LVIII.
THE CATACOMBS OF ROME.
THEIR AGE AND EXTENT.—THE SEVEN HILLS HONEYCOMBED.—HOW THE CATACOMBS WERE MADE.—THEIR USES.—THE CHRISTIAN MARTYRS.—IMMENSE BURIAL VAULTS.—MILLIONS OF PERSONS BURIED.—RESORTS OF ROBBERS.—STRANGE ADVENTURES.—VISITING THE CHURCH OF THE CAPUCHINS.—FANCY OF AN IRREVERENT AMERICAN.—DOWN THE CATACOMBS.—STORY OF THE GUIDE.—STRANGE EXPERIENCE OF TWO AMERICANS.
Many cities of the old world can boast of catacombs. Those of Paris are famous in their way for the large number of skeletons which have been deposited in them. The catacombs in and near other cities have the same peculiarity, and the walls are frescoed and festooned with bones which are placed so as to form fantastic shapes, reflecting much credit upon the persons who arranged them.
The catacombs of Rome are quite interesting, partly from their character and partly from the associations connected with them. Many of them are of great antiquity, and can be traced back nearly to the time when the city was founded. The rock on which Rome is built was of volcanic origin. It is a soft, yellow stone, generally known astufa, and can be quarried very easily. The workmen shaped their shafts pretty much as they pleased, the stone in many places being so soft that it could be cut with an axe. Some of them are more ancient even than the city which Romulus and Remus founded, and they are so extensive that the original seven hills on which Rome stands were perforated and honey-combed by enormous passages and galleries, in which one might easily be lost. As the building of the city progressed, the quarries were extended, some of them several miles away from the banks of the Tiber. During the time of the prosperityof Rome these quarries were opened in every direction, and were steadily worked until the city began to decline, and the materials of the old buildings were used for the construction of new ones.
DESTROYING THE COLISEUM.
For a good many hundred years Rome has had very little occasion to open new quarries, as the old stone inside the city is quite sufficient for most of the building purposes of the present day. For several centuries some of the great works constructed by the emperors were torn down to furnish building material. A great part of the Coliseum was removed in this way. Thousands of tons of stone were carried off, but the work was so vast that, in spite of all the efforts of man to destroy it, it remains to-day a gigantic monument of the greatness and glory of Rome.
Beneath the modern city of Rome there are many underground passages which are not generally classed with the catacombs. The most interesting of the catacombs, those which furnished homes and hiding-places for the early Christians, are outside the walls of the modern city, and are visited annually by a great many persons. It is not clear for what purpose these places were used after their abandonment as quarries, but it is generally believed they were the resort of robbers and other persons who were escaping from or avoiding justice. At the present time a close watch is kept over them, to prevent their occupation by brigands or other violators of the law. Only a few years ago a band of robbers had their headquarters in one of the catacombs, and carried on their depredations for several months before their place of concealment was discovered.
During the time of the persecution of the Christians, beginning with that under Nero, and followed by those of several other emperors, down to the last persecution, a great many persons who could not be safe anywhere else crowded into the catacombs. Some of them lived there for years, while many others spent the greater part of their time there, and only went to the surface at night. Many of the workmen around the quarries were very early converted to Christianity,and it is supposed that they greatly aided their fellow-Christians in finding secure places of retreat.
EXPLORING THE CATACOMBS.
Very little attention was paid to the catacombs until nearly fourteen hundred years after the beginning of the Christian era. By that time the catacombs had ceased to be the abode of Christians, as it was no longer necessary for them to conceal themselves. Outlaws and assassins were gathered in large numbers in the catacombs, and it required very vigorous efforts on the part of the authorities to drive them out. The entrances to many of these places were closed altogether, and have remained closed ever since, so that there are numerous under-passages below and around the city of Rome which have not been visited for thousands of years, and their locality even is not known.
In 1535 the pope ordered some of the catacombs to be explored, and directed that they should be cleared and lighted. A great interest was awakened in subterranean Rome, and Father Bosio devoted about thirty years of his life to the exploration of the catacombs. He opened the way into some of the places which had been blocked up and closed for centuries, and he made drawings and descriptions of some of the most remarkable sculptures, paintings, monuments, and other things which he found there. Several books have been published concerning the catacombs, and anything like a full description of them would require thousands of pages.
