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The Roman Catacombs in the Middle Ages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 August 2013

J. Osborne
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Le catacombe romane nel medio evo

L'uso medievale delle catacombe romane può essere diviso in tre periodi distinti sulla base della loro funzione. Dal tempo di Costantino fino alla metà del VI secolo, le catacombe venivano usate principalmente come luogo di sepoltura. Dopo l'interruzione di questa pratica causata dalle guerre gotiche, le catacombe continuarono ad essere mantenute dalla chiesa romana e ad essere visitate dai pellegrini che si recavano a Roma, ma soltanto per venerare le reliquie dei primi santi e dei martiri che esse contenevano. Dopo la seconda metà dell'VIII secolo, quando tutte le reliquie importanti cominciarono ad essere trasferite in chiese più sicure dentro la città, l'interesse per le catacombe diminuì in modo significativo, sebbene alcune fossero conosciute a continuassero ad essere visitate fino alla fine del Medio Evo. Vengono qui esaminate le decorazioni murali aggiunte alle varie catacombe durante il periodo c. 500–1300, e si sostiene che anche queste possano essere divise in tre gruppi cronologici secondo la loro funzione.

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Research Article
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Papers of the British School at Rome , Volume 53 , November 1985 , pp. 278 - 328
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Copyright © British School at Rome 1985

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References

1 De Rossi, Giovanni B., La Roma Sotterranea Cristiana i (Rome 1864), 2–3Google Scholar.

2 De Rossi, Giovanni B., ‘L'accademia di Pomponio Leto e le sue memorie scritte sulle pareti delle catacombe romane’, Bullettino di Archeologia Cristiana (1890), 81–94Google Scholar. See also Palermino, Richard J., ‘The Roman Academy, the Catacombs and the Conspiracy of 1468’, Archivum Historiae Pontificiae xviii (1980), 117–55Google Scholar.

3 For a summary of this and subsequent interest see Testini, Pasquale, Le Catacombe e gli antichi cimiteri cristiani in Roma (Bologna 1966), 15–26Google Scholar.

4 The work of Antonio Bosio is examined by De Rossi, , La Roma Sotterranea Cristiana i, 26–39Google Scholar. Bosio's publication is particularly important for the study of mural paintings visible in his day but no longer extant, for example those in the Catacomb of St. Valentine.

5 Cicero, , De legibus II, xxiiiGoogle Scholar: “Hominem mortuum' inquit lex in duodecim, 'in urbe ne sepelito neve urito.” See also Toynbee, J. M. C., Death and Burial in the Roman World (London 1971), 48Google Scholar.

6 The Theodosian Code, tr. Pharr, Clyde (Princeton 1952): IX, 17, 6Google Scholar.

7 Toynbee, 40.

8 For a survey of the principal non-Roman catacombs see Stevenson, J., The Catacombs: re-discovered monuments of early Christianity (London 1978), 131–53Google Scholar.

9 For the basilica and its history see Krautheimer, R. and Corbett, S., Corpus Basilicarum Christianarum Romae iv (Vatican City 1970), 289–312Google Scholar.

10 Ibid., 290.

11 Ferrua, Antonio, Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae N.S. v (Rome 1971), 47 no. 13123Google Scholar. The inscription was first published by Colagrossi, M. in the Nuovo Bullettino di Archeologia Cristiana xv (1909), 58Google Scholar. A burial in the Catacomb of St. Felicitas may be as late as A.D. 541, see Marucchi, Orazio, Le Catacombe Romane (Rome 1933), 434Google Scholar. Surface cemeteries outside the walls seem to have occasionally continued in use into the second half of the sixth century, for example the tomb of Maximinus (d. A.D. 567) in the suburban basilica of S. Sebastiano. For his tombstone, which re-uses a burial plaque of the mid-fourth century, see Ferrua, A., ‘Lavori a S. Sebastiano’, Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana xxxvii (1961), 203–36, esp. 213–16Google Scholar.

12 Krautheimer, R., Rome: Profile of a City, 312–1308 (Princeton 1980), 53–4Google Scholar.

13 This view, expressed by De Rossi, G. B. in La Roma Sotterranea Cristiana iii (Rome 1877), 557Google Scholar, has been widely accepted by subsequent scholars.

14 Procopius of Caesarea, History of the Wars VII, xxii, 6–17Google Scholar.

15 Ibid., VII, xxii, 19.

16 Liber Pontificalis, ed. Duchesne, L. (Paris 1955), i, 291Google Scholar: ‘Nam et ecclesias et corpora martyrum exterminatae sunt a Gothis.’

17 The various repairs are summarised by Dulaey, M., ‘L'entretien des cimetières romains du 5e au 7e siècle’, Cahiers Archéologiques xxvi (1977), 7–18Google Scholar, esp. 13–15.

18 See Ferrua, Antonio, ‘I lavori del papa Vigilio nelle catacombe’, Civiltà Cattolica cxviii (1967), 142–8Google Scholar; and Fasola, Umberto, ‘Le recenti scoperte nelle catacombe sotto Villa Savoia. Il ‘coemeterium Iordanorum ad S. Alexandrum’’, Actas del VIII Congresso Internacional de Arqueologia Cristiana (Barcelona 5–11 Octubre 1969) (Vatican City 1972), i, 273–97, esp. 289–90Google Scholar.

19 See De Rossi, G. B., ‘Scoperta della cripta di S. Ippolito; epigrafe metrica dei restauri quivi fatti nel pontificato di Vigilio’, Bullettino di Archeologia Cristiana (1882), 56–66Google Scholar.

20 For a vivid description of the starvation in Rome during the siege of Totila see Procopius, , History of the Wars VII, xvii, 9–25Google Scholar.

21 Ibid., VI, iii, 19.

22 For the important distinction in medieval Rome between the abitato and the disabitato, see Krautheimer, R., Rome: Profile, 237–59Google Scholar.

23 See De Rossi, , La Roma Sotterranea Cristiana iii, 557Google Scholar. The earliest dated funerary inscriptions to have been found in the Esquiline cemetery are those of Flora (A.D. 567) and Callienicus (A.D. 571), see Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae septimo saeculo antiquiores, ed. De Rossi, G. B. (Rome 1857–1861), 508Google Scholar no. 1117, and 511 no. 1121. Grisar, Hartmann, Roma alla fine del mondo antico secondo le fonti scritte ed i monumenti (Rome 1908), i, 676Google Scholar, suggests that the existence of this large cemetery may lie behind the choice of the church of S. Eusebio as the station for the Friday after the fourth Sunday in Lent when the gospel text was the story of the Raising of Lazarus.

24 See De Rossi, G. B., ‘Sepolcri nel Castro Pretorio’, Bullettino di Archeologia Cristiana i (1863), 32Google Scholar. The tombs in this area are not dated, but in one of them was discovered a tile with the stamp of the Ostrogothic king Theoderic. This may suggest a date not long thereafter, and the Castro Pretorio may well have been pressed into use by the beleaguered inhabitants of the city during one of the long periods of siege.

25 See Gatti, G., ‘Trovamenti risguardanti la topografia e la epigrafia urbana’, Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale di Roma xxiii (1895), 117–31Google Scholar, esp. 121–3; and idem, ‘Nuove scoperte nella città e nel suburbio’, Notizie degli Scavi (1895), 201–6, esp. 203. Attached to one of the tombs was a marble plaque with the inscription: ‘Hic est locus Fortunati et Luciae, in quo iacet filia eorum Gemmula, quae vixit annos plus minus decem. Et qui hunc locum violaverit, habeat partem cum Juda.’ The only chronological indication is provided by the formula warning in the last line, for which Gatti found parallels in seventh-century tombs from Ravenna, Rimini, and Pula. These tombs at the foot of the Oppian hill are probably to be associated with the chapel located at this spot, evidence for which is provided by Gatti's discovery of wall paintings depicting the standing figures of saints.

26 For the sixth or seventh century epitaph of Felix and Victorina found in 1889 near the church of S. Cosimato see Gatti, G., ‘Della Mica Aurea nel Trastevere’, Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale di Roma xvii (1889), 392–9Google Scholar.

27 For the discovery of graves in the atrium of S. Maria Antiqua see Rushforth, G., ‘The church of S. Maria Antiqua’, PBSR i (1902), 1–123Google Scholar, esp. 104–7. The epitaph of Amantius (d. A.D. 571) is today displayed in the adjoining chapel of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. The text of a tombstone of A.D. 1059, still preserved in the narthex of the lower church of San Clemente, is published by Junyent, E., Il Titolo di San Clemente in Roma (Rome 1932), 186–7Google Scholar. The tombs discovered adjacent to the narthex of San Lorenzo in Lucina in 1872 are published by De Rossi, G. B., ‘Sepolcri del secolo ottavo scoperti presso la chiesa di S. Lorenzo in Lucina’, Bullettino di Archeologia Cristiana (1873), 22–35Google Scholar. The only datable burial in this group was that of the deacon Paul, who died in A.D. 783.

