A. Caruana, _Ancient Pagan Tombs and
Christian Cemeteries in the Islands of Malta_ (Malta, 1898), and A.
Mayr, "Die altchristlichen Begrabnisstatten auf Malta," in _Romische
Quartalschrift_, vol. xv. pp. 216 and 352 (Rome, 1901), may be
consulted.
The fullest account of the Sicilian catacombs is given by J. Fuhrer,
_Forschungen zur Sicilia sotterranea_ (Munich, 1897); and D.C.
Barrecca, _Le Catacombe di San Giovanni in Siracusa_ (Syracuse, 1906).
A catacomb of the 5th century, discovered at Kertch in South Russia,
is described by J. Kulakovsky in _Materials for Russian Archaeology_
(St Petersburg, 1896; a publication of the Russian Imperial
Archaeological Commission), but it is written in Russian, as also is
the account by V. Latyshev, in _Vizantieski Vremennik_, vol. vi. pp.
337 ff. (St Petersburg, 1899).
The catacombs at Hadrumetum (Sousse) are described by A.F. Leynard,
_Les Catacombes d'Hadrumete, deuxieme campagne de fouilles_
(1904-1905). See also _Revue Tunisienne_ (1905), p. 250.
For the catacombs of Alexandria, Neroutsos Bey, _L'Ancienne
Alexandrie_, may be consulted in addition to De Rossi's article
mentioned in the text. (O. M. D.)