Chapter II: Front Matter (2)

Another equally erroneous idea was that these vast burial-places of the early Christians remained entirely concealed from the eyes of their pagan neighbours, and were constructed not only without the permission of the municipal authorities but without their cognizance. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Such an idea is justly stigmatized by Mommsen as ridiculous, and reflecting a discredit as unfounded as it is unjust on the imperial police of the capital. That such vast excavations should have been made without attracting attention, and that such an immense number of corpses could have been carried to burial in perfect secrecy is utterly impossible. Nor was there any reason why secrecy should have been desired. The decent burial of the dead was a matter especially provided for by the Roman laws. No particular mode was prescribed. Interment was just as legal as cremation, and had, in fact, been universally practised by the Romans until the later days of the republic.[4] The bodies of the Scipios and Nasos were buried in still existing catacombs; and if the Christians preferred to adopt that which Minucius Felix calls "the better, and more ancient custom of inhumation" (_Octavius_, c. 2), there was absolutely nothing, to quote the words of Northcote (_Roma sotterran_. pp. 56, 61), "either in their social or religious position to interfere with their freedom of action. The law left them entire liberty,... and the faithful did but use their liberty in the way that suited them best, burying their dead according to a fashion to which many of them had been long accustomed, and which enabled them at the same time to follow in death the example of him who was also their model in life." Interment in rock-hewn tombs, "as the manner of the Jews is to bury," had been practised in Rome by the Jewish settlers for a considerable period anterior to the rise of the Christian Church. A Jewish catacomb, now lost, was discovered and described by Bosio (_Rom. sott._ p. 141), and others are still accessible. They are to be distinguished from Christian catacombs only by the character of their decorations, the absence of Christian symbols and the language of their inscriptions. There would, therefore, be nothing extraordinary in the fact that a community, always identified in the popular heathen mind with the Jewish faith, should adopt the mode of interment belonging to that religion. Nor have we the slightest trace of any official interference with Christian burials, such as would render secrecy necessary or desirable. Their funerals were as much under the protection of the law, which not only invested the tomb itself with a sacred character, but included in its protection the area in which it stood, and the _cella memoriae_ or chapel connected with it, as those of their heathen fellow-citizens, while the same shield would be thrown over the burial-clubs, which, as we learn from Tertullian (_Apolog._ c. 39), were common among the early Christians, as over those existing among the heathen population of Rome.

Mode of formation.

We may then completely dismiss the notion of there being any studied secrecy in connexion with the early Christian cemeteries, and proceed to inquire into the mode of their formation. Almost without exception, they had their origin in small burial areas, the property of private persons or of families, gradually ramifying and receiving additions of one subterranean storey after another as each was required for interments. The first step would be the acquisition of a plot of ground either by gift or purchase for the formation of a tomb, Christians were not beyond the pale of the law, and their faith presented no hindrance to the property being secured to them in perpetuity. To adapt the ground for its purpose as a cemetery, a gallery was run all round the area in the tufa rock at a convenient depth below the surface, reached by staircases at the corners. In the upright walls of these galleries _loculi_ were cut as needed to receive the dead. When these first four galleries were full others were mined on the same level at right angles to them, thus gradually converting the whole area into a net-work of corridors. If a family vault was required, or a burial chapel for a martyr or person of distinction, a small square room was excavated by the side of the gallery and communicating with it. When the original area had been mined in this way as far as was consistent with stability, a second storey of galleries was begun at a lower level, reached by a new staircase. This was succeeded by a third, or a fourth, and sometimes even by a fifth. When adjacent burial areas belonged to members of the same Christian confraternity, or by gift or purchase fell into the same hands, communications were opened between the respective cemeteries, which thus spread laterally, and gradually acquired that enormous extent which, "even when their fabulous dimensions are reduced to their right measure, form an immense work."[5] This could only be executed by a large and powerful Christian community unimpeded by legal enactments or police regulations, "a living witness of its immense development corresponding to the importance of the capital." But although, as we have said, in ordinary times there was no necessity for secrecy, yet when the peace of the Church was broken by the fierce and often protracted persecutions of the heathen emperors, it became essential to adopt precautions to conceal the entrance to the cemeteries, which became the temporary hiding-places of the Christian fugitives, and to baffle the search of their pursuers. To these stormy periods we may safely assign the alterations which may be traced in the staircases, which are sometimes abruptly cut off, leaving a gap requiring a ladder, and the formation of secret passages communicating with the _arenariae_, and through them with the open country.

When the storms of persecution ceased and Christianity had become the imperial faith, the evil fruits of prosperity were not slow to appear. Cemetery interment became a regular trade in the hands of the _fossores_, or grave-diggers, who appear to have established a kind of property in the catacombs, and whose greed of gain led to that destruction of the religious paintings with which the walls were decorated, for the quarrying of fresh _loculi_, to which we have already alluded. Monumental epitaphs record the purchase of a grave from the fossores, in many cases during the lifetime of the individual, not unfrequently stating the price. A very curious fresco, found in the cemetery of Calixtus, preserved by the engravings of the earlier investigators (Bottari, tom. ii. p. 126, tav. 99), represents a "fossor" with his lamp in his hand and his pick over his shoulder, and his tools lying about him. Above is the inscription, "Diogenes Fossor in Pace depositus."

Decoration.