During some of the explorations many valuable articles were carried away, until it was found that there was danger of the catacombs being entirely despoiled. Pope Clement VIII. took the catacombs under his especial protection, and forbade any one to enter or leave them without permission, or take away any article whatever, under penalty of excommunication. Since that time the catacombs have been regarded with great veneration as being the hiding-place of the early Christians, who adhered to their religious convictions through years of the severest persecution.
CHURCH OF THE CAPUCHINS.
Every visitor to Rome makes, or is expected to make, a journey through the catacombs. Very soon after my arrivalin the Eternal City I started to make this tour. Our party went first, as a preparation for visiting the catacombs, to one of the churches (the Church of the Capuchins), which is in charge of about twenty-four monks. Underneath the church is the place where the monks after their death are buried. The earth in which they are placed came originally from Jerusalem, and the monks consider it a great honor to be planted there. This number of monks—not the same ones, by any means—have been in charge of the church for several centuries. Whenever any of them dies, he is buried with a good deal of ceremony; and, in order to find a place for him, the bones of one of his predecessors are dug up. The space is sufficiently large for burying forty or fifty persons, so that when one of the number has been placed under ground he is not likely to be disturbed for ten or twenty years. His bones, when removed from the earth, are placed with those of his predecessors. They are not piled up in heaps, as one might naturally suppose, but are fastened to the walls and ceilings of the little rooms that cover the cemetery.
Some of the walls are entirely covered with these bones. As you look at the walls a little distance away, you would think they were frescoed; but a near approach shows you that, instead of being fresco, it is alto-relievo. For example, one wall will have in its centre a skull, and around it will be a select assortment of the bones of the forearm. Then sections of the back-bone, fragments of fingers, toes, and all the bones familiar to the student of anatomy, will be arranged in artistic order, so that the wall forms an interesting picture. Sometimes the bones are arranged in the shape of wheels, and some of them are formed into wheels and stars.
CATACOMBS OF ROME.—THE THREE BROTHERS.
CATACOMBS OF ROME.—THE THREE BROTHERS.
One of the peculiar things connected with the visit to this spot is, that you are shown through the place by one of the monks, who stands complacently by, calling your attention to the bones of his predecessor, and regarding with calm satisfaction the prominent positions which they occupy. He knows very well that one of these days he will go into theearth which his lantern illuminates, and a few years later his bones will form a part of the mural ornaments. He contemplates death with satisfaction, as he knows he will be buried in a conspicuous resting-place, where people can call upon and admire him. The monk that guided us through the burial-ground was enthusiastic rather than otherwise, and seemed to look forward with delight to the time when he should form a part of an alto-relievo.
IRREVERENT COMMENTS.
An irreverent member of our party proposed asking the monk if he did not think there would be a good deal of confusion at the day of judgment, when Gabriel’s trumpet sounds, and the bones undertake to sort themselves out and get together. He suggested that the arms, and legs, and fingers, and toes, and back-bone joints would be a good deal mixed up, and that fragments of a dozen monks might be collected together and present themselves as one individual. He said the head of Brother Ignatius, the body of Brother Francis, and the arm of Brother Peter might be mixed up with the legs of Brother Simon, and an arm, or leg, or a rib of somebody else. We reproved him soundly for his levity, and told him he had better go.
Some of the catacombs are entered beneath the churches, while others are entered in the open ground. The first one we went to after leaving the church was at the right of the Appian Way, a little distance outside the city. There was a party inside when we reached there, and the guide who took us in charge said that the rules forbade two parties going down at the same time, and that we could not descend until the other returned; so we loitered around for a little time, until our predecessors came out. We found ourselves in the middle of a field, part of it cultivated and part of it in rich, luxuriant grass. To all external appearances the ground beneath was perfectly solid, and we almost began to think we had come to the wrong place.
The guide preceded us to a little hollow or excavation, down which there was a flight of steps. We stood around this until we saw some heads emerge from the ground twoor three hundred yards away; then the guide descended the steps, and we followed him. He unlocked a door and allowed us to enter; then he locked the door after us, and we found ourselves standing in a place where there was very little light, and it was evident that we must have candles before proceeding farther.