28 It should be noted that the theory of Dyggve, E., ‘L'origine del cimitero entro la cinta della città’, Studi Bizantini e Neoellenici viii (1953), 137–41Google Scholar, that burials take place within the city only after the venerated remains of the early saints and martyrs have been removed from the catacombs, is not supported by the archaeological evidence. Burial within the city begins some two centuries before the first major translation. For a parallel phenomenon in North Africa see Hurst, H., ‘Excavations at Carthage, 1975: second interim report’, The Antiquaries Journal lvi (1976), 177–97, esp. 196CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

29 Liber Pontificalis i, 305–6Google Scholar: ‘Hic amavit et restauravit cymiteria sanctorum martyrum. … Tunc sanctissimus papa retenuit se in cymiterio sanctorum Tiburtii et Valeriani et habitavit ibi multum temporis ut etiam episcopos ibidem consecraret.’

30 The background to this phenomenon has been examined by Delehaye, H., Les origines du culte des martyrs (Brussels 1933)Google Scholar, and more recently by Brown, Peter, The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity (Chicago 1981)Google Scholar.

31 Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Latina, ed. Migne, J., xxvGoogle Scholar, col. 375. (The passage is translated by Stevenson, 24). In the second half of the fourth century, pope Damasus (366–384) marked many of the tombs with inscriptions, see Ferrua, Antonio, Epigrammata Damasiana (Rome 1942)Google Scholar.

32 For these two texts and a discussion of the date of their composition see Valentini, R. and Zucchetti, G., Codice Topografico della Città di Roma ii (Rome 1942), 67–131Google Scholar.

33 The Pantheon was converted into a church dedicated to Mary by pope Boniface IV in A.D. 609 (see Liber Pontificalis i, 317Google Scholar), and the Senate House into the church of S. Adriano by Honorius, I (see Liber Pontificalis i, 324Google Scholar). For the numerous other buildings in the Forum which met a similar fate see Carettoni, G., ‘Il Foro Romano nel Medio Evo e nel Rinascimento’, Studi Romani xi (1963), 406–16Google Scholar.

34 Liber Pontificalis i, 309Google Scholar: ‘Hic fecit supra corpus beati Laurenti martyris basilicam a fundamento constructam et tabulis argenteis exornavit sepulchram eius.’ Pelagius appears as the donor in the mosaic on the triumphal arch of the basilica.

35 Liber Pontificalis i, 323Google Scholar: ‘Eodem tempore fecit ecclesiam beatae Agne martyris, via Numentana, miliaris ab urbe Roma III, a solo, ubi requiescit, quem undique ornavit, exquisivit, ubi posuit dona multa. Ornavit autem sepulchrum eius ex argento …; posuit desuper cyburium aereum deauratum mire magnitudinis …; fecit abside eiusdem basilicae ex musibo, ubi etiam et multa dona optulit.’ Honorius appears as the donor in the mosaic which survives in the apse.

36 For the expansion of the suburban cult shrines in this period see Dulaey, 15–18, and Reekmans, L., ‘L'implantation monumentale chrétienne dans la zone suburbaine de Rome du IVe au IXe siècle’, Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana xliv (1968), 173–207Google Scholar. The principal notices supplied by the Liber Pontificalis regarding rèpairs and constructions outside the walls are as follows:

37 Liber Pontificalis i, 305, 421Google Scholar.

38 Liber Pontificalis i, 330Google Scholar: ‘Eodem tempore fecit ecclesiam beatis martyribus Venantio, Anastasio, Mauro et aliorum multorum martyrum, quorum reliquias de Dalmatias et Histrias adduci praeceperat, et recondit eas in ecclesia suprascripta, iuxta fontem Lateranensem, iuxta oratorium beati Iohannis evangelistae, quam ornavit et diversa dona optulit …’ The mosaics which were commissioned by John for the apse and the triumphal arch of this chapel survive and constitute one of the principal sources of information concerning the state of this craft in seventh-century Rome.

39 Liber Pontificalis i, 332Google Scholar: ‘Eodem tempore levata sunt corpora sanctorum martyrum Primi et Feliciani, qui erant in arenario sepulta, via Numentana, et adducta sunt in urbe Roma; qui et recondita sunt in basilica beati Stephani protomartyris …’

40 Liber Pontificalis i, 360Google Scholar: ‘Hic fecit ecclesiam in urbe Roma iuxta sancta Viviana, ubi et corpora sanctorum Simplici, Faustini, Beatricis atque aliorum martyrum recondidit, et ad nomen beati Pauli apostoli dedicavit …’

41 Liber Pontificalis i, 464Google Scholar: ‘Hic enim beatissimus pontifex cum omnibus spiritalibus suis studiis magnam sollicitudinis curam erga sanctorum cymiteria indesinenter gerebat; unde cernens plurima eorundem sanctorum cymiteriorum loca neglectu ac desidia antiquitatis maxima demolitione atque iam vicina ruine posita, protinus eadem sanctorum corpora de ipsis dirutis abstulit cymiteriis. Quae cum hymnis et canticis spiritalibus infra hanc civitatem Romanam introducens, alia eorum per titulos ac diaconias seu monasteria et reliquas ecclesias cum condecenti studuit recondi honore.’

42 For the history of S. Silvestro in Capite see Krautheimer, R., Corbett, S., Corpus Basilicarum Christianarum Romae iv, 148–62Google Scholar.

43 For the attribution of the inscription to the period of Paul I see Gray, N., ‘The palaeography of Latin inscriptions in the eighth, ninth and tenth centuries in Italy’, PSBR xvi (1948), 38–167, esp. 52–3 no. 10Google Scholar.

44 Ibid., 53 no. 11.

45 The Theodosian Code IX, 17, 7Google Scholar: ‘No person shall transfer a buried body to another place. No person shall sell the relics of a martyr; no person shall traffic in them …’ The law was issued in Constantinople on 26 February 386, presumably to counter abuses then current.

46 Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Epistolae i (Berlin 1891), 263–6Google Scholar. Papae, Gregorii I, Registrum Epistolarum IV, 30Google Scholar: ‘Cognoscat autem tranquillissima domina, quia Romanis consuetudo non est, quando sanctorum reliquias dant, ut quicquam tangere praesumant de corpore. … In Romanis namque vel totius Occidentis partibus omnino intolerabile est atque sacrilegium, si sanctorum corpora tangere quisquam fortasse voluerit. Quod si praesumpserit, certum est, quia haec temeritas inpunita nullo modo remanebit …’ For a full discussion of the Roman attitude towards relics c. A.D. 600 see McCulloh, J. M., ‘The cult of relics in the letters and ‘Dialogues’ of pope Gregory the Great: a lexicographical study’, Traditio xxxii (1976), 145–84CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

47 The role of relics was intimately linked with that of icons. For an introduction to this subject in the context of the sixth and seventh centuries see Kitzinger, Ernst, ‘The cult of images in the age before Iconoclasm’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers viii (1954), 83–150CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and Brown, Peter, ‘A Dark-Age crisis: aspects of the Iconoclastic controversy’, English Historical Review lxxxviii (1973), 1–34CrossRefGoogle Scholar. The city of Constantinople developed a special veneration for the Virgin Mary, based on its possession of two important relics: her robe and her girdle. For the growth of her cult in the Byzantine capital see Baynes, Norman, ‘The supernatural defenders of Constantinople’, Analecta Bollandiana lxvii (1949), 165–77CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and Cameron, Averil, ‘The Theotokos in sixth-century Constantinople’, Journal of Theological Studies N.S. xxix (1978), 79–108CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For an examination of the magic properties of relics and icons see Magoulias, H. J., ‘The lives of Byzantine saints as sources of data for the history of magic in the sixth and seventh centuries A.D.: sorcery, relics and icons’, Byzantion xxxvii (1967), 228–69Google Scholar.

48 See McCulloh, John, ‘From Antiquity to the Middle Ages: continuity and change in papal relic policy from the 6th to the 8th century’, Pietas. Festschrift für Bernhard Kotting, ed. Dassmann, E. and Frank, K. Suso (Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum, Ergänzungsband viii, 1980), 313–24Google Scholar.

