"The very splendid, and large, and good city of the Nicæans [erects] this wall for the autocrat Cæsar Marcus Aurelius Claudius, the pious, the fortunate, august, of Tribunitial authority, second time Proconsul, father of his country, and for the Sacred Senate, and the people of the Romans, in the time of the illustrious Consular Velleius Macrinus, Legate and Lieutenant of the august Cæsar Antoninus, the splendid orator." A.D. 269.
The Catacombs.
The catacombs, or under-ground cemeteries, are among the most stupendous wonders of antiquity, and have ever since their discovery excited the keenest interest of archæologists.
The cut on page 875 is a plan of the catacombs of Rome. These alone were years ago computed to be 590 miles in length, while Mr. Marchi, in the light of more recent investigations and new discoveries has calculated their length to be between 800 and 900 miles, and, that in the sepulchral enclosures of their vast hollows between 6,000,000 and 7,000,000 of the human race have been entombed. Most of the catacombs are situated from fifty to seventy-five feet below the surface of the earth, not a ray of natural light can penetrate the dense blackness of night which everywhere abounds. Woe to the man whose boldness leads him to venture alone into these dark depths! So extensive and so intricate are the corridors and passages that he must be irrevocably lost and miserably perish in this endless labyrinth. Even the most experienced guides, with burning torches in hand, would rather follow only thoroughly explored passages, and care not to leave well-beaten tracks.
SECTIONS OF CATACOMBS WITH CHAMBERS.[ToList]