ENTERING THE CATACOMBS.
He produced the candles, and each of us produced a franc. Another carriage-load had joined us, so that our party consisted of seven or eight persons. The harvest for the guide was a very good one, and certainly allowed him no occasion to complain. When we had lighted our candles he told us to follow him, and we descended another flight of steps, and then struck off through a narrow gallery about six or seven feet high—narrow in some places, and in others enlarged to a width of ten or twenty feet.
As we went along, the guide explained to us the character of the place, its mode of construction, and the uses to which it had been put. He explained that the catacombs were originally quarries; that we were then in the second gallery from the surface, and that there were three similar galleries below us. He could take us through all of them if we wished to go, but the journey would be rather monotonous, as the objects to be seen in all were very much alike. This mode of working in galleries one above the other is not peculiar to the Roman catacombs, though it is more noticeable there than in any other locality. Imagine a hotel, half a mile square and five stories high, placed under ground, and you can form a very good idea of the arrangement of this catacomb.
FOLLOWING THE GUIDE.
All along the galleries there are little niches, calledloculi, cut in the sides one above the other, just large enough to contain a single body. From nearly all theseloculithe skeletons have been removed, but there is now and then a skeleton or so visible, and adding interest to the place. It is said that millions of bodies were buried in these catacombs during the time they were used for cemeteries. Those that have not been explored are still full of skeletons, and would furnishrelics enough to equip several thousand new churches. Here and there the guide pointed out small rooms or chambers in the tufa, where some of the Christians lived. There are inscriptions of a religious character scratched upon the walls of many of them, some being legible, while others are only partly so. Beneath many of theloculithere are inscriptions showing who are resting there, and at the entrance to one of the chambers, in which a dozen skeletons are leading a very quiet life, there is an elaborate door-plate set in mosaic.
The places where some of those who have since been canonized dwelt in their lifetime and were buried after death, were pointed out. Some of them were quite interesting, and several were ornamented with considerable care. Sometimes there were mosaics and marble monuments of considerable size; and at one spot a life-sized statue cut from the tufa rock, and evincing considerable skill on the part of its designer, was shown to us.
We followed our guide in single file. Some of our party were rather inattentive to his directions. Among them was a pair of lovers, who seemed much more interested in saying sweet things to each other than in looking at the curiosities of the place. Several times they lagged behind, and the rest of us were obliged to halt and wait for them to come up. Their dilatoriness caused the rest of the party at times to become separated, and as they showed a disposition to wander off in the side-galleries and corridors, we were apprehensive of losing some of them. Sure enough, when we reached our journey’s end one of our number was missing.
A PAIR OF LOST LOVERS.
Our guide left us and went back, and he was gone ten or fifteen minutes before he found the missing individual. When he brought him forward and we were united, the latter said that he thought we turned a certain corner while he was examining the grave and bones of an early Christian. He followed and could hear our voices, but was surprised to find that, in following us, he seemed to get no nearer. He thought a minute or two, and then concluded that he waslost. He said his hair began to stand on end, and he was considerably relieved when he heard the voice of our guide shouting to him, and answered. The guide had some difficulty in finding him, as he had turned into a side-gallery and thence into another gallery; and had he gone a little farther, it might have taken some time to trace him out. I am entirely convinced that the next time he visits a catacomb he will take good care to keep within hearing distance, and seeing distance too, of the guide.
The guide told us that it was not unusual for people to be lost there, and he said that whenever they took a large party inside the catacombs they always counted them carefully both on entering and departing. “People,” he said, “will stop and look at things while the rest of the party is moving on; and if we have a large number, they are quite likely to get lost. The galleries run in all directions, and in some places there are holes from a gallery to the one above or below. Unless a person is careful, and is aware of their locality, he may fall down one of these holes, and be severely injured, or perhaps killed.” After he had told us of the danger of getting lost, he said,—
“I once took two Americans into one of the catacombs, along with a party of a dozen or more. They had been drinking somewhat, and were not very sober. We had quite a long journey through the galleries, as it was late in the day, and I knew that no other party would be allowed to enter. We spent some time in the place, and then we went out, and I was so busy talking when we came out that I forgot to count the party. I locked the door and went home, supposing all was right.
