the possession of H. D. Grissel, Esq.--Anonym
ap. Mountfaucon, _Diarium Italicum_, xi. 157.

[140] Sponges are most frequently found in the _cistae_ at Palestrina,
which were nothing else but toilet-boxes. I have had the opportunity
of examining the contents of twelve of them, lately discovered. These
include sponges, combs of various kinds and shapes, hairpins, wooden
boxes with movable lids, still full of excellent powders, cosmetics,
and ointments, and other articles of the _mundus muliebris_.

CHAPTER VII.

CHRISTIAN CEMETERIES.[141]

Sanctity of tombs guaranteed to all creeds alike.--The
Christians' preference for underground cemeteries not due to fear
at first.--Origin and cause of the first persecutions.--The
attitude of Trajan towards the Christians, and its results.--The
persecution of Diocletian.--The history of the early Christians
illustrated by their graves.--The tombs of the first
century.--The catacombs.--How they were named.--The security they
offered against attack.--Their enormous extent.--Their gradual
abandonment in the fourth century.--Open-air cemeteries developed
in proportion.--The Goths in Rome.--Their pillage of the
catacombs.--Thereafter burial within the city walls became
common.--The translation of the bodies of martyrs.--Pilgrims and
their itineraries.--The catacombs neglected from the ninth to the
sixteenth century.--Their discovery in 1578.--Their wanton
treatment by scholars of that time.--Artistic treasures found in
them.--The catacombs of Generosa.--The story of Simplicius,
Faustina and Viatrix.--The cemetery of Domitilla.--The Christian
Flavii buried there.--The basilica of Nereus, Achilleus and
Petronilla.--The tomb of Ampliatus.--Was this S. Paul's
friend?--The cemetery "ad catacumbas."--The translation of the
bodies of SS. Peter and Paul.--The types of the Saviour in early
art.--The cemetery of Cyriaca.--Discoveries made
there.--Inscriptions and works of art.--The cemetery "ad duas
Lauros."--Frescoes in it.--The symbolic supper.--The discoveries
of Monsignor Wilpert.--The Academy of Pomponio Leto.

The Roman law which established the inviolability of tombs did not
make exceptions either of persons or creeds. Whether the deceased had
been pious or impious, a worshipper of Roman or foreign gods, or a
follower of Eastern or barbaric religions, his