[101] Chambers.
“Sic venerarier ossa libet,
Ossibus altar et impositum;
Illa Dei sita sub pedibus,
Prospicit hæc, populosque suos
Carmine propitiata fovet.”
Prudentius, περι στε iii. 43.
“With her relics gathered here,
The altar o’er them placed revere,
She beneath God’s feet reposes,
Nor to us her soft eye closes,
Nor her gracious ear.”
The idea that the martyr lies “beneath the feet of God” is an allusion to the Real Presence in the Blessed Eucharist.
[103] The arched tombs were so called. A homely illustration would be an arched fireplace, walled up to the height of three feet. The paintings would be inside, above the wall.
[104] The word is usually given in Greek, and Christ is familiarly called the ιχθυς, ichthys.
[105] This is the interpretation of St. Optatus (adv. Parm. lib. iii.) and St. Augustine (de C. D. lib. xviii. c. 23).
[106] This is Tertullian’s explanation (de Baptismo, lib. ii. c. 2).
[107] In the same cemetery is another interesting painting. On a table lie a loaf and a fish; a priest is stretching his hands over them; and opposite is a female figure in adoration. The priest is the same as, in a picture close by, is represented administering baptism. In another chamber just cleared out, are very ancient decorations, such as masks, &c., and fishes bearing baskets of bread and flasks of wine, on their backs as they swim.