49 Of the popes whose reigns span this period, only Gregory II (715–731) is listed in the Liber Pontificalis as being ‘ex patre Romano’. The Greek influence in Rome has been examined by Bréhier, Louis, ‘Les colonies d'orientaux en Occident au commencement du moyen-âge’, Byzantinische Zeitschrift xii (1903), 1–39CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and Mango, Cyril, ‘La culture grecque et l'occident au VIIIe siècle’, I Problemi dell' Occidente nel secolo VIII (Spoleto 1973), 683–721Google Scholar. Recently, Peter Llewellyn has suggested that the eastern control of the Roman church was a deliberate policy of the emperor Constans, II: ‘Constans II and the Roman church: a possible instance of imperial pressure’, Byzantion xlvi (1976), 120–6Google Scholar. This influence is visually evident in the decoration of Roman churches such as S. Maria Antiqua or San Saba, where many of the painted inscriptions are written in Greek.

50 Among the earliest examples is the cycle illustrating the lives of saints Quiricus and Julitta (martyrs of Tarsus) in the Theodotus chapel of S. Maria Antiqua. The presence of pope Zacharias (741–752) in the scheme of decorations permits a dating within the years of his pontificate.

51 For example a cycle illustrating the passion of St. Euphemia in her church at Chalcedon, which formed the basis for a homily written in the early fifth century by Asterius, bishop of Amaseia (Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Graeca, ed. Migne, J., xl, cols. 333–8Google Scholar.

52 There is some doubt, however, about the truth of this contention. For the most recent discussion see Wortley, John, ‘Iconoclasm and leipsanoclasm: Leo III, Constantine V and the relics’, Byzantinische Forschungen viii (1982), 253–79Google Scholar.

53 For example N. Gray, 52, who speaks of Paul I's translation to S. Silvestro in Capite as ‘obviously occasioned by the devastations of the Lombards during the siege of Rome in 756’, and McCulloh, J., ‘From Antiquity to the Middle Ages’, 323–4Google Scholar.

54 Liber Pontificalis i, 451–452Google Scholar: ‘Omnia extra urbem ferro et igne devastans atque funditus demoliens consumsit, imminens vehementius hisdem pestifer Aistulfus ut hanc Romanam capere potuisset urbem. Nam et multa corpora sanctorum effodiens eorum sacra cymiteria, ad magnum anime sue detrimentum abstulit.’

55 Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Epistolae iii (Berlin 1957), 494–7, esp. 495Google Scholar.

56 Federici, V., ‘Regesto del monastero di S. Silvestro de Capite’, Archivio della R. Società Romana di Storia Patria xxii (1899), 213–300, esp. 257Google Scholar: ‘Igitur, cum per evoluta annorum spacia, diversa sanctorum Christi martyrum atque confessorum eius, foras muros huius Romanae urbis sita antiquitus coemeteria neglecta, satis manerent diruta, contigit postmodum ab impia Longobardorum gentium impugnatione funditus esse demolita. Qui etiam, et aliquanta ipsorum effodientes martyrum sepulchra et impie devastantes, quorumdam sanctorum depraedati auferentes, secum deportaverunt corpora. Et ex eo tempore omnino desidiose atque negligenter eis debitus venerationis exhibebatur honor. Nam et, quod dici nefas est, etiam et diversa animalia in aliquantis eisdem sanctorum coemeteriis aditum habentia, illic etenim eorum existebant septa animalium in quibus foetoris egerebant squalorem.’ The passage has been translated by Llewellyn, Peter, Rome in the Dark Ages (London 1970), 219–20Google Scholar.

57 Liber Pontificalis ii, 56Google Scholar.

58 For a detailed analysis of the political background see Hallenbeck, Jan, ‘Rome under attack: an estimation of king Aistulf's motives for the Lombard siege of 756’, Mediaeval Studies xl (1978), 190–222CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

59 N. Gray, 51–2 no. 9. For a fuller discussion of the problems of the dating see Bertolini, O., ‘Per la storia delle diaconie romane nell' alto medioevo sino alla fine del secolo VIII’, Archivio della Società Romana di Storia Patria lxx (1947), 1–145, esp. 25–8Google Scholar.

60 Liber Pontificalis i, 506Google Scholar: ‘Hic idem sanctissimus praesul in domoculta quae appellatur Capracorum … translatavit atque infraduxit in ea corpora sanctorum martyrum simulque pontificum, videlicet corpus sancti Cornelii martyris atque pontificis, successorisque eius sancti Lucii martyris et pontificis, pariterque corpus sancti Innocentii confessoris atque pontificis.’

61 N. Gray, 53–4 no. 12.

62 Liber Pontificalis i, 500Google Scholar: ‘Cimiterium itaque beatorum Petri et Marcellini via Lavicana iuxta basilicam beatae Elene renovavit; et tectum eius, id est sancti Tiburtii et eorundem sanctorum Petri et Marcellini noviter fecit, et gradas eius que descendunt ad eorum sacratissima corpora noviter fecit, quoniam nullus erat iam descensus ad ipsa sancta corpora.’

63 The Liber Pontificalis (ii, 2)Google Scholar records repairs to the cemeteries of Commodilla, Callixtus and Zoticus: ‘Itemque renovavit sarta tecta bead Felicis et Audacti martyrum, iuxta sanctum Paulum apostolum, … necnon et cimiterium beati Xysti atque Cornelii, via Appia; simulque et cimiterium sancti Iutici, via Lavicana …’

64 Liber Pontificalis ii, 54Google Scholar: ‘Hic enim beatissimus et praeclarus pontifex multa corpora sanctorum dirutis in cimiteriis iacentia, pia sollicitudine, ne remanerent neglecte, querens atque inventa colligens, magno venerationis affectu in iamdictae santae Christi martyris Praxedis ecclesia, quam mirabiliter renovans construxerat, cum omnium advocatione Romanorum, episcopis, presbiteris, diaconibus et clericis laudem Deo psallentibus, deportans recondidit.’

65 See Ferrua, Antonio, ‘Il catalogo dei martiri di S. Prassede’, Atti della Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia. Rendiconti xxx–xxxi (1957–1958), 129–40Google Scholar and Nilgen, Ursula, ‘Die grosse Reliquieninschrift von Santa Prassede. Eine quellenkritische Untersuchung zur Zeno-Kapelle’, Römische Quartalschrift lxix (1974), 7–29Google Scholar. Because the stone is broken, and the epigraphy of the first 37 lines appears different from that of the final 20, some doubts have been voiced concerning its authenticity. Nilgen's study concludes that only the upper portion (containing the principal catalogue of relics) is ninth-century original, and that the remainder is a fifteenth-century replacement. It is not possible to determine how closely it copies the lost original, but there is no reason to doubt the authencity of the information which it contains.

66 The complete text is published in the Liber Pontificalis ii, 63 note 10Google Scholar.

67 Illustrated in Wilpert, Joseph, Die römischen Mosaiken und Malereien der kirchlichen Bauten vom IV. bis XIII. Jahrhundert (Freiburg im Breisgau 1917), pls. 202–4Google Scholar.

68 Liber Pontificalis ii, 56Google Scholar: ‘Quae cuncta suis pertractans manibus collegit et cum magno honore infra muros huius Romanae urbis in ecclesia nomine ipsius sanctae martyris dedicata, ad laudem et gloriam omnipotentis Dei, eiusdem virginis corpus, cum carissimo Valeriano sponso atque Tyburtio et Maximo martyribus, necnon Urbano et Lucio pontificibus, sub sacrosancto altare collocavit.’ Once again the translation is referred to in the apse inscription: ‘corpora … quae pridem in cryptis pausabat’.

69 Liber Pontificalis ii, 93–4Google Scholar.

70 Ibid., ii, 115–16.

71 See Baronio, C., Annales Ecclesiastici ix (Venice 1602), 418–19Google Scholar.

72 See Guiraud, Jean, ‘La commerce des reliques au commencement du IXe siècle’, Mélanges G. B. De Rossi (Paris 1892), 73–95Google Scholar; Llewellyn, , Rome in the Dark Ages, 184–90Google Scholar; and Geary, Patrick, Furta Sacra. Thefts of Relics in the Central Middle Ages (Princeton 1978), 52–9Google Scholar.

73 Migne, , PL civ, col. 503Google Scholar: ‘Hildoinus, abbas monasterii sancti Dionisii martiris, Romam mittens, adnuente precibus eius Eugenio sanctae sedis apostolicae tunc praesule, ossa beatissimi martiris Christi Sebastiani accepit, et ea apud Suessonam civitatem in basilica sancti Medardi collocavit.’

