eighth and ninth centuries
it appears that there were once at least one hundred and seventy
ancient Christian inscriptions in Rome, which had an historical or
monumental character; written generally in metre, and to be seen at
that time in the places which they were intended to illustrate. Of
these only twenty-six remain, either whole or in parts. In the Roman
topographies of the seventh century, one hundred and forty sepulchres
of famous martyrs and confessors are enumerated; we have recovered
only twenty inscribed memorials, to assist us in the identification of
these. Only nine epitaphs have come to light belonging to the bishops
of Rome during the same six centuries; and yet, during that period,
there were certainly buried in the suburbs of the city upwards of
sixty. Thus, whatever facts we take as the basis of our calculation,
it would seem that scarcely a seventh part of the original wealth of
the Roman church in memorials of this kind has survived the wreck of
ages; and de Rossi gives it as his conviction that there were once
_more than one hundred thousand_ of them."

When the catacombs began to be better known to the general public, and
were visited by crowds of the devout or curious, they became one of
the marvels of Rome. Travellers who so admired the _syringes_ or
crypts of the kings of Thebes, calling them [Greek: ta thaumata] (the
wonders), could not help being struck with awe at the great work
accomplished by our Christian community in less than three centuries.
An inscription found by Deville at Thebes, in one of the royal crypts,
and published in the "Archives des missions scientifiques," 1866, vol.
ii. p. 484, thus refers to the parallel wonders of Roman and Egyptian
catacombs: "Antonius Theodorus, intendant of Egypt and Phoenicia,
who has spent many years in the Queen-city of Rome, has seen the
wonders ([Greek: ta thaumata]) both there and here." The allusion to
the catacombs in comparison with the _syringes_ is evident. The
inscription dates from the second half of the fourth century.

To the edict of Milan, and to the peace which it gave to the Church,
we must attribute the origin of the decadence of underground
cemeteries. Burial in open-air cemeteries having become secure once
more, there was no reason why the faithful should give preference to
the unhealthy and overcrowded crypts below. The example of desertion
was set by the Popes themselves. Melchiades (311-314), who was the
first to occupy