Roman Explorations I: The Christian Catacombs of Rome

this video is brought to you by curiositystream unlimited access to the world's top documentaries and non-fiction series and for you guys use the promo code geographics when prompted during sign up and you'll get 30 days for free more on them in a bit layer upon layer of mudstone marble and asphalt of dreams sweat blood and time sedimented and amalgamated over the course of centuries they have built the city eternal this is rome once capital of a mighty empire and the seat of papal power a city such as this has an endless stream of stories and histories to offer some are well known but many more are mysterious yet hiding in plain sight in today's geographics we're going to explore one of the layers that made the city a layer unseen to the naked eye and sprawling beneath the surface i'm talking about the catacombs the long underground galleries into which the early and christian community of rome buried its dead [Music] rome as we all know wasn't built in a day although according to legend its perimeter and foundations were laid down pretty quickly by twin brothers romulus and remus adopted sons of the she-wolf just like the mythical founders i shall start our journey from the foundation first things first how do you pronounce the word catacombs the american way which is not how i would pronounce it is catacombs while the british would say catacombs now neither pronunciation is incorrect though the british pronunciation is more respectful to the original etymology of the term as you will hear later in this video the next question is what exactly are catacombs popular culture and traditional depictions of paleochristian life in rome might lead you to believe that the catacombs were underground layers in which early followers of jesus would meet in secret this was the only option they had to practice their faith and avoid persecution by imperial authorities while early christian communities did face harassment and even martyred him at the hands of the romans the catacombs only had one function the burial of the dead and they were not secret either in fact romans were sticklers for well-run bureaucracy and record-keeping so ancient registry officers kept accurate plans there are 60 catacomb networks in rome although only five of them currently open to the public and we'll get to them later the concept of the underground sepulchre was not an original christian idea while romans preferred to cremate their dead some families did bury their loved ones in sarcophagi placed in subterranean galleries this was a custom inherited from the etruscans rome's nearby foe turned ally who had a home in modern-day tuscany these pagan burial sites were the exceptions rather than the norm in the early imperial period catacombs were more widespread amongst jewish communities unlike pagans jews believed in preserving the integrity of the body as a means to facilitate passage to the afterlife therefore a jewish burial site needed far more land than a pagan one the laws of the time forbade citizens from burying their relatives within the city walls meaning even burial grounds outside the perimeter of rome came at a high price therefore jewish communities resulted to digging below ground level to accommodate their dead early christians derived many of their practices straight from judaism and funerary rights were no exception as christianity began to take hold in rome worshipers began to take over existing catacombs even as they were digging new ones in some cases christians would inherit land from sympathetic patrician families resulting in the expansion of pre-existing pagan cemeteries the catacombs of domitia are one such example as we'll see later structurally a typical catacomb would span about 10 to 15 kilometers that's six to nine miles of underground galleries laid over four levels and reaching a depth of about 20 meters that's 66 feet the walls of these galleries were lined with hundreds of burial recesses or le coulee the most common kind of tomb each recess normally housed one single body without a casket or sarcophagus bodies were simply wrapped in a shroud and covered in lime to slow down the normal process of decay the recess was then closed with marble slates or tiles on which the family of the deceased placed inscriptions in greek or latin an alternative to the inscription was to place a small object by the tomb which indicated the profession of its occupant in the case of children grieving parents would simply place a toy as a memento if the deceased belonged to a wealthier family they could be placed inside larger niches sized as small rooms these were known as cubakula or bedchambers and they were also used to lay the remains of martyrs on the high end of the burial spectrum you would find the arcacelia these were large arched recesses richly decorated with wall paintings of religious subjects early catacombs in the second half of the third century a.d usually developed in a spontaneous fashion without planning or supervision as they grew in size religious authorities stepped in to ensure that they were properly managed a professional figure emerged that of the thesaurs who were part gravediggers part administrators and part brokers of burial recesses they began selling le cooley space to the families of the deceased these guys were professional but that doesn't mean they were necessarily honest for example they were rarely above accepting bribes if say a wealthy patron wanted to gain access to a liculas in a prime spot or near the cubiculum of a famous martyr the forsaurs would take note of how often a burial was visited by the relatives of the dead if visits waned and then ceased all together they would then sell the same occupied spot