74 See Guiraud, 79–80; Llewellyn, 184–5; and Geary, 47.

75 See Liber Pontificalis ii, 116Google Scholar and Liebaert, Paul, ‘Le reliquaire du chef de Saint Sébastien’, Mélanges d'Archéologie et d'Histoire xxxiii (1913), 479–92CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

76 It is interesting to compare the analogous situation in Naples where following the removal of the relics of St. Januarius to Benevento, bishop John IV (842–849) brought the remaining important relics from the suburban cemetery to the greater safety and protection offered by the city. See Fasola, Umberto M., Le Catacombe di S. Gennaro a Capodimonte (Rome 1975), 219Google Scholar.

77 The church built by Otto is now known as S. Bartolomeo all' Isola, all reference to Adalbert having been dropped by the twelfth century. For the historical background to its foundation see Hamilton, Bernard, ‘The monastery of S. Alessio and the religious and intellectual renaissance in tenth-century Rome’, Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History ii (1965), 265–310Google Scholar. The absence of Bartholomew's name from two eleventh-century references to the site has led to some confusion concerning Otto's translation, but Bartholomew is clearly depicted on a sculpted well-head in the church (in the centre of the steps which lead from the nave to the raised sanctuary). This piece is generally considered to be contemporary with the construction of the church, see de Francovich, Geza, ‘Contributi alla scultura ottoniana in Italia: il puteale di S. Bartolomeo all' Isola in Roma’, Bollettino d'Arte xxx (1936), 207–24Google Scholar. For the cult of Abbondius and Abbondantius at Rignano Flaminio and the translation of their relics to Rome see De Rossi, G. B., ‘I monumenti antichi cristiani e loro distribuzione geografica nel territorio dei Capenati’, Bullettino di Archeologia Cristiana (1883), 115–59Google Scholar; Giuntella, A. M., ‘La catacomba cosiddetta di Teodora a Rignano Flaminio’, Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana lv (1979), 237–75Google Scholar; and Trimarchi, M., ‘Sulla chiesa di santi Abbondio e Abbondanzio a Rignano Flaminio’, Mélanges d'Archéologie et d'Histoire xcii (1980), 205–36Google Scholar. Otto III must have passed through Rignano on a number of occasions on his way to or from Rome, and thus could easily have been aware of the existence of these relics. He died at Castel Paterno, not far from Rignano, on 23 January 1002.

78 For example Lanciani, Rodolfo, Pagan and Christian Rome (London 1892), 307Google Scholar; ‘The first half of the ninth century thus marks the final abandonment of the catacombs, and the cessation of divine worship in their historical crypts.’

79 Specific Roman examples, such as the painting in the Catacomb of St. Hermes, will be discussed below. The argument has also been used as evidence to support a ninth-century dating for a mural in the Catacomb of San Senatore at Albano Laziale, see Marinone, Mariangela, ‘La decorazione pittorica della catacomba di Albano’, Rivista dell' Istituto Nazionale di Archeologia e Storia dell' Arte xix–xx (1972–1973), 103–38Google Scholar. On stylistic and palaeographic grounds this dating appears to be at least two hundred years too early: see Osborne, J., ‘Notes on early medieval wall-painting in Lazio: the Catacomb of San Senatore at Albano’, Medieval Lazio (Oxford 1982), 287–92Google Scholar.

80 Liber Pontificalis ii, 147Google Scholar: ‘Cymiterium vero beati Marci confessoris atque pontificis, qui ponitur foris porta Appia, qui in ruinis iam positis, omnia restauravit.’ Presumably this refers to the cemetery of Balbina, between the via Appia and the via Ardeatina, where pope Mark (336) had been buried.

81 Liber Pontificalis ii, 161Google Scholar: ‘Renovavit etiam ipse pastor benignus cymiterium beati Felicis martyris ac confessoris, via Portuensi. Necnon et cymiterium eadem via ad Ursum pileatum, ubi corpora sanctorum Christi martyrum Abdon et Sennes requieverunt, iam in ruinis positum, pulchro ac miro restauravit honore. Via autem Appia, in cymiterio sancti Christi martyris Sebastiani in Catacumba, ubi apostolorum corpora iacuerunt, quod multis ab annis ruerat, meliori illud fabrica renovans, monasterium fecit et monachos sub abbatis regimine undecumque potuit aggregavit …’ The use of the perfect tense—‘… where the bodies of the holy martyrs of Christ, Abdon and Sennen, have lain …’— clearly indicates the situation. The relics are no longer in the cemetery.

82 See Pesci, B., ‘Il culto di San Sebastiano a Roma nell' antichità e nel medioevo.’ Antonianum xx (1945), 177–200Google Scholar. As late as the year 1218, pope Honorius III consecrated an altar in the crypt of St. Sebastian ‘inferius iuxta ostium cryptae’, see Krautheimer, , Corpus Basilicarum iv, 105Google Scholar.

83 For the Saracen threat to Rome see Engreen, F., ‘Pope John the Eighth and the Arabs’, Speculum xx (1945), 318–30CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

84 See Pesci, B., ‘L'itinerario romano di Sigerico arcivescovo di Canterbury e la lista dei papi da lui portata in Inghilterra (anno 990)’, Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana xii (1936), 43–60Google Scholar; and Magoun, F., ‘The Rome of two northern pilgrims: Archbishop Sigeric of Canterbury and Abbot Nikolas of Munkathvera’, Harvard Theological Review xxxiii (1940), 267–89CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

85 The same is as true of the twentieth century as it was of the tenth. For example, the original site of the tomb of the Byzantine missionary to the Slavs, St. Cyril, located in the lower church of San Clemente in Rome, is the site of frequent pilgrimages and annual memorial services, despite the fact that Cyril's remains were removed from the spot when the lower church was abandoned c. A.D. 1100. Even without the actual bones, it is still his ‘tomb’.

86 Mabillon, J., Vetera Analecta (Paris 1723), 354Google Scholar (Chronicon monasterii S. Michaelis in pago Virdunensi).

87 See Duchesne, L., ‘L'auteur des “Mirabilia”’, Mélanges d'Archéologie et d'Histoire xxiv (1904), 479–89CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

88 Valentini-Zucchetti, , Codice Topografico iii (Rome 1946), 26–8Google Scholar.

89 Ibid., 187–8.

90 For the complete description of Rome by al-Himyari see Nallino, Maria, ‘Un' inedita descrizione araba di Roma’, Annali dell' Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli N.S. xiv (1964), 295–309Google Scholar. I would like to thank Dr. David Whitehouse for drawing this curious text to my attention.

91 Valentini-Zucchetti, , Codice Topografico iii, 294Google Scholar. For the dating of the Turin catalogue to the period 1313–1339 see Falco, G., ‘Il catalogo di Torino delle chiese, degli ospedali, dei monasteri di Roma nel secolo XIV’, Archivio della R. Società Romana di Storia Patria xxxii (1909), 411–43Google Scholar.

92 Valentini-Zucchetti, , Codice Topografico iv (Rome 1953), 87Google Scholar: ‘Ibi est cimiterium Priscillae, subtus terram; sicut illud Calixti in Sancto Sebastiano; et profundior et maior. Vix est aliquis ausus intrare ibi.’

93 See Marucchi, O., ‘Il cimiterio di Commodilla e la basilica cimiteriale dei ss. Felice ed Adautto ivi recentemente scoperta’, Nuovo Bullettino di Archeologia Cristiana x (1904), 41–160Google Scholar and J. Wilpert, ‘Di tre pitture recentemente scoperte nella basilica dei santi Felice e Adautto nel cimitero di Commodilla’, ibid., 161–70.

94 Boldetti, Marc' Antonio, Osservazioni sopra i cimiteri de' santi martiri ed antichi cristiani di Roma (Rome 1720), 541–7Google Scholar.

95 Bonavenia, G., ‘Leggiero abbozzo (ossia copia) di due pitture ai SS. Felice e Adautto in Commodilla che si conserva nella Biblioteca Capitolare di Verona’, Nuovo Bullettino di Archeologia Cristiana xiii (1907), 277–89Google Scholar.

96 For a ground plan see Marucchi (1904), tav. I–II.

97 See Bagatti, Bellarmino, Il Cimitero di Commodilla o dei martiri Felice ed Adautto presso la via Ostiense (Vatican City 1936), 102–3Google Scholar.

98 Liber Pontificalis i, 276Google Scholar: ‘item renovavit cymiterium sanctorum Felicis et Audacti’.

99 Codice Topografico ii, 89, 110, 172Google Scholar.

100 Liber Pontificalis ii, 2Google Scholar: ‘Itemque renovavit sarta tecta beati Felicis et Audacti martyrum, iuxta Paulum apostolum.’