It is unnecessary to enter on any detailed description of the frescoes which cover the walls and ceilings of the burial-chapels in the richest abundance. It must suffice to say that the earliest examples are only to be distinguished from the mural decorations employed by their pagan contemporaries (as seen at Pompeii and elsewhere) by the absence of all that was immoral or idolatrous, and that it was only very slowly and timidly that any distinctly religious representations were introduced. These were at first purely symbolical, meaningless to any but a Christian eye, such as the Vine, the Good Shepherd, the Sheep, the Fisherman, the Fish, &c. Even the personages of ancient mythology were pressed into the service of early Christian art, and Orpheus, taming the wild beasts with his lyre, symbolized the peaceful sway of Christ; and Ulysses, deaf to the Siren's song, represented the Believer triumphing over the allurements of sensual pleasure. The person of Christ appeared but rarely, and then commonly simply as the chief personage in an historical picture. The events depicted from the life of Christ are but few, and always conform rigidly to the same traditional type. The most frequent are the miracle at Cana, the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, the paralytic carrying his bed, the healing of the woman with the issue of blood, the raising of Lazarus, Zacchaeus, and the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The Crucifixion, and subjects from the Passion, are never represented. The cycle of Old Testament subjects is equally limited. The most common are the history of Jonah as a type of the Resurrection, the Fall, Noah receiving the dove with the olive branch, Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac, Moses taking off his shoes, David with the sling, Daniel in the lions' den, and the Three Children in the fiery furnace. The mode of representation is always conventional, the treatment of the subject no less than its choice being dictated by an authority to which the artist was compelled to bow. All the more valuable of these paintings have been produced in J.H. Parker's series of photographs taken in the catacombs by the magnesium light.[6] Wilpert's great work, in which these frescoes are reproduced in colours, now enables the student even better to distinguish the styles of different centuries and follow the course of artistic development or decay.

The subjects, beginning at the top and going to the right, are--

(1) The paralytic carrying his bed.
(2) The seven baskets full of fragments.
(3) Raising of Lazarus.
(4) Daniel in the lions' den.
(5) Jonah swallowed by the fish.
(6) Jonah vomited forth.
(7) Moses striking the rock.
(8) Noah and the dove.
In the centre, the Good Shepherd.]

Catacombs of Naples.

Beyond Rome and its suburbs the most remarkable Christian catacombs are those in the vicinity of Naples, described by Pelliccia (_De Christ. Eccl. Polit._ vol. iv. Dissert. 5), and in separate treatises by Bellerman and Schultze. Plans of them are also given by Agincourt in his great work on Christian art. These catacombs differ materially from those of Rome. They were certainly originally stone-quarries, and the hardness of the rock has made the construction practicable of wide, lofty corridors and spacious halls, very unlike the narrow galleries and contracted chambers in the Roman cemeteries. The mode of interment, however, is the same as that practised in Rome, and the _loculi_ and _arcosolia_ differ by little in the two. The walls and ceilings are covered with fresco paintings of different dates, in some cases lying one over the other. This catacomb contains an unquestionable example of a church, divided into a nave and chancel, with a rude stone altar and bishop's seat behind it.

The subjects, beginning at the bottom and going to the right, are--

(1) Moses striking the rock.
(2) Noah and the dove.
(3) The three children in the furnace.
(4) Abraham's sacrifice.
(5) The miracle of the loaves.]

Syracuse.

At Syracuse also there are very extensive catacombs known as "the Grottos of St John." They are also figured by Agincourt, and described by Denon (_Voyage en Sicile et Malte_) and Fuhrer. There is an entire underground city with several storeys of larger and smaller streets, squares and cross ways, cut out of the rock; at the intersection of the cross ways are immense circular halls of a bottle shape, like a glass-house furnace, lighted by air shafts. The galleries are generally very narrow, furnished on each side with arched tombs, and communicating with family sepulchral-chambers closed originally by locked doors, the marks of the hinges and staples being still visible. The walls are in many places coated with stucco adorned with frescoes, including palms, doves, labara and other Christian symbols. The ground-plans (figs. 19, 20), from Agincourt, of the catacomb and of one of the circular halls, show how widely this cemetery differs in arrangement from the Roman catacombs. The frequency of blind passages and of circular chambers will be noticed, as well as the very large number of bodies in the cruciform recesses, apparently amounting in one instance to nineteen. Agincourt remarks that this cemetery "gives an idea of a work executed with design and leisure, and with means very different from those at command in producing the catacombs of Rome."

Malta.

Taormina.

Denon also describes catacombs at Malta near the ancient capital of the island. The passages were all cut in a close-grained stone, and are very narrow, with arched ceilings, running very irregularly, and ramifying in all directions. The greater part of the tombs stand on either side of the galleries in square recesses (like the table-tombs of the Roman catacombs), and are rudely fashioned to imitate sarcophagi. The interments are not nearly so numerous as in other catacombs, nor are there any vestiges of painting, sculpture or inscriptions. At Taormina in Sicily is a Saracenic catacomb, also figured by Agincourt. The main corridor is 12 ft. wide, having three or more ranges of _loculi_ on either side, running longitudinally into the rock, each originally closed by a stone bearing an inscription.

Egypt.

Passing to Egypt, a small Christian catacomb at Alexandria is described and figured by de Rossi.[7] The _loculi_ here also are set endways to the passage. The walls are abundantly decorated with paintings, one of a liturgical character. But the most extensive catacombs at Alexandria are those of Egypto-Greek origin, from the largest of which, according to Strabo (lib. xvii. p. 795), the quarter where it is placed had the name of the Necropolis. The plan, it will be seen, is remarkable for its regularity (figs. 21, 22). Here, too, the graves run endways into the rock. Other catacombs in the vicinity of the same city are described by Pocock and other travellers, and are figured by Agincourt.

Sidon.

Subterranean cemeteries of the general character of those described are very frequent in all southern and eastern countries. A vast necropolis in the environs of Saida, the ancient Sidon, is described in Renan's _Mission en Phenicie_, and figured in Thobois's plates. It consists of a series of apartments approached by staircases, the sides pierced with sepulchral recesses running lengthwise into the rock.

Rocktombs of Etruria.

