Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/221

CATACOMBS 209 the monogram of Christ (figs. 5, 6). The palm branch, which is also of frequent occurrence, has been solemnly decided by " the Congregation of Relics " to be an indisputable mark of the last resting place of a martyr. But the decision of this FIG. 2. Section of Galleries at different levels. Seroux d Agincourt. From infallible authority has been proved fallacious by the stern logic of facts, the emblem being found in connection with epitaphs of persons dying natural deaths, or those prepared FIG. 3. View of a Gallery. by persons in their lifetime, as well as in those of little chil dren, and even of pagans. Another frequent concomitant of these Catacomb interments, a small glass vessel containing Fid. 4. Loculi. From De Rossi. traces of the sediment of a red fluid, embedded in the cement of the loculus, pronounced as confidently by the same author ity to indicate a martyr s grave (fig. 7), has also shown the unwisdom of pronouncing dogmatically without sufficient evidence. Tha red matter proves to be the remains of wine, not of blood; and the conclusion of the ablest archaeologists of the Church of Rome itself is that the vessels were placed FIGS. 5 and 6. Loculi. From D where they are found, after the Eucharistic celebration or agape on the day of the funeral or its anniversary, and con tained remains of the consecrated elements as a kind of FIG. 7. Glass Bottles. From Bosio. religious charm. Instances of the pious theft, not alto gether unknown in modern churches, which combines economy with becoming respect to the dead, appear in the Catacombs. IS T ot a few of the slabs, it is discovered, have done double duty, bearing a pagan inscription on one side, and a Christian one on the other. These are known as opislhographs. The bodies were interred wrapt in linen cloths, or swathed in bands, and were frequently preserved by embalming, In the case of poorer interments the destruction of the body was, on the contrary, often ac celerated by the use of quicklime. Interment in the wall-recess or loculus, though infinitely the most common, was not the only mode employed in the Catacombs. Other forms of very frequent recurrence are the table-tomb and arched tomb, or arcosolium. From the annexed woodcuts it will be seen that these only differ in the form of the surmounting recess. In each case the arched tomb was formed by an oblong chest, either hollowed out of the rock, or built of masonry, and closed with a horizontal slab. But in the table-tomb (fig. 8) the recess above, essential for the introduction of the corpse, is square, while in the arcosolium (fig. 9), a form of later date, it is semi circular. Sarcophagi are also found in the Catacombs, but are of rare occurrence. They chiefly occur in the earlier cemeteries, and the costliness of their construction confined their use to the wealthiest classes, e.g., in the cemetery of St Domitilla, herself a member of the imperial house. Another unfrequent mode of interment was in graves like those of modern times, dug in the floor of the galleries (Marchi, u.s^ tav, xxi. xxvi.). Table-tombs and arcosolia

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