to another family this explains why many of the leculi contain more than one body this is not the only example of foul play taking place in the roman underground after decades of persecution against christians emperor constantine allowed freedom of worship in 313 a.d with the edict of milan as christianity gained in popularity so did the cult of the early saints and martyrs many over-eager believers then flocked to the catacombs in search of relics tied to these holy precursors and if they could not immediately find the sacred bones of saint tibia the confessor or blessed phalanges of antioch then they would just smash the slades protecting the loculi and pillage whatever remains were available with the decline fall of rome in the 5th century a.d catacombs had to contend with more attacks from vandals and by this i mean actual vandals and other barbarian populations this time the smash and grab frenzy was motivated by the search for jewelry that may have been buried with the owners by this time the catacombs had fallen into disuse and disrepair in favor of the more traditional cemeteries the popes decided to move most of the holy relics into churches and ordered for the entrances to be concealed so as to prevent further looting thus with one single exception the catacombs of saint sebastian these paleo-christian necropolises were largely forgotten interest in these forgotten burial grounds was resurrected on may 31 1578 when an underground cemetery was accidentally discovered by a crew of road maintenance workers a serious and methodical exploration of this subterranean network took place only from the year 1596 when an 18 year old law student antonio bossio decided to quit his studies and research the roman catacombs bossio's successes were not as rigorous though and most explorers of the roman tunnels were more interested in raiding the lechuli in search of relics or less spiritual loot the next great archaeologist to study the catacombs was giovanni batista de rossi one of the founders of modern christian archaeology de rossi started young after reading imposto's book on the catacombs he took to exploring them from the age of 19 with his younger brother in tow as an assistant and cartographer it's thanks to the work of bossier de rossi and their successors that we can study visit and enjoy at least just a fraction of the christian catacombs today now just before we continue with today's video let me quickly thank today's fantastic sponsor curiosity stream curiosity stream is a subscription streaming website that offers thousands of documentaries and non-fiction titles from some of the world's best filmmakers including exclusive originals now if you're enjoying this video then why not try out curiosity stream for free and check out their docu-series the story of europe which is a six-part docu-series that dives into some of europe's most interesting history if you're enjoying this one very much about european history then i think you will definitely enjoy that as well curiosity streams available on many platforms web app roku android xbox one smart tv look if you've got a screen that was made in the last few years it's gonna be able to run curiosity stream almost certainly get unlimited access starting at just 299 a month and for you guys the first 30 days are completely free if you sign up through the link below and use the promo code geographics during the sign up process that's a great way to support the show it keeps us making more videos and well it's just a great fit for sponsorship because you know we sort of make little videos about educational stuff curiosity stream make full-on documentary so look if you like this you'll like them and let's get back to it a whole lifetime is not nearly enough to explore in detail the city of rome but with good planning it could be possible to visit all five catacombs in a couple of days a good place to start are the catacombs of calixtas on the ancient appian way just south of the city center they originated in the middle of the 2nd century a.d in time occupying an area of 36 hectares that's 89 acres the complex unravels across 19 kilometers of galleries 12 miles arranged over four levels which span more than 20 meters underground the burial site developed quite randomly at the beginning until pope zephyritis tasked deacon callixtus with reorganizing and administering the cemetery in time these catacombs became the favorite resting place for the elite of the roman church the remains of 13 bishops and 16 popes can be found here ironically mr calixtas may not have been worthy of resting alongside such saintly remains according to ancient author hippolytus callixtus reached his episcopal position through fraud and guile callixtus also held administrative posts for imperial authorities but was at a certain point exiled to a mine in sardinia on embezzlement charges these catacombs are also known as little vatican because of the high presence of bishops and popes but they also bear the mark of what happened when emperors such as diesels or valerian decided to crack down on christians i should stress again that early christians did not use catacombs as hiding places but it could be that roman authorities raided them in order to apprehend worshippers while they were praying for their daily departed this is why there are signs that two of the main stairways were blocked functionally replaced by narrow secret passages connected to a nearby sandpit these catacombs are notable for the crypts of saint cecilia one of the most popular early saints patron of music and musicians and legendary inventor of the organ martyred in the third century a.d she was reputed to sing so sweetly that the angels descended to listen to her voice not far from the area