e name which these rock-hewn sepulchres first received
was _cemeteries_, places of sleep; for the Christians looked upon
their dead as only asleep, to be awakened by the trump of the
archangel at the resurrection. And being used as burial-places, the
Catacombs became the inalienable property of the Christians; for,
according to Roman law, land which had once been used for interment
became _religiosus_, and could not be transferred for any other
purpose. It was long supposed that the Catacombs were subsequently
made use of as places of abode, when persecution drove the Christians
to seek the loneliest spots; but this idea has been dispelled by a
more careful examination of them. There can be no doubt, however, that
they were employed as places of religious meeting. Numerous
inscriptions found in them touchingly record that no Christian worship
could be performed in the imperial city without the risk of discovery
and death; and therefore the members of the Christian flock were
obliged to meet for worship in these dreary vaults. The passages in
some places were expanded into large chambers, and there divine
service was performed; not only for the benefit of those who came to
bury their dead, but also for those who resided in the city, and were
Christians in secret.

Passing from the roughly-paved road into the vineyard where the
Catacombs of St. Calixtus are situated, the first objects that caught
my eye were the dark, gaunt ruins of a tomb and a chapel of the third
century, now wreathed and garlanded with luxuriant ivy. Beside these
ruins I descended into the Catacombs by an ancient staircase, at the
foot of which my guide provided me with a long twisted wax taper,
calculated to last out my visit. A short distance from the entrance, I
came to a vestibule surrounded with loculi or rock-hewn graves. The
walls were plastered, and covered with rude inscriptions, scratched
with a pointed iron instrument. These were done by pilgrims and
devotees in later ages, who had come here--many of them from distant
lands--to pay their respects at the graves of the saints and martyrs.
Two of these pilgrims, from the diocese of Salzburg, visited these
Catacombs in the eighth century, and left behind an account of their
visit, which has afforded a valuable clue to Cavaliere de Rossi in his
identification of the chambers and graves. Passing from this open
space, I soon reached a sepulchral chapel, lined with the graves of
the earliest popes-