one with which I have had most to do, because
the building of the new Camposanto, together with the sinking of the
foundations of the new tombs, has been the occasion of frequent
discoveries. One of the characteristic features of Cyriaca's cemetery
is the large number of military inscriptions from the praetorian camp
which were used to close the graves, the name of the deceased
Christian being engraved on the blank side of the slab. On December
23, 1876, a landslide of considerable extent took place along the
southern face of the rock in which the catacombs are excavated, in
consequence of which many loculi, arcosolia, and painted cubicula were
laid open. I happened to witness the accident, and was able to direct
the exploration of the graves. Among the objects discovered, I
remember a pair of silver earrings, a necklace of gold and emeralds,
sixteen inches long, clay objects of various kinds, gladiatorial and
theatrical lamps, and nine Christian tombstones. One of them was
engraved on the back of a slab from the praetorian camp, containing the
roster of one hundred and fifty soldiers from the twelfth and
fourteenth city cohorts (_cohortes urbanae_). Each individual has his
praenomen, nomen, and cognomen, carefully indicated, together with the
names of his father, tribe, and country. The men are grouped in
companies, which are indicated by the name of their captains, such as
the "company of Marcellus" or the "company of Tranquillinus," with the
consular date of the year in which Marcellus and Tranquillinus were
in command of that company. Another part of the same roster, engraved
on a slab of the same marble and size, and containing many more names,
was found a century and a half ago in the same place, and removed to
the Vatican Museum.

One of the tombs, discovered during the following January, seems to
have belonged to a lady of rank. A gold necklace and a pair of opal
earrings were found in the earth which filled the grave. Relatives or
friends of the occupants of the cubiculum had written on the plaster
words of affection and devotion, such as "Gaianus, live in Christ with
Procula;" "Semplicius, live in Christ."

It is to be regretted that, in order to make room for the daily
victims of death, the municipality of Rome should be obliged to turn
out of their graves the faithful of the third and fourth centuries who
were buried in the neighborhood of S. Lorenzo. In 1876 I witnessed the
discovery of a section of the o