101 See Kanzler, Rodolfo, ‘Relazione degli scavi della Commissione d'Archeologia Sacra (1903–1904)’, Nuovo Bullettino di Archeologia Cristiana x (1904), 233–48, esp. 244Google Scholar. This form of coin, bearing the names of both the pope and the emperor, was first issued by Leo III after the coronation of Charlemagne in A.D. 800, see Grierson, Philip, ‘The coronation of Charlemagne and the coinage of pope Leo III’, Revue Belge de Philologie et d'Histoire xxx (1952), 825–33CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

102 See Delehaye, H., ‘Les saints du cimetière de Commodille’, Analecta Bollandiana xvi (1897), 17–43, esp. 41Google Scholar.

103 Codice Topografico iii, 27Google Scholar.

104 For the complete text see Bagatti, 42.

105 For photographs taken at the time of the excavation showing the mural in situ see Marucchi (1904), tav. IV, and Bagatti, figs. 15, 28.

106 See Celi, G., ‘Di un graffito di senso liturgico nel cimitero di Commodilla’, Nuovo Bullettino di Archeologia Cristiana xii (1906), 239–52Google Scholar. It is situated on the left red border of the mural at about the height of Turtura's shoulder.

107 Wilpert (1904), 168.

108 Wilpert, , RMM, 939–40Google Scholar.

109 Marucchi, O., ‘Ulteriori osservazioni sulle tombe dei martiri nel cimitero di Commodilla ed ultime scoperte ivi fatte’, Nuovo Bullettino di Archeologia Cristiana xi (1905), 5–66, esp. 38–9Google Scholar.

110 See Kitzinger, Ernst, Römische Malerei vom Beginn des 7. bis zur Mitte des 8. Jahrhunderts (Munich 1934), 21–2Google Scholar; Cecchelli, Carlo, ‘La pittura dei cemeterii cristiani dal V al VII secolo’, Corsi di Cultura sull' Arte Ravennate e Bizantina iv (1958), 45–56, esp. 48Google Scholar; and Matthiae, Guglielmo, Pittura Romana del Medioevo i (Rome 1965), 149–50Google Scholar.

111 The painting of St. Luke, a discussion of which will follow.

112 This group includes among its supporters Farioli, Raffaella, Pitture di Epoca Tarda nelle Catacombe Romane (Ravenna 1963), 13–17Google Scholar, and the recent study by Russo, Eugenio, ‘L'affresco di Turtura nel cimitero di Commodilla, l'icona di S. Maria in Trastevere e le più antiche feste della Madonna a Roma’, Bullettino dell' Istituto Storico Italiano per il Medio Evo e Archivio Muratoriano lxxxviii (1979), 35–85, esp. 35–49Google Scholar. For others who support this position see Russo, 40–1.

113 For these and other examples see the recent discussion of this theme in Megaw, A. and Hawkins, E., The Church of the Panagia Kanakaria at Lythrankomi in Cyprus (Washington 1977), 61–76Google Scholar.

114 Ibid., 61.

115 Ibid., 88.

116 For discussion and bibliography see Osborne, J., ‘Early medieval painting in San Clemente, Rome: the Madonna and Child in the niche’, Gesta xx (1981), 299–310CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

117 Of the recent writers to treat the subject of the dating, only Russo, 47–8, appears to have realised the importance of its funerary function.

118 For a photograph showing the physical relationship of the two murals see Bagatti, fig. 28.

119 Cf. the similar objects held by one of the two physician-saints in the sixth-century apse mosaic of SS. Cosma e Damiano, and by a variety of medical saints in S. Maria Antiqua. See Nordhagen, P. J., ‘The frescoes of John VII (A.D. 705–707) in S. Maria Antiqua in Rome’, Acta ad Archaeologiam el Artium Historiam Pertinentia iii (1968), 58Google Scholar.

120 The identification as Luke, proposed by Wilpert, has never been challenged even though there is not, nor has there been, any trace of the first three letters of his name.

121 Marucchi (1904), 146; Wilpert (1904), 170.

122 Wilpert, RMM, pl. 147.

123 See Bagatti, 115–17.

124 For example, around a ninth-century altar in the lower church of San Clemente. See Osborne, J., ‘The Christological scenes in the nave of the lower church of San Clemente, Rome’, Medieval Lazio, 237–85, esp. 242Google Scholar.

125 Iosi, E., ‘Il cimitero di Panfilo’, Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana i (1924), 15–119, esp. 79–81Google Scholar.

126 See de Grüneisen, W. et al. , Sainte Marie Antique (Rome 1911), 439 no. 166Google Scholar, and Album Epigraphique XII, 11.

127 Marucchi (1904), 146–7, makes much of the good relations between the emperor and pope Benedict II (684–685), stressing this to the extent that he concludes that the mural ‘fu dunque con grande possibilità eseguita fra la seconda metà dell' anno 684 e la prima del seguente 685’.

128 Wilpert (1904), 170: ‘Cosi abbiamo dinanzi una pittura dei tempi di Costantino Pogonato (668–685)’.

129 For example Farioli, 61 note 27: ‘La pittura fu eseguita con tutta probabilità nella seconda metà del 684’.

130 Mazzarino, S., ‘Su un' iscrizione trionfale di Turris Libisonis’, Epigrafica ii (1940), 292–313, esp. 305Google Scholar.

131 See Bellinger, Alfred, Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection i (Washington 1966), 264–90Google Scholar.

132 Both seem to have taken place in the early years of the reign of pope Hadrian I (772–795), see the important discussion by Grierson, Philip, Catalogue of the Byzantine Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection iii (Washington 1973), 89–91Google Scholar.

133 See Bagatti, 105–6.

134 See De Rossi, G. B., La Roma Sotterranea Cristiana i, 274–305Google Scholar.

135 An illustration of the entire crypt, showing the relationship of the murals to the tomb, is published ibid., tav. V.

136 The identification of the second figure as Optatus was suggested by De Rossi (ibid., 302–3) at a time when only the first letter of the name was legible. The subsequent removal of surface encrustation revealed the full inscription, see Wilpert, J., Le Pitture delle Catacombe Romane (Rome 1903), 460Google Scholar.

137 For Optatus see Valentini-Zucchetti, , Codice Topografico ii, 149 note 1Google Scholar.

138 Wilpert (1903), 460, transcribes it as ‘+ EGO AVtem CANTABO BIRTVTEM TVAM ET EXALTABO MANE MISERICORDIAM TVAM QVIA FACTVS SET (per EST) SVSCEPTRO (per SVSCEPTOR) MEVS ET REFuGium MEVM In Die tribulationis meae.’ This form of the verse differs slightly from the Vulgate, where the fourth word is ‘fortitudinem’.

139 Again De Rossi's initial hypothesis was confirmed after cleaning, see Wilpert, ibid., 460–1.

140 Liber Pontificalis i, 151Google Scholar.

141 Liber Pontificalis i, 239Google Scholar: ‘Fecit autem basilica beato Cornelio episcopo et martyri, iuxta cymiterium Calisti, via Appia.’

142 Notitia Ecclesiarum Urbis Romae (Valentini-Zucchetti, , Codice Topografico ii, 88)Google Scholar: ‘Cornelius papa et martir longe in antro altero requiescit’.

De Locis Sanctis Martyrum (ibid, ii, 111): ‘Inde haud procul in cimiterio Calisti Cornelius et Cyprianus in ecclesia dormiunt.’

William of Malmesbury (ibid, ii, 149): ‘Ibidem ecclesia Sancti Cornelii et corpus.’

Einsiedeln Itinerary (ibid, ii, 173): ‘Inde ad Sanctum Cornelium.’

143 Liber Pontificalis i, 506, 520Google Scholar note 83. The site of Capracorum, which has retained Cornelius's name into the modern period, was identified and excavated in 1963–1964 by the British School at Rome, see Kahane, A., Threipland, L. M. and Ward-Perkins, J., ‘The Ager Veientanus, north and east of Veii’, PBSR 36 (1968), 1–218Google Scholar, esp. 161–5, and Wickham, C. J., ‘Historical and topographical notes on early medieval south Etruria’, PBSR 46 (1978), 132–79Google Scholar, esp. 172–9. The full publication of the excavation is forthcoming. Relics of Cornelius were also to be found in the church of S. Maria in Trastevere by the time of Gregory IV (827–844), see Liber Pontificalis ii, 80Google Scholar.

144 Liber Pontificalis ii, 2Google Scholar: ‘Itemque renovavit … cimiterium beati Xysti atque Cornelii, via Appia.’

145 De Rossi, , La Roma Sotterranea Cristiana ii, 298–304Google Scholar.

146 The excavation of S. Maria Antiqua in the year 1900 proved that it was in use by at least the beginning of the eighth century, since it may be found in the murals of the triumphal arch, datable to the reign of pope John VII (705–707). In documents it appears much earlier, see Dictionnaire d'Archéologie Chrétienne et de Liturgie, ed. Cabrol, F. and Leclercq, H., xiii (Paris 1937), 1104–8Google Scholar.