“In two or three hours the driver of a carriage came to wake me, and said he had been all that time trying to find me. I asked what he wanted. He said he took two American gentlemen to go into the catacombs, and they had gone there; they had not come back to the carriage yet, and he was beginning to get alarmed about his pay. He did not think they would run away and cheat him, but he could not tell what had become of them.
“Just then I happened to think that I did not count the party when they came out, and quite likely the crowd might have been two men short; so I went and found the custodian of the place, and got permission to go into the catacombs. The rules forbid us to go into the catacombs between sunset and sunrise, unless we have a good reason; and I thought my excuse was good enough at that time. I was afraid that those Americans might be shut up there in the dark, as their candles were not very long, and unless they burned them singly, were not good for more than three hours.
“From the time I shut up the place until I got there again and unlocked the place, it was nearly five hours. The Americans are a strange people, as I found when I went down there.
“I expected to find these men, if I found them at all, half dead with fright, and wandering about or trembling in the darkness; but they were nothing of the sort. When I got down into the place and walked along one of the galleries, I heard somebody singing. He would sing a little while, and then he would whistle. I could hear a rattling of bones and a sound as if somebody was dancing.
DANCING WITH A SKELETON.
“Well, gentlemen, as sure as I am a guide, when I came in sight of those men they were in a place where the gallery widened out into a sort of chamber, and there were some skeletons which had been tied together with wires and thongs. The chamber was about ten feet square, and these skeletons were in the niches in the side. Those fellows were there. One of them was sitting on the edge of a niche, and making music by singing or whistling. He kept time with a couple of leg-bones which he had in his hands. The other was hugging a skeleton as if it had been a queen of the ballet. I stood still five or ten minutes to see what they would do.
“When the fellow that was waltzing got tired, he seated his skeleton in the corner, bowed to it as if it had been a young lady, patted it on the cheek, and sat down. Then the other one got up and picked up the same skeleton; the onewho had just been dancing made the music, and the scene was repeated.
“I shouted to them; they looked a little surprised, and answered me.
MAKING A NIGHT OF IT.
“They said their candles were nearly out. As soon as they found that they were lost they concluded they must stay there all night; so they stopped right where they were, entered the chamber, and made themselves as comfortable as possible. The accommodations were not very good, but one of them said, ‘Now that we are in for the night, I guess we will stay it out.’
“They gave me some money, sent me out for a couple of bottles of wine and something to eat, and told me to come again in the morning. They sent money enough to pay the driver. I bought a dozen candles, took them their overcoats from the carriage, so that they could use them in case they wanted to lie down on the ground, and they had a merry time of it all night.
“They promised not to disturb anything, and I knew they were gentlemen, and would keep their word. They did not sleep any, but kept carousing all night. They were ready to come out when I went there in the morning; and though they said they had plenty of fun, I don’t believe they would care to stay over night in the catacombs again.”
In some of the catacombs many persons of distinction have been buried. The place where the Christian martyrs were concealed has been regarded with such veneration that a great many people have considered it a high honor to be buried there. Sometimes people who had died in France, Spain, and other distant countries, were brought to Rome to find a sepulchre in the catacombs; and sometimes their funeral ceremonies were conducted with great pomp. Among the noted men buried in the catacombs were the Popes Leo I., Gregory the Great, Gregory II. and III., Leo IX.; also the Emperors Honorius, Valentinian, and Otho II. In most of the places now opened to visitors there are no graves of persons of distinction, though there are several of the second and third class.
VAULTED CHAPEL IN THE CATACOMBS.
VAULTED CHAPEL IN THE CATACOMBS.
LOST IN THE CATACOMBS.
LOST IN THE CATACOMBS.
INTO DAYLIGHT AGAIN.
The place where we emerged from the catacombs was some distance from where we descended into the earth. It was in the same field, and through an excavation which promised as little as the one by which we descended. The light of the Roman sun seemed much brighter than when we left it, and it was some minutes before our eyes were accustomed to its dazzling rays.