he Via Latina show a greater sense of security or are placed more
conspicuously than this early Christian tomb. The frescoes on the
ceiling of the vestibule, representing biblical scenes, such as Daniel
in the lions' den, the history of Jonah, etc., were exposed to
daylight, and through the open door could be seen by the passer. No
precaution was taken to conceal these symbolic scenes from profane or
hostile eyes. We regret the loss of the inscription above the
entrance, which, besides the name of the owner of the crypt, probably
contained the _lex monumenti_, and a formula specifying the religion
of those buried within. In this very catacomb, a few steps from the
vestibule, an inscription has been found, in which a Marcus Aurelius
Restitutus declares that he has built a tomb for himself and his
relatives (_sibi et suis_), provided they were believers in Christ
(_fidentes in Domino_). Another tombstone, discovered in 1864, in the
Villa Patrizi, near the catacombs of Nicomedes, states that none might
be buried in the tomb to which it was attached except those who
belonged to the creed (_pertinentes ad religionem_) of the founder.

[Illustration: Entrance to the Crypt of the Flavians.]

The time soon came when these frank avowals of Christianity were
either impossible or extremely hazardous; and although legally a tomb
continued to be a _locus religiosus_, no matter what the creed of the
deceased had been, a vague sense of anxiety was felt by the Church,
lest even these last refuges should be violated by the mob and its
leaders. Hence the extraordinary development which underground
cemeteries underwent towards the end of the first and the beginning of
the second century. These catacombs were considered by the law to be
the property of the citizen who owned the ground above, and who either
excavated them at his own cost, or gave the privilege of doing so to
the Church. This is the reason why the names of our oldest suburban
cemeteries are derived, not from the illustrious saints buried in
them, but from the owner of the property under which the catacomb was
first excavated. Balbina, Callixtus, Domitilla were never laid to rest
in the catacombs which bear their names. Praetextatus, Apronianus, the
Jordans, Novella, Pontianus, and Maximus, after whom other cemeteries
were named, are all totally unknown persons. When these cemeteries
became places of worship and pilgrimage, after the Peace of
Constantine, the old names which