147 De Rossi, , La Roma Sotterranea Cristiana i, 299Google Scholar. Few now, however, would agree with his contention that ‘L'età di Carlo Magno è età di somma barbarie per la pittura’.

148 Wilpert (1903), 459–63.

149 See above, note 142.

150 Valentini-Zucchetti, , Codice Topografico ii, 26Google Scholar. See also Ruysschaert, J., ‘La commémoration de Cyprien et de Corneille “in Callisti”’, Revue d'Histoire Ecclésiastique lxi (1966), 455–84Google Scholar.

151 De Rossi, , La Roma Sotteranea Cristiana i, 275–6Google Scholar.

152 Liber Pontificalis i, 305–6Google Scholar (see above note 29).

153 Wilpert, , RMM, 949–50Google Scholar.

154 Cf. Liber Pontificalis i, 418Google Scholar: ‘Hic renovavit tectum sancti Chrysogoni martyris et cameram sive parietum picturas.’

155 For example, Carlo Cecchelli, ‘Le pitture dei cemeterii cristiani’, 47, accepts Wilpert's initial suggestion of the second half of the sixth century, whereas Matthiae, G., Pittura Romana del Medioevo i, 219Google Scholar, follows De Rossi. Raffaella Farioli (1963), 39, prefers a seventh-century date based on comparisons to mosaics in the Lateran Baptistery, but she is clearly in error when she suggests that a passage in the Liber Pontificalis life of Benedict II (684–685)Google Scholar refers to this site. It refers rather to a church within the walls, S. Lorenzo in Lucina.

156 Reekmans, Louis, La Tombe du pape Corneille et sa région cémétériale (Vatican City 1964)Google Scholar, esp. 174–84.

157 De Rossi, , La Roma Sotterranea Cristiana i, 301Google Scholar: ‘Queste osservazioni mi fanno credere, che dopo estratta l'urna colle reliquie di s. Cornelio, la tomba fu ricostruita, le iscrizioni furono riposte ai loro luoghi, e la cripta continuò per qualche tempo ad essere visitata.’

158 Wilpert's comparison to S. Crisogono is dismissed rather abruptly as ‘difficilement considérée comme très heureuse’ (p. 182).

159 Kinney, Dale, S. Maria in Trastevere from its Founding to 1215 (New York Univ., Ph.D. 1975), 118Google Scholar, finds Reekmans's stylistic comparison ‘completely convincing’.

160 A plea for this approach has been recently made by Nordhagen, Per Jonas, ‘The use of palaeography in the dating of early medieval frescoes’, Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik xxxii/4(1983), 168–73Google Scholar.

161 Cf. De Rossi, , La Roma Sotterranea Cristiana iGoogle Scholar, tav. VII. The letters at the top of the panel do not appear well in the PCAS photo, but an examination of them undertaken at the site confirms the accuracy of De Rossi's rendition. The ‘B’ is not shown correctly in Wilpert (1903), pl. 256.

162 See de Grüneisen, W. et al. , Sainte-Marie-Antique (Rome 1911), 418Google Scholar.

163 Cf. Wilpert, RMM, pls. 180, 182, 186.

164 Ibid., pl. 188, 2.

165 Cf. those in the name ZACCHARIAS, ibid., pl. 181.

166 Cf. those in GENETRICIS and BIRGO, ibid., pl. 182, 2.

167 In de Grüneisen, W., Sainte-Marie-Antique, 419Google Scholar. Cf. this combination in Wilpert, RMM, pls. 182, 2 and 186.

168 Farioli (1963), 37, does claim such a restoration, but again based on a misinterpretation of a passage in the Liber Pontificalis. The text in question will be discussed in the section on the cemetery of Calepodius.

169 It is perhaps worth recording that an eighth-century dating was also proposed by Edward Garrison after his visit to the catacomb in March 1947 (unpublished notes in the Garrison collection, Courtauld Institute of Art, file 1105).

170 The mural is described by De Rossi, G. B., La Roma sotterranea Cristiana ii, 113–14Google Scholar and pl. VI; and Wilpert, J., La Cripta dei Papi e la Cappella di Santa Cecilia nel Cimitero di Callisto (Rome 1910), 45–6Google Scholar.

171 De Rossi, , La Roma Sotterranea Cristiana ii, 114Google Scholar.

172 Ibid., 127–8; Wilpert (1910), 45–7.

173 For example, Farioli (1963), 41–3.

174 For its origins and history see Cabrol, and Leclercq, , Dictionnaire d'Archéologie Chrétienne et de Liturgie xiii, 931–40Google Scholar.

175 The only exception to this known to me is the saint identified as Sylvester in the wall painting of the Maria regina, formerly in the atrium of S. Maria Antiqua but now removed and kept inside the church. This mural was produced in the time of pope Hadrian I (772–795) who appears at the far left. The shoulder cross on Sylvester's pallium is clearly visible in Wilpert, RMM, pl. 195.

176 Migne, , PL cviiGoogle Scholar, col. 309.

177 Migne, , PG xcviiiGoogle Scholar, col. 395.

178 Wilpert, RMM, pls. 192–3, 1. For the most recent discussion of the dating see Vileisis, Birute, ‘The Genesis cycle of S. Maria Antiqua’, (Princeton Univ. Ph.D., 1979), 141–4Google Scholar.

179 Grisar, Hartmann, ‘Das römische Pallium und die ältesten liturgischen Schärpen’, Festschrift zum 1100jährigen Jubiläum des deutschen Campo Santo in Rom (Freiburg im Breisgau 1897), 83–114Google Scholar, esp. 91; and Braun, J., Die liturgische Gewandung (Freiburg im Breisgau 1907), 649Google Scholar.

180 See Osborne, J., ‘The “Particular Judgment”: an early medieval wall painting the lower church of San Clemente, Rome’, The Burlington Magazine cxxiii (1981), 335–41Google Scholar.

181 By a curious coincidence, among the earliest wall paintings to depict a shoulder cross is another representation of St. Urban, in the crypt of S. Urbano alla Caffarella, and thus not far from St. Callixtus in terms of geography. The mural is usually assigned to the tenth century. It is illustrated by Wilpert, RMM, pl. 229, 1.

182 Wilpert (1910), 46. The forms of abbreviation for sanctus will be discussed in more detail in the discussion of the cemetery of St. Hermes.

183 See Osborne, , ‘Particular Judgment’, 341Google Scholar.

184 For a more detailed study of the murals in this catacomb see Osborne, J., ‘Early medieval wall-paintings in the Catacomb of San Valentino, Rome’, PBSR xlix (1981), 82–90Google Scholar.

185 Ciacconio's copies of the murals are preserved in the Vatican Library, cod. lat. 5409, fol. 37. Bosio's study is published in his Roma Sotterranea (Rome 1632), 576–83Google Scholar.

186 Marucchi, Orazio, Il Cimitero e la Basilica di S. Valentino (Rome 1890)Google Scholar.

187 Liber Pontificalis i, 332–3Google Scholar.

188 An inscription recording the restoration of the church by abbot Theobald, dated 3 February 1060, survives today in the atrium of S. Silvestro in Capite.

189 See above note 86.

190 Valentini-Zucchetti, , Codice Topografico iii, 294Google Scholar.

191 See Nestori, Aldo, ‘La catacomba di Calepodio al III miglio dell' Aurelia vetus e i sepolcri dei papi Callisto I e Giulio I’, Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana xlvii (1971), 169–278Google Scholar and idem, ‘La tomba di S. Callisto sull' Aurelia arnica’, Actas del VIII Congreso International de Arqueologia Cristiana (Vatican City 1972), 367–72. The area above ground had been previously examined by the same author in ‘L'area cimiteriale sopra la tomba di S. Callisto sulla via Aurelia’, Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana xliv (1968), 161–72Google Scholar. I would like to thank Prof. Nestori for a pleasant afternoon in which he showed me the site and discussed the problems of the paintings.

192 Cf. Liber Pontificalis i, 141Google Scholar: ‘Qui etiam sepultus est in cymiterio Calepodi, via Aurelia, miliario III, prid. id. octob.’

193 The various transformations are shown by Nestori (1971), tav. V.

194 Ibid., Figs. 12–28.

195 Ibid., Fig. 22.

196 Ibid., Fig. 25.

197 Ibid., Fig. 9.

198 Ibid., Fig. 12.

199 The necessity of there having been more than one decorative campaign has also been rejected by Dale Kinney (1975), 80 note 55.

