WHAT DIOGENES COULD NOT TELL ABOUT THE CATACOMBS.
Diogenes lived during the first period in the history of the cemeteries,
though near its close. Could he have looked into their future fate, he
would have seen, near at hand, an epoch that would have gladdened his
heart, to be followed by one that would have deeply afflicted him.
Although, therefore, the matter of this chapter have no direct bearing
upon our narrative, it will serve essentially to connect it with the
present topography of its scene.
When peace and liberty were restored to the Church, these cemeteries
became places of devotion, and of great resort. Each of them was
associated with the name of one, or the names of several, of the more
eminent martyrs buried in it; and, on their anniversaries, crowds of
citizens and of pilgrims thronged to their tombs, where the Divine
mysteries were offered up, and the homily delivered in their praise.
Hence began to be compiled the first martyrologies, or calendars of
martyrs’ days, which told the faithful whither to go. “At Rome, on the
Salarian, or the Appian, or the Ardeatine way,” such are the indications
almost daily read in the Roman martyrology, now swelled out, by the
additions of later ages.[91]
An ordinary reader of the book hardly knows the importance of these
indications; for they have served to verify several otherwise dubious
cemeteries. Another class of valuable writers also comes to our aid; but
before mentioning them, we will glance at the changes which this
devotion produced in the cemeteries. First, commodious entrances, with
easy staircases were made; then walls were built to support the
crumbling galleries; and, from time to time, funnel-shaped apertures in
the vaults were opened, to admit light and air. Finally, basilicas or
churches were erected over their entrances, generally leading
immediately to the principal tomb, then called the _confession_ of the
church. The pilgrim, thus, on arriving at the holy city, visited each of
these churches, a custom yet practised; descended below, and without
having to grope his way about, went direct, by well-constructed
passages, to the principal martyr’s shrine, and so on to others, perhaps
equally objects of reverence and devotion.
During this period, no tomb was allowed to be opened, no body to be
extracted. Through apertures made into the grave, handkerchiefs or
scarfs, called _brandea_, were introduced, to touch the martyr’s relics;
and these were carried to distant countries, to be held in equal
reverence. No wonder that St. Ambrose, St. Gaudentius, and other
bishops, should have found it so difficult to obtain bodies, or large
relics of martyrs for their churches. Another sort of relics consisted
of what was called familiarly the oil of a martyr, that is, the oil,
often mixed with balsam, which burned in a lamp beside his tomb. Often a
round stone pillar, three feet or so in height, and scooped out at the
top, stands beside a monument; probably to hold the lamp, or serve for
the distribution of its contents. St. Gregory the Great wrote to Queen
Theodelinda, that he sent her a collection of the oils of the popes who
were martyrs. The list which accompanied them was copied by Mabillon in
the treasury of Monza, and republished by Ruinart.[92] It exists there
yet, together with the very phials containing them, sealed up in metal
tubes.
This jealousy of disturbing the saints, is displayed most beautifully in
an incident, related by St. Gregory of Tours. Among the martyrs most
honored in the ancient Roman Church were Sts. Chrysanthus and Daria.
Their tombs became so celebrated for cures, that their fellow-Christians
built (that is excavated) over them a chamber, with a vault of beautiful
workmanship, where crowds of worshippers assembled. This was discovered
by the heathens, and the emperor closed them in, walled up the entrance,
and from above, probably through the _luminare_, or ventilating shaft,
showered down earth and stones, and buried the congregation alive, as
the two holy martyrs had been before them. The place was unknown at the
peace of the Church, till discovered by Divine manifestation. But
instead of being permitted to enter again into this hallowed spot,
pilgrims were merely allowed to look at it, through a window opened in
the wall, so as to see, not only the tombs of the martyrs, but also the
bodies of those who had been buried alive at their shrines. And as the
cruel massacre had taken place while preparations were being made for
oblation of the holy Eucharist, there were still to be seen lying about,
the silver cruets in which the wine was brought for that spotless
sacrifice.[93]
It is clear that pilgrims resorting to Rome would want a hand-book to
the cemeteries, that they might know what they had to visit. It is
likewise but natural that, on their return home, they may have sought to
edify their less fortunate neighbors, by giving an account of what they
had seen. Accordingly there exists, no less fortunately for us than for
their untravelled neighbors, several records of this character. The
first place, among these, is held by catalogues compiled in the fourth
century; one, of the places of sepulture of Roman pontiffs, the other of
martyrs.[94] After these come three distinct guides to the catacombs;
the more interesting because they take different rounds, yet agree
marvellously in their account.
