Catacombs

Overview

A catacomb is an underground cemetery consisting of narrow passages dug into the earth, with bodies laid to rest in niches cut into the walls. The catacombs of Rome are the most famous, but others exist in Naples, Sicily, North Africa, and elsewhere. The name is generally said to derive from ad catacumbas, a place name near the Appian Way in Rome. The term originally referred only to the cemetery at that site but later came to designate underground cemeteries in general.

Background

Roman law prohibited burial of the dead within the city walls, so tombs were built outside the city along the major roads. Although cremation was common in Rome at the time, Christians, in keeping with their faith in the resurrection, chose to bury their dead in the ground. The ground around Rome consists of tuff, a soft stone formed from compacted volcanic ash, which made it easy to excavate. Because land near the city was expensive, the passages were extended underground across multiple levels so that large numbers of people could be buried.

Development

• Late 2nd to early 3rd century: Christian communal cemeteries began to develop in earnest. A leading example, the Catacomb of Callixtus, was a cemetery whose management was entrusted to the church of Rome in the early 3rd century, and several 3rd-century bishops of Rome were buried there.
• 258: During the persecution under Emperor Valerian, Sixtus II, bishop of Rome, is said to have been arrested while leading a gathering in a cemetery and then executed.
• After 313: Once Christianity received legal recognition, the catacombs became places where the tombs of martyrs were visited and commemorated. Damasus I, bishop of Rome in the 4th century, restored martyrs' tombs and had inscriptions carved for them.
• From the 5th century: Underground burial gradually declined. Amid war and plunder, remains were transferred to churches within the city, and during the Middle Ages most of the catacombs were forgotten.
• From 1578: Catacombs were rediscovered by chance along the Via Salaria. The research of Antonio Bosio in the 17th century and Giovanni Battista de Rossi in the 19th century laid the foundations of modern Christian archaeology.

Impact and Legacy

Early Christian art survives on the walls of the catacombs. Typical images include the Good Shepherd carrying a sheep on his shoulders, the fish, the anchor, the dove, and the orant, a figure praying with both arms raised. Biblical scenes on the theme of deliverance, such as those of Jonah, Noah, and Daniel in the lions' den, were also frequently depicted. Today some of the Roman catacombs are open to the public, and they are a frequent destination on pilgrimages made by Korean Christians.

In the sermons and devotional literature of the Korean church, the catacombs often serve as a symbol of the early church that endured persecution. The church in North Korea and the Chinese house churches, which meet in secret under persecution, are sometimes referred to as "catacomb churches."

Assessment

It is widely believed that Christians hid and lived in the catacombs to escape persecution, or that they held their regular worship there. Scholars, however, regard this as an exaggeration. The Roman authorities knew that the catacombs were cemeteries, and the narrow passages were ill suited to large gatherings. The prevailing view is that the activities conducted there consisted mainly of funerals and gatherings to commemorate the dead and the martyrs.

Perspectives on the catacombs differ among traditions. The Catholic Church regards them as holy sites for the veneration of martyrs and oversees the Roman catacombs. Protestants generally view them as historical sites that bear witness to the faith of the early church and the history of persecution.