200 See above notes 49, 50.

201 Wilpert, RMM, pls. 190–1 (S. Maria in via Lata) and 186–7 (Theodotus chapel, S. Maria Antiqua).

202 Liber Pontificalis ii, 80Google Scholar. See also the valuable discussion by Kinney (1975), 115–20, who suggests the possibility of a translation in the time of Hadrian I.

203 Liber Pontificalis i, 419Google Scholar: ‘Hic etiam basilicam sancti Calisti pontificis et martyris pene a fundamentis dirutam novis fabricis cum tecto construxit ac totam depinxit.’

204 For example R. Farioli (1963), 37, 65 note 76, who has attempted to link it with the Catacomb of St. Callixtus on the via Appia.

205 Duchesne, , Liber Pontificalis i, 424Google Scholar note 20; Kinney (1975), 73–81. Although the traditional interpretation is that the passage refers to S. Maria in Trastevere, Kinney could find no evidence for work at this site in the time of Gregory III.

206 Liber Pontificalis i, 421Google Scholar.

207 Valentini-Zucchetti, , Codice Topografico ii, 93–4Google Scholar.

208 de Rossi, G. B., ‘Scoperta d'una cripta storica nel cimitero di Massimo ad sanctam Felicitatem sulla via Salaria Nuova’, Bullettino di Archeologia Cristiana (1884–1885), 149–84Google Scholar.

209 Liber Pontificalis i, 227Google Scholar: ‘Hic fecit oratorium in cymiterio sanctae Felicitatis, iuxta corpus eius, et ornavit sepulchrum sanctae martyris Felicitatis et sancti Silvani.’

210 The dated inscriptions are mostly from the fourth and fifth centuries, but one may be as late as the year A.D. 541, see Marucchi (1933), 434.

211 Notitia Ecclesiarum Urbis Romae (Valentini-Zucchetti, , Codice Topografico ii, 75–6)Google Scholar: ‘Deinde venies ad Sanctam Felicitatem altera via, quod similiter Salaria dicitur: ibi illa pausat in ecclesia sursum et Bonifacius papa et martir in altero loco, et filii eius sub terra deorsum.’

De Locis Sanctis Martyrum (ibid., 115–16): ‘Iuxta viam Salariam ecclesia est Sanctae Felicitatis, ubi ipsa iacet corpore; ibi et Sillanus filius eius, unus de VII, est sepultus, et Bonifacius cum multis sanctis ibi dormit.’

212 Ibid., 144: ‘Deinde basilica Sanctae Felicitatis, ubi requiescit illa et Silanus filius eius, et non longe Bonefacius martyr.’

213 Liber Pontificalis i, 509Google Scholar: ‘Cymiterium vero sanctae Felicitatis via Salaria, una cum ecclesiis sancti Silani martyris et sancti Bonifacii confessoris atque pontificis, uno coherentes solo, mirae restauravit magnitudinis.’

214 As recorded in a mosaic inscription placed by Leo III in S. Susanna, destroyed during renovations to the church in 1595 but known from earlier copies, see De Rossi (1884–1885), 180–1.

215 Valentini-Zucchetti, , Codice Topografico iii, 28Google Scholar.

216 De Rossi (1884–1885), 154.

217 Ibid., 170.

218 Marucchi (1933), 432; Farioli (1963), 33.

219 See Bosio, Antonio, Roma Sotterranea (Rome 1632), 119–35Google Scholar.

220 See Marucchi, O., ‘Scoperte nel cimitero di Ponziano sulla Via Portuense’, Nuovo Bullettino di Archeologia Cristiana xxiii (1917), 111–15Google Scholar and Fornari, F., ‘Via Portuense. Scoperte nella regione sopra terra del cimitero cristiano di Ponziano’, Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità (1917), 277–88Google Scholar.

221 Valentini-Zucchetti, , Codice Topografico ii, 91–2Google Scholar: ‘Deinde discendis ad aquilonem, et invenies ecclesiam Sanctae Candidae virginis et martiris, cuius corpus ibi quiescit. Discendis in antrum et invenies ibi innumerabilem multitudinem martyrum: Pumenius martir ibi quiescit, et Milix martir in altero loco, et omnis illa spelunca inpleta est ossibus martyrum. Tunc ascendis et pervenies ad Sanctum Anastasium papam et martirem, et in alio Polion martir quiescit. Deinde intrabis in ecclesiam magnam: ibi sancti martires Abdo et Sennes quiescunt. Diende exeas et intrabis ubi sanctus Innocentius papa et martir quiescit.’

222 De Locis Sanctis Martyrum (ibid, ii, 107–8): ‘Iuxta viam Portuensem, quae et ipsa in occidentali parte civitatis est, sanctus Abdon et sanctus Sennis, sanctusque Milex et sanctus Vincentius, sanctus Polion, sanctus Iulius, sanctus Pymeon, sanctus Felix, sanctus Simplicius, sanctus Faustinus, sancta Beatricis dormiunt.’ This text appears to make no distinction between the cemeteries of Pontianus and Generosa.

William of Malmesbury (ibid. ii, 151): ‘Tertiadecima porta et via Portuensis dicitur. Ibi prope sunt, in una ecclesia, martyres Felix, Alexander, Abdon et Sennes, Simeon, Anastasius, Polion, Vincentius, Milex, Candida, Innocentia.’

223 Liber Pontificalis i, 218, 222Google Scholar. The guidebook errs in calling them ‘martyrs’.

224 Ibid. i, 509.

225 Ibid. ii, 161. The text is cited above, note 81.

226 Bosio (1632), 120.

227 Both Pumenius and Milix are included in the list of relics placed by the pope in S. Silvestro in Capite. The complete text of this inscription is published by Marucchi, O., Basiliques et Eglises de Rome (Paris 1902), 399Google Scholar.

228 The list of those whose relics were brought to S. Prassede by Paschal I includes the names of pope Anastasius and the martyrs Polion and Candida. For the complete text see the Liber Pontificalis ii, 63–4Google Scholar note 12.

229 The mural is illustrated by Bosio (1632), 135 and Wilpert, J., Le Pitture delle Catacombe Romane (Rome 1903)Google Scholar, pl. 255 (bottom).

230 To my knowledge this does not appear in any of the published illustrations with the exception of the photograph in the J. H. Parker collection (British School at Rome, no. 610), published in Parker, J. H., The Catacombs of Rome (Oxford and London 1877)Google Scholar, Plate VII, 2.

231 All the graffiti found on the paintings in this catacomb are published in Silvagni, Angelo, Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae Septimo Saeculo Antiquiores N.S. ii, 97Google Scholar no. 4533. For the actual letter forms of the inscription left by ‘Eustatius umilis peccator servitor beati Marcellini martyris’, who invites the reader to pray for him, see Manna, Belisario, ‘Contributi allo studio del Cimitero di Ponziano sulla via Portuense’, Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Communale di Roma li (1924), 163–224Google Scholar, esp. 200.

232 Bosio (1632), 135; Wilpert (1903), pl. 255, reproduced by Farioli (1963), fig. 6.

233 For the actual letter forms see Manna (1924), 204 fig. 7. The name appears to be of Saxon origin.

234 Bosio (1632), 127. For other detailed descriptions of this region see Wilpert, J., RMM 946–8Google Scholar and B. Manna (1924), 193–8. A groundplan indicating the physical relationship of the painted areas is published by Nestori, A., Repertorio Topografico delle Pitture delle Catacombe Romane (Vatican City 1975), 145Google Scholar.

235 Illustrated by Bosio (1632), 131; and Wilpert (1903), pl. 259 (bottom), whose watercolour is reproduced by Farioli (1963), fig. 11. The only actual photograph of the mural which I have been able to find is in the J. H. Parker collection (British School at Rome, no. 608A). This is published in Parker's The Catacombs of Rome, Plate VIII, 2.

236 Bosio (1632), 131; and Wilpert (1903), pl. 259 (top), reproduced by Farioli (1963), fig. 7.

237 J. H. Parker collection (British School of Rome, no. 609A), published in Parker's The Catacombs of Rome, Plate VIII, 1. Farioli (1963), 22–3, claims to have a photograph ‘dal vero’, which she publishes (fig. 8). Because it depicts a cross which is vastly different from the one in Wilpert's watercolour, she dismisses the accuracy of the latter. Unfortunately she has been badly misled. Her photograph comes from the archive of the Pontificia Commissione di Archeologia Sacra (photo Urs B 7), whose catalogue lists it under Pontianus while noting that it is ‘di provenienza ignota’. In fact, it does not come from a catacomb at all. Rather, the photograph depicts a detail of the painted velum from the left aisle of the lower church of San Crisogono (cf. Wilpert, RMM, pl. 176, 2). To add to the confusion, Farioli publishes it upside down, believing the velum lines to be the trunks of palm trees. The accuracy of Wilpert's rendition is confirmed by the photograph in the Parker collection.