The rock-hewn tombs of Etruria scarcely come under the category of catacombs, in the usual sense, being rather independent family burial-places, grouped together in a necropolis. They are, however, far too remarkable to be altogether passed over. These sepulchres are usually hollowed out of the face of low cliffs on the side of a hill. They often rise tier above tier, and are sometimes all on the same level "facing each other as in streets, and branching off laterally into smaller lanes or alleys"; and occasionally forming "a spacious square or piazza surrounded by tombs instead of houses" (Dennis, _Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria_, ii. 31). The construction of the tombs commonly keeps up the same analogy between the cities of the living and those of the dead. Their plan is for the most part that of a house, with a door of entrance and passage leading into a central chamber or _atrium_, with others of smaller size opening from it, each having a stone-hewn bench or _triclinium_ on three of its sides, on which the dead, frequently a pair of corpses side by side, were laid as if at a banquet. These benches are often hewn in the form of couches with pillows at one end, and the legs carved in relief. The ceilings have the representation of beams and rafters cut in the rock. In some instances arm-chairs, carved out of the living rock, stand between the doors of the chambers, and the walls above are decorated with the semblance of suspended shields. The walls are often covered with paintings in a very simple archaic style, in red and black. As a typical example of the Etruscan tombs we give the plan and section (figs. 23, 24) of the _Grotta detta Sedia_ at Cervetri from Dennis (pp. 32, 35). The tombs in some instances form subterranean groups more analogous to the general idea of a catacomb. Of this nature is the very remarkable cemetery at Poggio Gaiella, near Chiusi, the ancient Clusium, of a portion of the principal storey of which the woodcut (fig. 25) is a plan. The most remarkable of these sepulchral chambers is a large circular hall about 25 ft. in diameter, supported by a huge cylindrical pillar hewn from the rock. Opening out of this and the other chambers, and connecting them together, are a series of low winding passages or _cuniculi_, just large enough for a man to creep through on all fours. No plausible suggestion has been offered as to the purpose of these mysterious burrows, which cannot fail to remind us of the labyrinth which, according to Varro's description as quoted by Pliny (_Hist. Nat._ lib. xxxvi. c. 19, S 4), was the distinguishing mark of Porsena's tomb, and which have led some adventurous archaeologists to identify this sepulchre with that of the great king of Etruria (Dennis, _u.s._, pp. 393 ff.). (E. V.; O. M. D.)

_Modern Discoveries_.--In 1873 was discovered, near the cemetery of St Domitilla, the semi-subterranean basilica of Santi Nereo ed Achilleo, 100 ft. by 60 ft. This is now covered with a roof, and the fallen columns have been raised up. The lower part of a pillar, which once supported a baldachino over the altar, still preserves the name ACILLEUS, and beneath it a bas-relief of the martyr, with his hands bound, receiving his death-blow from the executioner. The base of a similar column has only feet in the same attitude, and probably bore the name NEREUS. In a grave in the apse was found a large fragment of an inscription, composed by Pope Damasus, but set up by his successor Siricius, which, from the note-book of a Salzburg pilgrim of the 8th century, can be completed thus:--

------
Militiae nomen dederant saevum / Q \ ue gerebant
Officium pariter spectantes juss | AIYR \ anni
Praeceptis pulsante metu servi | RE PAR \ ati
Mira fides rerum subito posue | RE FVRORE \ m
Conversi fugiunt ducis impia castr | A RELINQVVNI \
Projiciunt clypeos faleras tel | AQ. CRVENIA |
Confessi gaudent Christi portar | E IRIVMFOS |
Credite per Damasum possit quid | GLORIA CHRISTI |
------------------

Nereus (see Rom. xvi. 15) and Achilleus, said to have been baptized by St Peter, refused to do the bidding of Domitian as praetorians, and entering the service of Flavia Domitilla, suffered martyrdom with their mistress Petronilla, of the Aurelian family closely connected with the Flavii, and the spiritual daughter of St Peter, who was buried in a sarcophagus with the inscription:--

AVRELIAE . PETRONILLAE . FIL . DVLCISSIMAE

This is now in St Peter's, but was probably originally behind the apse of this basilica, for there is a fresco of her in an arcosolium, with a matron named Veneranda. The original entrance to the cemetery leads directly into a spacious corridor with no _loculi_, but recesses for sarcophagi, and decorations of the classical style of the 2nd century. From this a wide staircase leads directly down to a chamber, discovered in March 1881, of a very early date. Within an arcosolium is a tablet set up by "Aurelius Ampliatus and his son Gordian, to Aurelia Bonifatia, his incomparable wife, a woman of true chastity, who lived 25 years, 2 months, 4 days, and 2 hours." The letters are of the 2nd century; but above the arcosolium was found a stone with great letters, 5 or 6 in. high: "AMPLIATI, the tomb of Ampliatus." Now Ampliatus is a servile name: how comes it to be set up with such distinction in the sepulchre of the Flavii? Romans xvi. 8 supplies the answer: "Salute Ampliatus, most beloved to me in the Lord." De Rossi thinks the identification well grounded (_Bullettino_, 1881, p. 74). Epitaphs of members of the Flavian family have been found here, and others stating that they are put up "EX INDULGENTIA FLAVIAE DOMITILLAE VESPASIANI NEPTIS." So that De Rossi did not hesitate to complete an inscription on a broken stone thus:--

-----
Sepulc / RVM |
Flavi / ORVM |
/ | |
--v------

De Rossi began his excavations in the cemetery of Santa Priscilla in 1851, but for thirty years nothing but what had been described by Bosio came to light. In 1880 he unearthed a portion near the Cappella Greca, and found galleries that had not been touched since they were filled in during the Diocletian persecution. The _loculi_ were intact and the epitaphs still in their places, so that "they form a kind of museum, in which the development, the formulae, and the symbolic figures of Christian epigraphy, from its origin to the end of the 3rd or 4th century, can be notified and contemplated, not in artificial specimens as in the Lateran, but in the genuine and living reality of their original condition." (_Bullett._, 1884, p. 68). Many of the names mentioned in St Paul's Epistles are found here: Phoebe, Prisca, Aquilius, Felix Ampliatus, Epenetus, Olympias, Onesimus, Philemon, Asyncritus, Lucius, Julia, Caius, Timotheus, Tychicus, Crescens, Urbanus, Hermogenes, Tryphaena and Trypho(sa) on the same stone. Petrus, a very rare name in the catacombs, is found here several times, both in Greek and in Latin. The neighbouring _Coemeterium Ostrianum_ was anciently known as "_Fons S. Petri_," "_ubi Petrus baptizavit_," "_ubi Petrus prius sedit_." This cemetery derives its name from Priscilla, mother of Pudens, who is said to have given hospitality to St Peter the Apostle. We are reminded of St Paul, and of his friends Aquila and Prisca, by a monument erected by an imperial freedman who was PRAEPOSITVS TABERNACVLORVM--chief tentmaker. In 1888 a corridor was discovered which had at one time been isolated from the rest of the cemetery. It had no _loculi_, but recesses in the wall to receive sarcophagi. At the end of the corridor there was a large chamber, 23 ft. by 13 ft., once lined with marble and the ceiling covered with mosaic, a few fragments of which still remain. The only tomb here was a sarcophagus, of which the broken front bears the letters which show it to have been the epitaph of one of the Acilian family:--

