Preview

Catacombs of Rome

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1213 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Catacombs of Rome
The Catacombs of Rome The Christians in Rome built the catacombs for the firm believers of the Christian faith. They devoted their lives for their beliefs in Christianity, dying when the Romans were persecuting Christians for not worshipping the Roman Gods. Christian religion moved literally underground and was practiced in secret at its beginnings in ancient Rome because of the persecutions. During this time, the catacombs beneath the city, which were built to house the dead, became a place where underground religion was practiced in secret in fear of the Romans and to be closer to the martyrs who died for their faith.
The religion of the early Christians was literally carved into stone of the walls in the catacombs. In these Roman catacombs you can find an abundance of artifacts, fragments of marble and stone, inscriptions, and biblical images expressing the basic theological beliefs of the Christian faith. (“Religion and…”). The catacombs demonstrate how the early Christians adopted the important beliefs of the Christian faith. They testified their faith everywhere, but it was in the catacombs that those heroic Christians found the strength and support to face the trials and persecutions, as they prayed to God through the martyrs ' intercession. (“The Catacombs…”).
The catacombs of Rome are a very unique and unusual place, unlike anything else in the world because of their vast art, inscriptions, and artifacts that were found. The secrecy that the Christians had about the catacombs is what’s the most fascinating in which they kept these massive catacombs secret from the Romans. Romans did not bury their dead, but cremated them because in the ancient Roman times, tombs were believed to be a home for the dead, who were not completely cut off from the living. There were numerous burials grounds with various sizes and shapes. In early times, the tombs were often shaped like an early Roman house. These were used for anniversary feasts and cremation sites. They



Cited: "Early Christian Art." Early Christian Art (Symbols, Catacombs, Typology). N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. "Early Christian Catacombs, Rome ." Early Christian Catacombs. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. "Religion and the Catacombs - CIC." Religion and the Catacombs - CIC. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. "Rome Exposed - The Romans and Their Dead." Rome Exposed - The Romans and Their Dead. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. "The Catacombs: Importance." EarlyChristians.org || Catacombs - Importance. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. "What 's Inside Rome 's Ancient Catacombs?" National Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. Brower, Elena. "Understanding Why We Keep Secrets." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 16 May 2011. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. Sealy, Amanda. "Loving Life in Paris ' Empire of the Dead - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. Simmel, Georg. BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2012.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Roman Coliseum is an amazing piece of architectural history and has played a significant role in history as well. Construction began in 72 AD under the rule of the Emperor Vespasian. It was completed in 80 AD in the very center of Rome. It is located east of the Roman forum, was built to hold 50,000 people, and has eighty entrances. It could easily hold a football field. There are many rooms and tunnels below the Coliseum. Some of them housed animals and gladiators, and some rooms also contained many pulleys and hand pulled elevators. The Coliseum had four floors and eighty arch ways for the people to enter. The Coliseum was covered with a massive awning, which was attached by poles at the top of the Coliseum that was known as “Velarium”.…

    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A sacramentary “was a liturgical book used for prayer during the High Middle Ages, containing prayers, prefaces and canons for mass” (“The Drogo Sacramentary”); this sacramentary was created between 845-855 CE for Drogo, the Bishop of Metz (“The Drogo Sacramentary”). This artwork is interesting to me because it illustrates the religious beliefs of French society in a beautiful and articulate manner. An artistic pattern found in illuminated manuscripts is a painted scene within an individual letter. For instance, in this illuminated manuscript a scene from the Lord’s ascension into heaven is painted inside the letter “C” (“Carolingian Art”, see Figure 1). It is amazing to consider how small the area is for the artist to paint; still the artist is able to illustrate a mountain, 12 disciples, two angels, and Jesus in a limited space. The artist uses colors of gold, red, yellow, green, blue, and black; these colors are simple, yet the combination of them is bold and grabs the viewer’s…

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Apart from the sphinx, all other symbols were considered pagan by the Christians who wanted to destroy their persecutor, by destroying not only his sarcophagus, but also the decorations that surrounded his last resting place. All of that happened, however, much before…

    • 573 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Herculaneum was a city near Pompeii that suffered a similar fate as a result of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The city was blanketed in a thick layer of ash and pumice, which left the city preserved very well and easier for archaeologists to uncover and learn about the culture and lifestyles of the Herculaneum people. Only 10 miles from Pompeii, Professor Wallace-Hadrill brings us to 12 arched vaults where we discover the remains of around 340 victims (around 40 in each vault). We discover among the most recent finds the remains of a toddler with his dog, a girl with silver earrings, and a boy with his mother. Experts were perplexed about why the bodies within the vaults were nearly all women and children, while the bodies near the shoreline were nearly all men.…