To show the value of these documents, and describe the changes which
took place in the catacombs during the second period of their history,
we will give a brief account of one discovery, in the cemetery where we
have left our little party. Among the rubbish near the entrance of a
catacomb, the name of which was yet doubtful, and which had been taken
for that of Prætextatus, was found a fragment of a slab of marble which
had been broken across ‘obliquely, from left to right, with the
following letters:
-----------------+[95]
\ |
\NELII MARTYRIS |
\ |
--------------+
The young Cavalier de Rossi at once declared that this was part of the
sepulchral inscription of the holy Pope Cornelius; that probably his
tomb would be found below, in a distinguished form; and that as all the
itineraries above mentioned concurred in placing it in the cemetery of
Callistus, this, and not the one at St. Sebastian’s, a few hundred yards
off, must claim the honor of that name. He went further, and foretold
that as these works pronounced St. Cyprian to be buried near Cornelius,
there would be found something at the tomb which would account for that
idea, for it was known that his body rested in Africa. It was not long
before every prediction was verified. The great staircase discovered[96]
was found to lead at once to a wider space, carefully secured by
brick-work of the time of peace, and provided with light and air from
above. On the left was a tomb, cut like others in the rock, without any
exterior arch over it. It was, however, large and ample; and except one,
very high above it, there were no other graves below, or over, or at the
sides. The remaining portion of the slab was found within it; the first
piece was brought from the Kircherian Museum, where it had been
deposited, and exactly fitted to it; and both covered the tomb, thus:
+---------------------+[97]
| / \ |
| /COR\NELII MARTYRIS |
|/ EP\ |
+---------------------+
Below, reaching from the lower edge of this stone to the ground was a
marble slab covered with an inscription, of which only the left-hand end
remains, the rest being broken off and lost. Above the tomb was another
slab let into the sand-stone, of which the right-hand end exists, and a
few more fragments have been recovered in the rubbish; not enough to
make out the lines, but sufficient to show it was an inscription in
verse, by Pope Damasus. How is this authorship traceable? Very easily.
Not only do we know that this holy pope, already mentioned, took
pleasure in putting verses, which he loved to write, on the tombs of
martyrs,[98] but the number of inscriptions of his yet extant exhibit a
particular and very elegant form of letters, known among antiquarians by
the name of “Damasian.” The fragments of this marble bear portions of
verses, in this character.
[Illustration: Saint Cornelius and Saint Cyprian, from De Rossi’s “Roma
Sotteranea.”]
To proceed: on the wall, right of the tomb, and on the same plane, were
painted two full-length figures in sacerdotal garments, with glories
round their heads, evidently of Byzantine work of the seventh century.
Down the wall, by the left side of each, letter below letter, were their
names; some letters were effaced, which we supply in italics as follow:
SI✠ COR__{N}_EL_ᴵ_[=PP] SCI✠ PRI_ᴬ_N_ᴵ_¹[99]
We here see how a foreigner, reading these two inscriptions, with the
portraits, and knowing that the Church commemorates the two martyrs on
the same day, might easily be led to suppose that they were here
deposited together. Finally at the right hand of the tomb stands a
truncated column, about three feet high, concave at the top, as before
described; and as a confirmation of the use to which we said it might be
put, St. Gregory has, in his list of oils sent to the Lombard Queen,
“Oleum S. Cornelii,” the oil of St. Cornelius.
We see, then, how, during the second period, new ornaments, as well as
greater conveniences, were added to the primitively simple forms of the
cemeteries. But we must not, on that account, imagine that we are in any
danger of mistaking these later embellishments for the productions of
the early ages. The difference is so immense that we might as easily
blunder by taking a Rubens for a Beato Angelico, as by considering a
Byzantine figure to be a production of the two first centuries.
We come now to the third period of these holy cemeteries, the sad one of
their desolation. When the Lombards, and later the Saracens, began to
devastate the neighborhood of Rome, and the catacombs were exposed to
desecration, the popes extracted the bodies of the most illustrious
martyrs, and placed them in the basilicas of the city. This went on till
the eighth or ninth century; when we still read of repairs made in the
cemeteries by the sovereign pontiffs. The catacombs ceased to be so much
places of devotion; and the churches, which stood over their entrances,
were destroyed, or fell to decay. Only those remained which were
fortified, and could be defended. Such are the extramural basilicas of
St. Paul on the Ostian way, of St. Sebastian on the Appian, St. Laurence
on the Tiburtine, or in the Ager Veranus, St. Agnes on the Nomentan
road, St. Pancratius on the Aurelian, and, greatest of all, St. Peter’s
on the Vatican. The first and last had separate _burghs_ or cities round
them; and the traveller can still trace remains of strong walls round
some of the others.
Strange it is, however, that the young antiquarian, whom we have
frequently named with honor, should have re-discovered two of the
basilicas over the entrance to the cemetery of Callistus, almost entire;
the one being a stable and bakehouse, the other a wine-store. One is,
most probably, that built by Pope Damasus, so often mentioned. The earth
washed down, through air-holes, the spoliation practised during ages, by
persons entering from vineyards through unguarded entrances, the mere
wasting action of time and weather, have left us but a wreck of the
ancient catacombs. Still there is much to be thankful for. Enough
remains to verify the records left us in better times, and these serve
to guide us to the reconstruction of our ruins. The present Pontiff[100]
has done more in a few years for these sacred places, which he has
appointed have done wonders. With very limited means, they are going
systematically to work, finishing as they advance. Nothing is taken from
the spot where it is found; but every thing is restored, as far as
possible, to its original state. Accurate tracings are made of all the
paintings, and plans of every part explored. To secure these good
results, the Pope has, from his own resources, bought vineyards and
fields, especially at Tor Marancia, where the cemetery of SS. Nereus and
Achilleus is situated; and we believe also over that of Callistus. The
French emperor too has sent to Rome, artists, who have produced a most
magnificent work, perhaps somewhat overdone, upon the catacombs: a truly
imperial undertaking.
[Illustration: The Tomb of Cornelius.]
It is time, however, for us to rejoin our party below, and finish our
inspection of these marvellous cities of departed saints, under the
guidance of our friends the excavators.