ACILIO GLABRIONI FILIO

In the vicinity are fragments of the epitaphs of Manius Acilius and Priscilla, of Quintus Acilius and Caia Acilia in Greek, another Greek inscription "Acilius Rufinus mayest thou live in God." After careful examination of the nine Acilii, who were consuls, De Rossi concludes that this was the resting-place of that Acilius Glabrio, consul with Trajan, A.D. 91, who in the year of his consulate was compelled by Domitian to fight with beasts in the arena, and then banished and put to death in 95. The question of his Christianity seems settled by the discovery of the sepulchre of these Christian Acilii. From this crypt a staircase led up to the basilica in which Pope Silvester was buried, and the whole plan of which was laid bare by De Rossi. The tomb of St Silvester could be identified, and that of Pope Siricius "at his feet," as the pilgrim noted (_Bullett._, 1890, pp. 106-119).

Just before De Rossi's death, Mgr. Wilpert discovered in the Cappella Greca a painting of the "Fractio Panis" or eucharistic feast, which he cleansed from the dust with which it had been covered. The picture of the Blessed Virgin and Child, which De Rossi ascribed to the 2nd, if not to the 1st century, has received an unexpected proof of its antiquity. In 1890 the floor of the gallery in which it stands was excavated, and another floor was found to be 6 ft. below its supposed level. The _loculi_ in this lower portion were intact, with inscriptions of the 2nd century still in their places, proving that the niche in which that picture was painted must have been considerably older than the lowering of the floor. A flight of iron steps enables the visitor now to examine this venerable specimen of early Christian art.

After the death of De Rossi, one of his pupils, H. Stevenson, since dead, discovered in 1896 a small subterranean basilica in the catacomb of Santi Pietro e Marcellino on the Via Labicana, with pious acclamations on the plaster similar to those in the Papal crypt in St Calixtus. Near the well-known subterranean chapel in the _Coemeterium Ostrianum_ was discovered by Mgr. Crostarosa, in 1877, another chapel, in which Signor Armellini found traces of St Emerentiana, foster-sister of St Agnes. Near this a whole region of galleries has been brought to light with _loculi_ intact.

Explorations conducted in the cemetery of Domitilla in 1897-1898 brought to light a fine double crypt with frescoes representing Christ seated between six male and female saints; also an inscription relating to a new saint (Eulalius) in a cubiculum of the 3rd century. In 1899-1900 were discovered two opposite cubicula in the catacomb of Santi Pietro e Marcellino. These were unknown to Bosio, and are both covered with frescoes, the vault being in one case decorated with the scene which represents Christ seated among the apostles and pronouncing sentence upon the defunct. An inscription discovered in 1900 on the site of the ancient cemetery of St Ciriaca, and dating from A.D. 405, states that one Euryalus bought a site _ad mensam beati martyris Laurentii_ from a certain _fossor_ whose name has been erased. This is interesting as an example of what was known as _memoriae damnatio_ or the blotting out of a name on account of some dishonourable action. From the end of the 4th to the first half of the 5th century, the _fossores_ had the privilege of selling sites, which frequently led to grave abuses. In 1901-1902 excavations in the cemetery of Santa Priscilla, near the Cappella Greca, revealed a polygonal chamber. This may have originally been the _nymphaeum_ of the great villa of the Acilii Glabriones, the _hypogaeum_ of which was discovered by De Rossi near this spot in 1888. It may have been used as a burial-place for martyrs, and Professor Marucchi is inclined to see in it the sepulchral chapel of Pope Marcellinus, who died in A.D. 304 during the persecutions of Diocletian. In 1902, in that part of the Via Ardeatina which passes between the cemeteries of Calixtus and Domitilla, was discovered a crypt with frescoes and the sanctuary of a martyr: it is thought that this, rather than a neighbouring crypt brought to light in 1897, may prove to be the sepulchral crypt of SS. Marcus and Marcellianus. In a cubiculum leading out of a gallery in the vicinity there was also discovered an interesting impression in plaster of an inscription of the mother of Pope Damasus, beginning:

HIC DAMASI MATER POSVIT LAVREN[TIA MEMBRA].

In the same year building operations in the Via di Sant' Onofrio revealed the presence of catacombs beneath the foundations: examination of the _loculi_ showed that no martyrs or illustrious persons were buried here.

In 1903 a new cemetery with frescoes came to light on the Via Latina, considered by Marucchi to have belonged to a heretical sect. In the same year the Jewish cemetery on the Via Portuense, known to Bosio but since forgotten, was rediscovered. The subterranean basilica of SS. Felix and Adauctus, discovered by Boldetti and afterwards choked up with ruins, was cleared again: the crypt, begun by Damasus and enlarged by Siricius, contains frescoes of the 6th-7th centuries.

A good plan of the catacombs at Albano (at the 15th milestone of the Appian way), discovered by Boldetti and described by De Rossi, has been published by Marucchi (_Nuovo Bulletino di archeologia cristiana_, 1902, pp. 89 ff.). In 1904 a small subterranean cemetery was discovered at Anagnia. Catacombs have also been recently discovered on the site of Hadrumetum near Sousse in Tunisia. (+ W. R. B.; O. M. D.)

AUTHORITIES.--The classical work on the catacombs of Rome is G.B. De
Rossi's _Roma sotterranea_, on which most of the accounts in other
languages than Italian have been based. The fine volume by Mgr.
Wilpert, _Le Pitture delle catacombe romane_ (Rome, 1903), in which
all the important frescoes are reproduced in colours, is to be
regarded as an addition to the _Roma sotterranea_. All new
discoveries made by the active _Commissione di archeologia sacra_ are
chronicled with as little delay as possible in the _Nuovo Bulletino de
archeologia cristiana_ published in Rome.