    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Newgrange Research Paper

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Newgrange would have been regarded as the cathedrals of their day. The burial toms were not just built as a place to bury the dead but they were also importantly a place to worship. There were 40 passage tombs at Newgrange and they were possibly the most impressive form of burial there were. The burial of the dead must have had a very significant religious aspect to the people at this time as it still is now. The fact that the tombs took decades to build and the different features which were added to them over the time shows that they felt it was important to give those who died the correct send of to…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    David Mares gives us insight into the political economy of drug trafficking in his book Drug Wars and Coffee Houses. To help us understand how psychoactive substances are organized and distributed, he uses the concept of a commodity chain. A commodity chain is the system that links consumption of psychoactive substances to everything that makes it possible, and proves that if something affects one phase of the system, the other phases are affected as well. Consumers and producers in this system depend on each other, and “neither one could exist without the other” (Mares, p.13). The whole system consists of various pieces that ultimately work towards getting the consumer what they want, and from a producer who actually has what they want. Since consumers and producers are rarely ever in the same place, consumers get their substances from a transportation network. These traffickers get the substances from the producers, and just like any other business, producers need various inputs. This includes “labor, chemicals, and in the case of illegal products, perhaps weapons and corrupt officials, to produce and transport the substance” (Mares, p.13). So then we have the people who provide these inputs. Playing with drug money can get messy, so then money launderers come into the picture. The commodity chain system that Mares presents helps us organize and understand how all these roles connect to get a psychoactive substance produced and distributed to consumers.…

    • 1191 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Early Christian art was highly influenced by religious, political, and cultural changes. In contrast to the classical, idealistic portrayal of man, Early Christian art took a much more stylized approach to the depiction of man, with a neglected attention to human anatomy. The subject matter of much of the art turned from secular to religious; Christianity to be more specific. Constantine was the last emperor of the Roman Empire to hold undivided power. Under his rule, Constantine created the Edict of Milan, granting religious tolerance to all religions. This was of particular importance to Christians, who had been previously persecuted due to their spiritual beliefs. Because of the Edict of Milan, many Christian buildings were erected in addition to the many secular buildings that were transformed into Christian buildings. These buildings housed countless numbers of priceless religious artworks. One such example is the Transfiguration of Christ mosaic located in Saint Catherine 's Monastery in Sinai, Egypt.…

    • 1393 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Many architectural and urban forms and elements that we witness today are largely influenced by how buildings were design and laid in Rome. Not only in terms of its external design that brought upon important messages but the design of interiors and the significance of spatial arrangement of spaces exist within them has created the sense of physical experience in the buildings as well. Rome’s urban development and the rise of architectural movement began during the time of Augustus from 27 B.C. to 14 A.D. 1,2 Born Gaius Octavious, known as Octavian in his early years rose to become the first emperor of Rome after ending the second triumvirate through defeating Antony and Lepidus.3 When Octavian returned to Rome, he was honoured by the Senate and the Roman citizens for bringing peace and prosperity to a war-weary Roman world.4 He was then granted the name “Augustus” which is an important symbolic act to legitimize his political control as an emperor over Rome.5 Augustus’ main intention is to establish a stable Rome under his authority and this is largely shown through his restoration of incomplete buildings by Caesar. During his reign, as stated in his bibliography, Res Gestae, he claimed that he “repaired eighty and two temples of the gods in the city, … omitting none which at that time needed repair”.6 However, he also erected four new temples during his reign and these temples largely convey the message of him wanting to show that he was a dependable and better ruler.7 Stamper argues that the building of temples in Rome by various rulers form a large connection of showing power and authority over the city.8 Thus, based on this intention of Augustus, this essay will analyse three different temples completed…

    • 4128 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    This was a small and random act of repression but soon lead to The Roman persecution of the Christians when the Christians are blamed by Emperor Nero for the great fire in Rome that almost destroyed the city(even though many Romans believed Nero started the fire). Later in 67 CE, paul one of the disciples was put to death in Rome. This forced the religion to move underground, despite this, is against the law, and the bloody executions and beheadings, Christianity grew…

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Works not by “Christian” artists, but evocative of Christian beliefs, should be viewed in full context. The title of “Christian art”…

    • 217 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Allegory of the Cave 1

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Plato’s Allegory of the Cave brings about many question compared to Christianity. He depicts a group of prisoners in a cave chained and unable to move. The only thing they can see is shadows cast upon the wall by their guards. The rationalism in this is very confusing but based on Christianity many of us are prisoners of the world we live in and are kept here by the others around us and are unable to see the truth of the word of Christ because of all the illusions of the perfect world we are shown every day. The true path to a great life is through Christ.…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    "Rome." Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopaedia Britannica Ready Reference 2004 CD-ROM. Copyright © 1994-2003 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. October 1, 2012.…

    • 403 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Perpetua and Felicity

    • 322 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The passion of Saint Perpetua and Felicity reveals that the Christian community of third- century Carthage was of strong faith. Faith that certainly was strong enough to face death by matters of execution. The catechumen that endured great pain during their imprisonment. It was their faith that kept them going.…

    • 322 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Ostia, an abandoned former Roman port city, I stopped in front of a tomb’s headstone. A young girl had lost her life to a disease. I could imagine her story, deducing the sanitary conditions of that time, even though she had died thousands of years ago.…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Roman Forum Area

    • 284 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Sources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flavian_Amphithea ter_(Pozzuoli ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Saturn http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_of_Titus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapis_Niger http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milliarium_Aureum…

    • 284 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays