feebleness of character, or of common sense,
the fact is, that religious feuds have never been allowed to prevail
among us. In no part of the world have the Jews enjoyed more freedom
and tolerance than in the Roman Ghetto. The same feelings prevailed in
imperial Rome, except for occasional outbursts of passion, fomented by
the official persecutors.

[Illustration: Inscription in a tomb of the Via Severiana at Ostia.]

An inscription was discovered at Ostia, in January, 1867, in a tomb of
the Via Severiana, of which I append an accurate copy.

The tomb and the inscription are purely pagan, as shown by the
invocation to the infernal gods, Diis Manibus. This being the case,
how can we account for the names of Paul and Peter, which, taken
separately, give great probability, and taken together give almost
absolute certainty, of having been adopted in remembrance of the two
apostles? One circumstance may help us to explain the case: the
preference shown for the name of Paul over that of Peter; the former
was borne by both father and son, the latter appears only as a surname
given to the son. This fact is not without importance, if we recollect
that the two men who show such partiality for the name of Paul belong
to the family of Anneus Seneca, the philosopher, whose friendship with
the apostle has been made famous by a tradition dating at least from
the beginning of the fourth century. The tradition rests on a
foundation of truth. The apostle was tried and judged in Corinth by
the proconsul Marcus Anneus Gallio, brother of Seneca; in Rome he was
handed over to Afranius Burro, prefect of the praetorium, and an
intimate friend of Seneca. We know, also, that the presence of the
prisoner, and his wonderful eloquence in preaching the new faith,
created a profound sensation among the members of the praetorium and of
the imperial household. His case must have been inquired into by the
philosopher himself, who happened to be _consul suffectus_ at the
time. The modest tombstone, discovered by accident among the ruins of
Ostia, gives us the evidence of the bond of sympathy and esteem
established, in consequence of these events, between the Annei and the
founders of the Church in Rome.

Its resemblance to the name of the Annei reminds me of another
remarkable discovery connected with the same city, and with the same
question. There lived at Ostia, towards the middle of the second
century, a manufacturer of pottery and terracottas, n