The most recent accounts of the catacombs are to be found in the
following books:--Armellini, _Gli Antichi Cimiteri cristiani di Roma e
d' Italia_ (Rome, 1893); O. Marucchi, _Le Catacombe romane_ (Rome,
1903; also translated into French), _Manuale di epigrafia cristiana _
(Milan, 1904); M. Besnier, _Les Catacombes de Rome_ (Paris, 1909).

Among the older works are: Bosio, _Roma sotterranea_, Severano's
edition (1632), and Aringhi's edition (1651); Boldetti, _Osservazioni
sopra i cimiteri dei santi martiri_ (Rome, 1720); Bottari, _Sculture e
pitture sagre, &c._ (Rome, 1737-1754); Seroux d'Agincourt, _Histoire
de l'art par les monuments_ (Paris, 1823; German ed., 1840); G.
Marchi, _Monumenti delle arti cristiane primitive_ (Rome, 1844); Raoul
Rochette, _Tableau des catacombes de Rome_ (2nd ed., Paris, 1853);
Perret, _Les Catacombes de Rome_ (Paris, 1855)--a sumptuous folio
work, but not always accurate, Roller, _Les Catacombes de Rome_
(Paris, 1881); V. Schultze, _Die Katakomben_ (Leipzig, 1882).

Works written in English are: Northcote and Brownlow, _Roma
sotterranea_ (London, 1869; based upon De Rossi); Wharton Marriott,
_The Testimony of the Catacombs_ (London, 1870); J.H. Parker, _The
Archaeology of Rome: the Catacombs_; Smith and Cheetham, _Dictionary
of Christian Antiquities_, s.v. "Catacombs"; R. Lanciani, _Pagan and
Christian Rome_ (London, 1892); W. Lowry, _Christian Art and
Archaeology_, ch. ii. (London, 1901; a useful introduction to the
subject); H. Gee, "The Church in the Catacombs," in W. Lefroy's
_Lectures in Ecclesiastical History_ (1896); Th. Mommsen, in the
_Contemporary Review_, May 1871.

Accounts of the catacombs will also be found in the encyclopaedias and
manuals published under the following names: Martigny, Perate, F.X.
Kraus (_Realencyklopadie_ and _Geschichte der christlichen Kunst_),
Reusens, V. Schultze and C.M. Kauffmann, and in the large new
_Dictionnaire d'archeologie chretienne et liturgie_, published at
Paris under the editorship of Dom F. Cabrol.

The catacombs at Naples are described in C.F. Bellermann, _Uber die
altesten christlichen Begrabnisstatten und besonders die Katakomben zu
Neapel_ (Hamburg, 1839); Armellini, as above, and V. Schultze, _Die
Katakomben von San Gennaro dei Poveri in Neapel_ (Jena, 1877).

For the catacombs in Malta, A.A. Caruana, _Ancient Pagan Tombs and
Christian Cemeteries in the Islands of Malta_ (Malta, 1898), and A.
Mayr, "Die altchristlichen Begrabnisstatten auf Malta," in _Romische
Quartalschrift_, vol. xv. pp. 216 and 352 (Rome, 1901), may be
consulted.

The fullest account of the Sicilian catacombs is given by J. Fuhrer,
_Forschungen zur Sicilia sotterranea_ (Munich, 1897); and D.C.
Barrecca, _Le Catacombe di San Giovanni in Siracusa_ (Syracuse, 1906).

A catacomb of the 5th century, discovered at Kertch in South Russia,
is described by J. Kulakovsky in _Materials for Russian Archaeology_
(St Petersburg, 1896; a publication of the Russian Imperial
Archaeological Commission), but it is written in Russian, as also is
the account by V. Latyshev, in _Vizantieski Vremennik_, vol. vi. pp.
337 ff. (St Petersburg, 1899).

The catacombs at Hadrumetum (Sousse) are described by A.F. Leynard,
_Les Catacombes d'Hadrumete, deuxieme campagne de fouilles_
(1904-1905). See also _Revue Tunisienne_ (1905), p. 250.

For the catacombs of Alexandria, Neroutsos Bey, _L'Ancienne
Alexandrie_, may be consulted in addition to De Rossi's article
mentioned in the text. (O. M. D.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The most important of these lists are the two Itineraries
belonging to the first half of the 7th century, in the Salzburg
library. One still earlier, but less complete, appears in the
_Notitia Urbis Romae_, under the title _Index Coemeteriorum_. Another
Itinerary, preserved at Einsiedeln, printed by Mabillon, dates from
the latter half of the same century. That found in the works of
William of Malmesbury (Hardy's ed. vol. ii. pp. 539-544) appears to
be copied from it, or both may be from the same source. De Rossi
gives a comparative table of these Itineraries and other similar
lists.

[2] Hieron., _Comment. in Ezech._ lib xx. c. 40. The translation is
Dean Burgon's.

[3] In Rome the three strata are known to geologists as _tufa
litoide_, _tufa granolare_ and _pozzolana_.

[4] Cicero is our authority for the burial of Marius, and for Sulla's
being the first member of the Gens Cornelia whose dead body was burnt
(_De Legg._ ii. 22).

[5] Mommsen's chosen example of an ancient burial-chamber, extending
itself into a catacomb, or gathering subterranean additions round it
till a catacomb was established, is that of the cemetery of St
Domitilla, traditionally identified with a granddaughter of
Vespasian, and the catacomb of Santi Nereo ed Achilleo on the Appian
and Ardeatine way.

[6] Parker's invaluable series of Roman photographs may be seen at
the library of the Victoria and Albert museum, at the Ashmolean
museum and the Bodleian library, Oxford.

[7] _Bulletino di archaeologia cristiana_, November 1864, August
1865. See also _Authorities_, below.

CATAFALQUE (a word of unknown origin, occurring in various forms in many European languages, meaning a funeral scaffold or temporary stage), a movable structure of wood sometimes richly decorated, erected temporarily at funeral ceremonies in a church to receive the coffin or effigy of the deceased; also an open hearse or funeral car.