of callixtus again along the appian way lay the catacombs of saint sebastian in the early middle ages all records and memories of the catacombs had been forgotten except for these but there are other features that make them special these are the catacombs which give the name of catacombs to catacombs in ancient records these were known as chemitarium ad catacombs or the cemetery by the hollows the word catacombs became attached to any system of subterranean sepulchre and that is why i call them catacombs of course i've not just included saint sebastian's complex in this list to prove a point these catacombs have the distinction of having hosted the bodies of some peter and saint paul according to the early stories of the saints peter and paul had been discarded into mass graves or even sewers after their martyrdom their remains had then been rescued and placed into an underground chamber which may have been heavily converted from an earlier pagan necropolis according to one account peter and paul rested here for 40 years more realistically they remained in the chamber for less than two years before those pesky christian fanatics claimed their apostles bodies back the presence of the two important saints of early christianity surely contributed to the popularity of these catacombs and many believers asked to be buried next to them even after saints paul and peter had been relocated the presence of another martyr ensured that the forsaurs had plenty to do this was of course the titular saint sebastian whose story is worthy of its own episode of our sister channel biographics around the year 283 a.d sebastian was a military tribune commander of the arches of the praetorian guard as such he served under emperor diocletian responsible for the last violent persecutions against christians a convert christian himself sebastian helped with the burial of four martyrs dubbed the four crowned saints as they were killed by iron-spiked crowns being driven into their skulls on that occasion sebastian was arrested and sentenced to death to be pierced by dozens of arrows shot by his own archers miraculously he survived but was arrested again and scourged death on diocletian's orders in 304 a.d among other christian soldiers massacred in that year were martyrs nereus and achilles whose remains rest in the catacombs of domitia located some two kilometers northwest of saint sebastian's dating back to 120 a.d this site is one of the most ancient underground cemeteries in rome as well as one of the largest its galleries are 17 kilometers in length laid over four underground stories and contain some 15 000 bodies this area was property of flavius clemens and his wife flavia domitia great niece of emperor domitian as flavius expressed sympathy towards early christians the couple were forced into exile before leaving rome domitia gifted the land to the christian community so that they could bury their dead domitia's catacombs are also the only ones to boast a large underground church open to visitors in fact between the years 366 and 399 a.d popes damascus and cerrissius ordered for an underground basilica to be built in successive stages around the tombs of the soldiers and martyrs nyrias and achilles the church also encompassed the tomb of saint petronia which according to a disputed tradition was the daughter of saint peter the catacombs of domitia contained the remains of several patrician members of the flavian family which prompted early researchers to speculate that christianity was widespread amongst roman elites as early as the second century actually most of these aristocratic graves belong to a pre-existing burial site the hypogeum of the gens flavia this was effectively the private underground cemetery of the flavian family to visit a sepulcher with legit christian roman aristocracy one must visit the catacombs of saint agnes just north of central rome in the trieste district agnes was the 13 year old daughter of patrician parents during the reign of emperor valerian from 253 to 260 a.d agnes was sought in marriage by the son of a prefect but she refused claiming that she was already wedded to jesus christ in other words she had made a vow of chastity plus she was 13 so she should have probably been left alone agnes was then arrested as a christian and sentenced to be burned as she emerged unscathed from the flames the henchmen of the emperor had a publicly beheaded some 60 years later emperor constantine issued the edict of milan in february of 313 a.d this permanently decreed freedom of worship for christians in the empire due to her aristocratic origins agnes became a popular saint among many noble roman families and this catacomb became the fashionable cemetery of the elite during the 4th century even constantine's daughter constantia helena and constantina asked to be buried near agnes the last stop in our cata-hopping tour are the catacombs of priscilla in the same tries district the galleries of these catacombs extend along 13 kilometers and are dug into tough despite its name the volcanic rock is soft and easy to excavate this site is renowned for two features first the so-called greek chapel this is an underground chamber decorated with stuccos frescoes in the pompeian style and greek inscriptions hence the name beside the normal niches to accommodate sarcophagi and shrouded bodies the chamber also has a long seat for funeral banquets traditionally held at the catacombs to honor the dead this tradition is referenced by a wall painting within the central arch of the chapel which depicts a banquet with seven people one of them is parting the bread a clear reference to the last supper and the right of the eucharist the second main feature of priscilla's catacomb is another painting found