A visit to the Roman catacombs

by J. Spencer Northcote

CHAPTER III.
THE CRYPT OF ST. EUSEBIUS.

From the crypt of St. Cecilia we pass through a modern opening in one of its walls to a short gallery which leads to the sacramental chapels—i.e., to those chambers whose walls are decorated with a remarkable series of paintings having reference to the Sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. These paintings, however, having been sufficiently described and commented upon in another place, we may take our leave of this first area of the Cemetery of Callixtus, and, ascending a short staircase, pass on through the broken wall of a chamber into a wide and lofty gallery, which brings us presently to the chief object of interest in the second area—viz., the crypt of St. Eusebius, Pope, A.D. 310. Just before we reach it, we shall see on our left hand the staircase by which it was anciently arrived at; and if we stop here for a moment and look around us, we shall recognise an example of what has been already mentioned, the exemplary care and prudence with which the pilgrims of old were guided in their subterranean visits. Walls were built, blocking up all paths but the right one, so that they should not go astray or lose themselves in the labyrinth which surrounded them. They must needs go forward till they arrived at two chapels, which stood opposite to one another on different sides of the gallery.

One of these chambers was about 9 feet by 12, the other considerably larger, 16 by 13. The one had evidently been the chief object of devotion; the other was added for the convenience of the worshippers. The smaller one had an arcosolium on each side as well as at the end, the one opposite the door being the most important of the three; and all of these tombs were once ornamented with mosaics and paintings, and the walls of the chamber with marble. All is now sadly ruined; but it is still possible to distinguish among the remains of the mosaic work over the principal arcosolium traces of a very common Christian symbol, a double-handed vessel, with a bird on either side of it; also certain winged figures, which probably represent the seasons, and a few other accessories of ornament; but the main figures and general design have perished. The walls of the opposite chamber were never cased with marble, so that the pilgrims were able to leave here the same tokens of their visits as they left at St. Sixtus’. The graffiti are of the same general character, but of a somewhat later date; the old forms of prayer have disappeared; most of the names and inscriptions are in Latin; and among the few that are Greek, there are symptoms of Byzantine peculiarities.

The chief object of interest, however, now remaining in these chambers is the epitaph which stands in the middle of the smaller room. Of course, this was not its original position; but it has been so placed, in order that we may see both sides of the stone without difficulty, for both are inscribed. The stone was originally used for an inscription in honour of Caracalla, belonging to the year 214. The Christian inscription on the other side professes to have been set up by “Damasus, Bishop, to Eusebius, Bishop and Martyr,” and to have been written by Furius Dionysius Filocalus, “a worshipper (cultor) and lover of Pope Damasus.” But it is easy to see at a glance that it never was really executed by the same hand to which we are indebted for so many other beautiful productions of that Pope. At first, therefore, and whilst only a few fragments of this inscription had been recovered, De Rossi was tempted to conjecture that it might be one of the earliest efforts of the artist who subsequently attained such perfection. At length, however, the difficulty was solved in a more sure and satisfactory way. A diligent search in the earth with which the chamber was filled brought to light several fragments of the original stone, on which the letters are executed with the same faultlessness as on the other specimens of its class. The visitor to the Catacombs may see them painted, in a different colour from the rest, in the copy of the epitaph which De Rossi has caused to be affixed to the wall; and he will observe that amongst them are some letters which are wanting in the more ancient copy transcribed on the reverse of Caracalla’s monument. It is clear that the original must have been broken in pieces, by the Lombards or other ancient plunderers of the Catacombs, and that the copy which we now see is one of the restorations by Pope Vigilus or some other Pontiff about that time ([page 47]). The copyist was so ignorant that he could only transcribe the letters which were on the spot before his eyes, and, even when he was conscious that a letter was missing, he could only leave a vacant space, being doubtful how it should be supplied. Witness the space left for the first letter of Domino in the penultimate line of the inscription, and the word in altogether omitted in the third line.

“Heraclius forbad those who had fallen away [in times of persecution] to grieve for their sins.

But Eusebius taught those unhappy men to weep for their crimes.

The people are divided into parties; fury increases;