CATALANI, ANGELICA (1780-1849), Italian opera-singer, daughter of a tradesman at Sinigaglia, was educated at the convent of Santa Lucia at Gubbio, where her magnificent soprano voice, of extraordinary compass and purity, soon became famous. In 1795 she made her debut on the stage at Venice, and from that moment every impresario in Europe was anxious to engage her. For nearly thirty years she sang at all the great houses, receiving very large fees; her first appearance in London being at the King's theatre in 1806. She remained in England, a prima donna without a serious rival, for seven years. Then she was given the management of the opera in Paris, but this resulted in financial failure, owing to the incapacity and extravagance of her husband, Captain Valabregue, whom she married in 1806. But her continental tours continued to be enormously successful, until she retired in 1828. She settled at Florence in 1830, where she founded a free singing school for girls; and her charity and kindness were unbounded. She died of cholera in Paris on the 12th of June 1849.

CATALEPSY (from Gr. [Greek: katalepsis], a seizure), a term applied to a nervous affection characterized by the sudden suspension of sensation and volition, accompanied with a peculiar rigidity of the whole or of certain muscles of the body. The subjects of catalepsy are in most instances females of highly nervous temperament. The exciting cause of an attack is usually mental emotion operating either suddenly, as in the case of a fright, or more gradually in the way of prolonged depression. The symptoms presented vary in different cases, and even in the same individual in different attacks. Sometimes the typical features of the disease are exhibited in a state of complete insensibility, together with a statue-like appearance of the body which will retain any attitude it may be made to assume during the continuance of the attack. In this condition the whole organic and vital functions appear to be reduced to the lowest possible limit consistent with life, and to such a degree as to simulate actual death. At other times considerable mental excitement will accompany the cataleptic symptoms, and the patient will sing or utter passionate exclamations during the fit, being all the while quite unconscious. The attack may be of short duration, passing off within a few minutes. It may, however, last for many hours, and in some rare instances persist for several days; and it is conceivable that in such cases the appearances presented might be mistaken for real death, as is alleged to have occasionally happened. Catalepsy belongs to the class of functional nervous disorders (see MUSCLE AND NERVE: _Pathology_) in which morbid physical and psychical conditions are mixed up. Although it is said to occur in persons in perfect health, careful inquiry will usually reveal some departure from the normal state, as is shown by the greater number of the recorded cases. More particularly is this true of females, in whom some form of menstrual derangement is generally found to have preceded the cataleptic affection. Catalepsy is sometimes associated with epilepsy and with grave forms of mental disease. In ordinary cases, however, the mental phenomena bear close resemblance to those witnessed in hysteria. In many of the subjects of catalepsy there appears to be a remarkable weakness of the will, whereby the tendency to lapse into the cataleptic state is not resisted but rather in some measure encouraged, and attacks may thus be induced by the most trivial circumstances.

CATALOGUE (a Fr. adaptation of the Gr. [Greek: katalogos], a register, from [Greek: katalegein], to enrol or pick out), a list or enumeration, generally in alphabetical order, of persons, things, &c., and particularly of the contents of a museum or library. A _catalogue raisonnee_ is such a list classified according to subjects or on some other basis, with short explanations and notes. (See also articles BIBLIOGRAPHY AND BIBLIOLOGY, and LIBRARIES.)

CATALONIA (_Cataluna_), a captaincy-general, and formerly a province of Spain, formerly also a principality of the crown of Aragon; bounded on the N. by the Pyrenees, W. by Aragon, S. by Valencia, and E. by the Mediterranean Sea. Pop. (1900) 1,966,382; area, 12,427 sq. m. The triangular territory of Catalonia forms the north-eastern corner of the Iberian Peninsula. A full account of the physical features, and of the modern development of commerce, communications, &c., in this area is given in the articles on the four provinces Barcelona, Gerona, Lerida and Tarragona, into which Catalonia was divided in 1833.

The coast, which is partly sandy, partly rocky, extends about 240 m.; its chief harbours are those of the capital, Barcelona, of Mataro, of Rosas and of Tarragona. The surface is much broken by spurs of the Pyrenees, the direction of which is generally south. Running south-west to north-east, and united on the north with one of the offsets of the Pyrenees, is the range of the Sierra Llena, which bisects Catalonia, and forms its central watershed. The principal rivers are the Ter, the Llobregat, and the Ebro (q.v.), which all run into the Mediterranean. None of them is navigable. The climate, in spite of frequent mists and rains, sudden changes of temperature, and occasional great mid-day heat, is healthy and favourable to vegetation. The dwarf-palm, orange, lime, and olive grow in the warmer tracts; and on the higher grounds the thorn-apple, pomegranate, myrtle, esparto and heaths flourish. There is much woodland, but meadows and pastures are rare. Maize, millet, rye, flax, liquorice and fruits of all sorts--especially nuts, almonds, oranges, figs, walnuts and chestnuts--are produced. Wheat sufficient for one-fourth of the population is grown, and the vine is extensively cultivated. Few cattle, but numbers of sheep, goats and swine are reared. Game is plentiful, and the fisheries on the coast are excellent. The wines are for the most part rough and strong, though some are very good, especially when matured. They are much used to adulterate those of Oporto, or, after undergoing the blending operation termed _compage_, are passed off as Bordeaux wines in France. The best of them, _priorato_, is chiefly known in England, under the disguise of second or third-rate port; it was much used in the military hospitals of America during the Civil War.

The Catalonians are a frugal, sharp-witted, and industrious people, having much national pride, and a strong revolutionary spirit. They are distinct in origin from the other inhabitants of Spain, from whom they differ in their dialect and costume. In their great energy and their love of enterprise they resemble the Basques. Irrigation, careful husbandry and railroad communications have much developed the resources of their country, in themselves excellent; and there are many manufacturing towns and industrial establishments.