238 Bosio (1632), 133; Wilpert (1903), pl. 258, reproduced by Farioli, fig. 9.

239 Silvagni, , Inscriptiones Christianae ii, 96Google Scholar no. 4532c. See also Kirsch, J. P., ‘Über einige Bilder des Coemeterium Pontiani’, Römische Quartalschrift i (1887), 105–7Google Scholar.

240 Wilpert (1903) pl. 257 and Farioli (1963) fig. 10. There is also a photograph in the Parker collection, no. 607A. For the inscription see Silvagni, , Inscriptiones Christianae ii, 96Google Scholar no. 4532a.

241 For a description see Wilpert, , RMM, 948Google Scholar. To my knowledge there is no published photograph, but Bosio (1632), 129, includes a drawing.

242 Wilpert, , RMM, 948Google Scholar. Some of these appear in Bosio's copy.

243 The formula ‘De donis Dei …’ has a number of early medieval parallels, for example the long dedication inscription found in S. Adriano in the Roman Forum, see Bartoli, Alfonso, Curia Senatus. Lo Scavo e il Restauro (Rome 1963), 77Google Scholar and tav. lxxi.

244 Wilpert (1903), 454; Farioli (1963), 19; and Matthiae, G., Pittura Romana del Medioevo i, 146–8Google Scholar.

245 Wilpert, , RMM, 948Google Scholar.

246 It occurs on occasion in Carolingian manuscript illuminations, for example the well-known figure of Christ in the Godescalc Gospels (A.D 781–783).

247 The practice may have originated in the east, and been transmitted to the west via manuscript illuminations. For example, the depiction of Christ with a ‘pearled’ halo in a ‘pearled’ medallion occurs in the ninth-century Milan Gregory (Bib. Ambrosiana, Cod. E 49–50, p. 814), see Weitzmann, Kurt, Die byzantinische Buchmalerei des 9. und 10. Jahrhunderts (Berlin 1935)Google Scholar, fig. 552. In the years after the restoration of icons, there was a revival of Byzantine artistic influence in Rome, witness the mural decorations in the churches of S. Passera and S. Maria de Gradellis.

248 There are some examples in mosaic, a medium perhaps better suited to decoration of this sort, for example the central figure of Christ in the ninth-century apse of S. Cecilia in Trastevere, but even here it is a rare occurrence.

249 See Matthiae, G., Pittura Romano del Medioevo ii (Rome 1966)Google Scholar, pl. 27.

250 See Ferrua, A., ‘Oratorio cristiano ipogeo in quel di Ardea’, Atti della Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia. Rendiconti xxxvii (1966), 283–306Google Scholar, esp. fig. 13.

251 Josi, E., ‘Scoperta d'un altare e di pitture nella basilica di S. Ermete’, Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana xvii (1940), 195–208Google Scholar; and Carletti, S., ‘La Madonna “Maria Regina” nella basilica sotterranea di S. Ermete’, Studiosi e Artisti Italiani a sua santità Pio XII (Vatican City 1943), 138–40Google Scholar. A report of the discovery also appeared in L'Osservatore Romano on 21 July 1940.

252 The Biblical verse (John 10:14) breaks off in the middle of the word ‘cognosco’.

253 Benedicti Regula, ed. Hanslik, R. (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum vol. lxxv, Vienna 1960), 3Google Scholar. It is interesting to note that a similar figure, also holding an open book inscribed with this text, and also with roses at his feet, was discovered by G. Gatti in a chapel on the Oppian hill near the Colosseum: see Gatti, G., ‘Trovamenti risguardanti la topografia e la epigrafia urbana’, Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale di Roma xxiii (1895), 117–31Google Scholar, esp. 123–4. Although this mural has not survived, it seems unlikely that it depicted St. Benedict since the figure is described as wearing a pallium decorated with crosses.

254 Bosio (1632), 560–2.

255 Krautheimer, R. et al. , Corpus Basilicarum Christianarum Romae i (Vatican City 1937), 196–209Google Scholar. Krautheimer does not mention the mural here in question since it had not been discovered at the time of his study.

256 Josi (1940), 195, places the corridor 13·5 m above the floor of the basilica. Krautheimer (1937), 209, calls it ‘the germ of an upper gallery’.

257 Bosio (1632), 560. See also Carletti, Sandro, ‘Un malinteso fra Antonio Bosio e “alcuni Giesuiti vecchi” di S. Ermete’, Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana xlv (1969), 49–59Google Scholar.

258 Krautheimer (1937), 205.

259 Josi (1940), 197. They clearly knew of the basilica beneath, and also constructed the staircase by which one now descends to it, see Carletti (1969), 56–7.

260 Liber Pontificalis i, 509Google Scholar: ‘Seu basilicas cymiterii sanctorum martyrum Hermetis, Proti et Iacinti atque Bassillae mirae magnitudinis innovavit.’

261 See Bartolini, Domenico, La sotterranea confessione della romana basilica di S. Marco (Rome 1844), 34Google Scholar.

262 For example Farioli (1963), 45–53 and Matthiae, G., Le Chiese di Roma dal IV al X secolo (Rome 1962), 270Google Scholar.

263 Garrison, Edward B., ‘Post-war discoveries: early Italian paintings—I’, The Burlington Magazine lxxxix (1947), 147–52Google Scholar, esp. 147–8.

264 Hjort, Øystein, ‘The first portrait of St. Benedict? Another look at the frescoes of Sant' Ermete in Rome and the development of a 12th-century facial type’, Hafnia viii (1981), 72–82Google Scholar.

265 Bertelli, Carlo, La Madonna di Santa Maria in Trastevere (Rome 1961), 102Google Scholar note 61.

266 Nilgen, Ursula, ‘Maria Regina—Ein politischer Kultbildtypus?’, Römisches Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte xix (1981), 1–33Google Scholar, esp. 10.

267 For the depiction of archangels in Byzantine imperial costume see Lamy-Lassalle, Colette, ‘Les archanges en costume impérial dans la peinture murale italienne’, Synthronon (Paris 1968), 189–98Google Scholar.

268 Ferrari, Guy, Early Roman Monasteries (Vatican City 1957), 379–80Google Scholar: ‘There is no sign of either a monastic observance based on the rule of St. Benedict or of the acceptance of the saint himself as patron or legislator of any Roman monastery much before the X century.’ The non-Benedictine nature of Roman monasticism in the early Middle Ages is discussed ibid., 380–402. For the introduction of the Benedictine rule to Rome by Odo of Cluny see Antonelli, Giovanni, ‘L'opera di Odone di Cluny in Italia’, Benedictina iv (1950), 19–40Google Scholar; Ferrari (1957), 403–6; and Hamilton, Bernard, ‘The monastic revival in tenth-century Rome’, Studia Monastica iv (1962), 35–68Google Scholar.

269 These decorations are published and discussed by Lafontaine, J., Peintures médiévales dans le temple dit de la Fortune Virile à Rome (Brussels 1959)Google Scholar, and Trimarchi, Michele, ‘Per una revisione iconografica del ciclo di affreschi nel tempio della “Fortuna Virilis”’, Studi Medievali xix (1978), 653–79Google Scholar. It should be noted that some of the titles use the older three letter abbreviations SCS and SCA, perhaps suggesting the second half of the ninth century was the moment of transition. I would like to thank Paul Williamson for drawing my attention to the use of the shortened form in this cycle.

270 The same transition may be found at this time in Italian manuscripts, cf. the discussion in J. Osborne, ‘Particular Judgment’, 341.

271 From the years 1169, 1172 and 1198. See Federici, V., ‘Regesto del monastero di S. Silvestro de Capite’, Archivio della R. Società Romana di Storia Patria xxii (1899), 489–538Google Scholar, esp. documents xxxi, xxxii and lii.

272 Huelsen, C., Le Chiese di Roma net Medio Evo (Florence 1927), 262Google Scholar.

273 G. Falco, ‘Il catalogo di Torino’, 427; Valentini-Zucchetti, , Codice Topografico iv, 293Google Scholar.

274 Ferrari (1957), 152–5.

275 It appears in Rome in the late tenth-century apse of S. Sebastiano al Palatino. A closer iconographic parallel may be found in the twelfth-century apse of S. Silvestro at Tivoli.

276 Fasola, , Le Catacombe di S. Gennaro, 224Google Scholar.

277 Ibid., 219.

278 Ibid., pl. xvi.

279 See above note 79.