A VISIT
TO THE
ROMAN CATACOMBS.
BY
REV. J. SPENCER NORTHCOTE, D.D.
PROVOST OF BIRMINGHAM.
LONDON: S. ANSELM’S SOCIETY,
9 AGAR STREET, CHARING CROSS.
1891.
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My study of the Roman Catacombs began in 1846.Two years later I published a series of letters uponthe subject in the Rambler, and the substance ofthese, with some additions and corrections, wascollected into a small volume in 1856. This wastranslated both into French and German, and asecond English edition was published in 1859.
But in 1864 and 1867 the first two volumes of DeRossi’s great work appeared; and these not onlyadded indefinitely to our knowledge of particularsabout the Catacombs, but also effected a completerevolution in the view to be taken of their history,and laid a new basis for the future study of them.Formerly, it had been taken for granted that theChristians had had recourse to this mode of buryingtheir dead, only for the sake of the opportunities ofsecrecy which it afforded, and it was a difficult questionfor Christian archæologists to solve how it hadbeen possible to carry on a work of such magnitude,under the very eyes (as it were) of the Pagan authorities,[viii]without detection. De Rossi set aside thesespeculations, and proved that there was no necessityfor the early Christians to take exceptional precautionswith reference to the burial of their dead, sincemany of the customs of their Pagan neighbours inthis matter were such as they might themselvesmake use of, and, under ordinary circumstances, theircemeteries were adequately protected by the law.
Henceforward, the manual of 1859 was not onlyincomplete, it had also been demonstrated to be incorrect.In 1869, therefore, a much larger volumewas published by Rev. W. R. Brownlow and myself,founded upon the new discoveries. This also wasfavourably received by the public; the first Englishedition was soon exhausted, and translations weremade both in France and Germany. A second andenlarged edition is now in course of preparation,which will embody the most interesting and importantparts of De Rossi’s third volume, which hasonly just appeared. Meanwhile, however, there isneed of a short manual, which shall be a safe guideto those who only desire to become acquainted withthe leading features of the subject, according to thepresent condition of our knowledge of it; and withthis view I have compiled the following pages, at atime when ill health has necessitated the suspensionof more arduous labours. They do not pretend togive a complete account either of the past history orpresent condition of the Catacombs, but merely acorrect outline of the whole, so that those who would[ix]pursue the study further shall, at least, have nothingto unlearn.
I have called the volume “A visit to the RomanCata