Catalonia was one of the first of the Roman possessions in Spain, and formed the north-eastern portion of Hispania Tarraconensis. About 470 it was occupied by the Alans and Goths. It was conquered by the Moors in 712, but these invaders were in turn dispossessed by the Spaniards and the troops of Charlemagne in 788. Catalonia was subsequently ruled by French counts, who soon, however, made themselves independent of France. By the marriage of Count Raymond Berenger IV. of Barcelona with Petronilla of Aragon, Catalonia became annexed to Aragon; but this union was frequently severed. In 1640, when Philip IV. attempted to deprive Catalonia of its rights and privileges, it gave itself up to Louis XIII. of France. It was restored to Spain in 1659, and was once more occupied by the French from 1694 to 1697. Under Philip V. Catalonia, in 1714, was deprived of its cortes and liberties. From 1808 to 1813 it was held by France. It was the scene of civil war in 1823, and of important revolutionary operations in the Carlist wars.

The history and literature of Catalonia have been closely studied, and
in many cases the results of research are published in the Catalan
language. See _Cataluna, sus monumentos y artes, su naturaleza e
historia_ (2 vols. of the illustrated series _Espana_), by P.
Pifferrer, F. Pi Margall, and A.A. Pijoan (Barcelona, 1884); _Historia
de Cataluna_, by V. Balaguer (11 vols., Madrid, 1886, &c.); _Historia
de Cataluna_, by A. Bori y Fontesta (Barcelona, 1898); _Origines
historicos de Cataluna_, by J. Balari y Jovany (Barcelona, 1899);
_Coleccio dels monografias de Catalunya_, by J. Reig y Vilardell
(Barcelona, 1890); _Historia del derecho en Catalonia, Mallorca y
Valencia_, by B. Oliver (Madrid, 1876-1880); and _Antigua marina
catalana_, by F. de Bofarull y Sans (Barcelona, 1898). The _Revista
catalana_ (Catalan Review), published at Barcelona from 1889, contains
many valuable papers on local affairs. See also SPAIN: sections
_Language, Literature_ and _History_, and BARCELONA.

CATALPA, in botany, a genus belonging to the family _Bignoniaceae_ and containing about ten species in America and eastern Asia. The best known is _Catalpa bignonioides_, a native of the eastern United States which is often cultivated in parks and gardens. It is a stately tree with large heart-shaped pointed leaves and panicles of white bell-shaped flowers streaked with yellow and brown purple.

CATALYSIS (from the Gr. [Greek: kata], down, and [Greek: luein], to loosen), in chemistry, the name given to chemical actions brought about by a substance, termed the "catalyst," which is recovered unchanged after the action. The term was introduced by Berzelius, who first studied such reactions. It is convenient to divide catalytic actions into two groups:--(1) when the catalyst first combines with one of the reaction components to form a compound which immediately reacts with the other components, the catalyst being simultaneously liberated, and free to react with more of the undecomposed first component; and (2), when the catalyst apparently reacts by mere contact. The theory of catalysis is treated under CHEMICAL ACTION; in this article mention will be made of some of the more interesting examples.

A familiar instance of a catalytic action is witnessed when a mixture of potassium chlorate and manganese dioxide is heated to 350 deg., oxygen being steadily liberated, and the manganese dioxide being unchanged at the end of the reaction. The action may be explained as follows:--part of the chlorate reacts with the manganese dioxide to form potassium permanganate, chlorine and oxygen, the chlorine subsequently reacting with the permanganate to produce manganese dioxide, potassium chloride and oxygen, thus

2KClO3 + 2MnO2 = 2KMnO4 + Cl2 + O2 = 2KCl + 2MnO2 + 3O2.

This explanation is supported by the facts that traces of chlorine are present in the gas, and the pink permanganate can be recognized when little dioxide is used. Other oxides bring about the same decomposition at temperatures below that at which the chlorate yields oxygen when heated alone; but since such substances as kaolin, platinum black and some other finely powdered compounds exercise the same effect, it follows that the explanation given above is not quite general. Another example is Deacon's process for the manufacture of chlorine by passing hydrochloric acid gas mixed with air over heated bricks which had been previously impregnated with a copper sulphate solution. The nitrous gases employed in the ordinary chamber process of manufacturing sulphuric acid also act catalytically. Mention may be made of the part played by water vapour in conditioning many chemical reactions. Thus sodium will not react with dry chlorine or dry oxygen; carbon, sulphur and phosphorus will not burn in perfectly dry oxygen, neither does nitric oxide give red fumes of the peroxide. In organic chemistry many catalytic actions are met with. In the class of reaction known as "condensations," it may be found that the course of the reaction is largely dependent upon the nature of some substance which acts catalytically. One of the most important is the Friedel and Craft's reaction, in which an aromatic compound combines with an alkyl haloid in the presence of aluminium, zinc or ferric chloride. It seems in this, as in other cases, that additional compounds are first formed which subsequently react with the re-formation of the catalyst. The formation of benzoin from benzaldehyde in the presence of potassium cyanide is another example; this action has been investigated by G. Bredig and Stern (_Zeit. Elektrochem._, 1904, 10, p. 582).