within another gallery in the image a young woman holds an infant on her knee a man stands next to her holding a scroll in his left hand and pointing to a star with his right the scroll and the star have been interpreted as attributes of the man being a prophet the star may be a reference to the prophecy of balaam from the biblical book of numbers it reads a star shall rise out of jacob a scepter shall spring up from israel the child therefore may be jesus and the woman is mother if this interpretation is correct that would make the painting the oldest image of the virgin mary in existence [Music] the portrait of mary inside priscilla's catacombs is but one of the many examples of fine art that can be found 20 meters below street level in rome the most common form of iconography in the catacombs are the early christian symbols even when crudely carved on stone or marble these are able to convey a precise and complex spiritual idea while remaining obscure to the persecuting roman authorities probably the most widespread symbol was the monogram of christ formed by interlacing the chi and row letters of the greek alphabet these are also the first two letters of the word christos or christ the monogram was carved on nearly all tombstones to indicate that the christian was buried there another recurring symbol devised to baffle hostile pagans was the fish which works on two levels on one level this image recalls the miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fish by extension this alludes to the eucharist meal or last supper on another level the fish is a cryptogram the greek word for it ichthus is an acrostic for lesser's christus theo uisota or in english jesus christ son of god savior other symbols which may have been conceived to baffle enemies of christianity were the anchor the phoenix and the alpha and omega the anchor is a symbol of salvation for the soul which has finally reached the port of eternity the phoenix the bird who rises from its ashes is clearly a symbol of the resurrection of the flesh while alpha and omega the first and last letter of the greek alphabet signify that christ is the beginning and end of all things the underground paintings of the catacombs offer a fascinating insight into the evolutionary arc of early christian society early christian art and late roman art in general the symbols that we've described here are crude and style and esoteric in meaning this may be reflective of early christians belonging to the poorer and less educated strata of society it also points to the small and secretive nature of these early communities who resorted to these symbols as a means to identify and recognize themselves in later years early christians grew in numbers and in prestige more and more military officers patricians and landowners joined their ranks as members of society who could afford professional artists this is reflected in the artwork embracing a more refined style progressing from carvings to colorful wool paintings or even mosaics at the same time the subjects depicted are more openly and defiantly christian in nature in the 3rd and 4th century a.d the most common painted motives included the good shepherds and the lamb representing christ and the soul which he has saved respectively or the urunti praying figures with their open arms raised towards heaven christian artists became adept at reproducing passages from the old and new testament usually scenes symbolizing resurrection for example the story of the prophet jonas who escaped from the belly of a monstrous fear shaw that of lazarus raised from the dead by jesus other popular characters are the three kings or wise men from the east as the first to have adored the baby jesus these kings were considered to be the first pagans to convert to christianity and therefore were considered as illustrious predecessors by early christian romans the three kings are almost always depicted next to the virgin mary sitting on a throne with jesus on her lap after the edict of milan the catacombs progressively ceased to be used as burial sites therefore production of new artwork became less and less frequent in the 4th and 5th centuries the only new wall paintings to be completed were those adorning graves of the martyrs still a popular destination for pilgrims painters adorned these cabicula with images of the early saints usually surrounding christ later artwork of the fifth century is poor in quality compared to that of the third and early fourth centuries the technique of the painters appears to have impoverished human figures appear stiffer and clumsier than before the images less detailed christianity had become the foremost religion of rome by then and the western roman empire steadily declined and so did its art and society meanwhile the cult of the saints and martyrs the celebrations for the dead moved upstairs gradually the ancient catacombs were sealed off and forgotten for centuries one of the many layers of the eternal city shut off from the march of time for more than a thousand years lying in wait to be rediscovered the word mata indicates a victim of violent religious or political persecution but its original meaning in greek is witness and so the catacombs re-emerged from the darkness to pay witness to a distant era so i really hope you found that video interesting if you did please do hit that thumbs up button below don't forget to subscribe brand new videos a couple of times a week also please do check out our fine sponsor curiosity stream there is a link to them below and thank you for watching

Channel: Geographics

Views: 188,028

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Id: pB_jJmcsDyQ

Length: 21min 30sec (1290 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 14 2020