The second class of catalytic actions, viz. those occasioned by the presence of a metal or some other substance which undergoes no change, is of especial interest, and has received much attention. The accelerating influence of a clean platinum plate on the rate of combination of hydrogen and oxygen was studied by Faraday. He found that with the pure gases the velocity of reaction increased until the mixture exploded. The presence of minute quantities of carbon monoxide, carbon disulphide, sulphuretted hydrogen and hydrochloric acid inhibited the action; in the case of the first two gases, there is no alteration of the platinum surface, since the plate brings about combination when removed to an atmosphere of pure hydrogen and oxygen; with the last two gases, however, the surface is altered, since the plate will not occasion the combination when placed in the pure gases. M. Bodenstein (_Zeit. phys. Chem._, 1904, 46, p. 725) showed that combination occurs with measurable velocity at ordinary temperatures in the presence of compact platinum. More energetic combination is observed if the metal be finely divided, as, for instance, by immersing asbestos fibres in a solution of platinum chloride and strongly heating. The "spongy" platinum so formed brings about the combination of ammonia and oxygen to form water and nitric acid, of nitric oxide and hydrogen to form ammonia (see German Patent, 1905, 157,287), and of sulphur dioxide and oxygen to form sulphur trioxide. The last reaction, which receives commercial application in the contact process of sulphuric acid manufacture, was studied by M. Bodenstein and W. Pohl (_Zeit. Elektrochem._, 1905, 11, p. 373), who found that the equilibrium followed the law of mass-action (see also F. W. Kuster, _Zeit. anorg. Chem._, 1904, 42, p. 453, R. Lucas, _Zeit. Elektrochem._, 1905, 11, p. 457). Other metals, such as nickel, iron, &c., can also react as catalysts. The use of finely divided nickel (obtained by reducing the oxide in a current of pure hydrogen at a temperature of 350 deg.) has been carefully studied by P. Sabatier and J.B. Senderens; a summary of their results is given in the _Ann. Chim. Phys._, 1905 (viii.) 4, pp. 319-488. Of special interest is the condensation of acetylene. If this gas mixed with hydrogen be passed over the reduced nickel in the cold, the temperature may rise to as high as 150 deg., the acetylene disappearing and becoming replaced by a substance like petroleum. If the nickel be maintained at 200 deg., and the gases circulated for twenty-eight hours, a product, condensible to a yellow liquid having a beautiful fluorescence and boiling at 45 deg., is obtained. This substance closely resembles ordinary Pennsylvanian petroleum. If acetylene be passed alone over nickel heated to 200 deg.-300 deg., a mixture, boiling at 60 deg.-70 deg. and having a green colour by diffused and a red by transmitted light, was obtained. This substance closely resembles Caucasian petroleum. The decomposition of carbon monoxide according to the reaction 2CO <=> C + CO2 is purely catalytic in the presence of nickel and cobalt, and also in the presence of iron, so long as the amount of carbon dioxide present does not exceed a certain amount (R. Schenck and W. Heller, _Ber._, 1905, 38, pp. 2132, 2139). It is of interest that finely divided aluminium and magnesium decompose methane, ethane, and ethylene into carbon and hydrogen in the same way as nickel. Charcoal at 350 deg. also reacts catalytically; for example, Senderens found that ethyl alcohol was decomposed by animal charcoal into methane, ethylene, hydrogen, carbon monoxide and a little carbon dioxide, and propyl alcohol gave propylene, ethane, carbon monoxide and hydrogen, while G. Lemoine obtained from ethyl alcohol and wood charcoal a mixture of acetaldehyde and hydrogen.

CATAMARAN (a Tamil word, from _catta_, to tie, and _maram_ wood), a surf-boat or raft used by the natives of Madras and along the Coromandel Coast in India. It is usually made of three tree trunks lashed together, the centre trunk being the largest and longest, and having one end bent upward to form a kind of prow. Catamarans of a larger size are in use in the West Indies and South America. The name is also given to two boats lashed together. Apparently through an erroneous connexion with cat, the name has been applied to a noisy scolding woman.

CATAMARCA, an Andean province of the Argentine Republic, lying W. of Santiago del Estero and Tucuman and extending to the Chilean frontier, with Los Andes and Salta on the N., Cordoba on the S.E., and Rioja on the S. Pop. (1895) 90,161; (1904, estimate) 103,082; area, 47,531 sq. m. The surface of the province is extremely broken, the Andes forming its western boundary, and the Aconquija, Ancaste, Ambato, Gulampaja and other ranges traversing it from north to south. It is composed very largely of high plateaus with a general slope southward broken by a few fertile valleys. The greater part of the province is arid and barren, being sheltered from the moist, eastern winds by the high mountain barriers of Aconquija and Ancaste. The rivers are small, and some of them are lost in the barren, sandy wastes. Others, especially in the foothills of the high sierras, are utilized to irrigate the fertile valleys. The climate of some of the low, sheltered valleys is extremely hot and unhealthy, but on the open plateaus it is peculiarly dry and bracing and is probably beneficial in the treatment of pulmonary diseases. The mineral resources of the province include gold, silver, copper, lead, nickel, iron, coal and malachite, but of these only copper and silver are mined, and these chiefly in the Andalgala district. Salt deposits also exist, but are worked only to a limited extent. Cereals, alfalfa and fruit are grown. Large numbers of cattle, fattened in the alfalfa fields of Pucara, Tinogasta and Copacabana, are driven into northern Chile across the San Francisco pass (13,124 ft. above sea level) and mules are bred for the Bolivian market. Wine of an excellent quality is produced and exported. Tanning leather is another industry of the province, some of the trees growing in the Catamarca forests being rich in tannin. Catamarca is traversed by the Northern Central railway between Cordoba and the city of Catamarca, its capital, which passes around the southern extremity of the Sierra de Ancaste and makes a long detour to Chumbicha, near the Rioja frontier. The more important towns, after Catamarca, the capital, are Andalgala and Tinogasta with populations (estimated, 1904) of 5000 to 6000 each. Belen is the oldest Spanish settlement in the province and was founded in 1550, being called Barco at first. The population is largely mixed with Indian blood.

CATAMARCA (_San Fernando de Catamarca_), capital of the above province on the Rio del Valle de Catamarca, 230 m. (318 m. by rail) N.N.W. of Cordoba. Pop. (1895) 7397; (1905, estimate) 8000, with a large percentage of mestizos. Catamarca is connected by railways with Rioja and Patquia and with Cordoba. The city stands in a narrow, picturesque valley at the foot of the Sierra de Ambato, 1772 ft. above sea level. The valley is highly fertile, partially wooded, and produces fruit in abundance, wine and some cereals. In the city are flour mills and tanneries, and among its exports are leather, fruit, wine, flour, and a curious embroidery for which the women of Catamarca have long been famous. There is a fine church, 220 by 90 ft., and a national college occupies the old Merced convent. The alameda is one of the prettiest in the Argentine Republic, having a reservoir of two acres surrounded by shrubbery and walks. Catamarca was founded in 1685 by Fernando de Mendoza because the town of Chacra, the former provincial capital, a few miles north of Catamarca, had been found unhealthy and subject to inundations. Previous to the selection of Chacra as the provincial capital, the seat of government was at San Juan de Londres, founded in 1558 and named after the capital of England by order of Philip II. in honour of his marriage with Queen Mary. The arid surroundings of Londres led to its partial abandonment and it is now a mere village. Cholla, a suburb of Catamarca, is inhabited wholly by Calchaqui Indians, a remnant of the original inhabitants of this region.