Few regions of Christian antiquity have yielded such profound spiritual insight, archaeological richness, and theological testimony as the Roman catacombs. Hidden beneath the streets of the imperial city, these subterranean sanctuaries became sacred archives of early Christian belief, worship, and suffering. From the quiet simplicity of tomb inscriptions to the iconographic treasures adorning crypt walls, the catacombs preserve a Church both persecuted and persevering. The literature devoted to their study spans centuries, bridging faith, scholarship, and imagination. Here unfolds the bibliographic legacy of those who explored, recorded, and interpreted the enduring witness of the Church underground.
I. Foundational Works and Early Explorations
The earliest systematic efforts to document the catacombs belong to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Chief among these is the monumental Roma Sotterranea (1632) by Antonio Bosio, often called the “Columbus of the Catacombs.” His work, though later abridged by P. Giovanni Severani (1710), laid the foundation for Christian archaeology in Rome.
Successors such as Boldetti (1720), Bottari (1737), and the meticulous studies of D’Agincourt (1825) and Marchi (1844) furthered the cataloging of underground cemeteries. In the English-speaking world, Charles Maitland’s The Church in the Catacombs (1847) remains a valuable early Protestant contribution.
The richly illustrated but critically outdated work of Louis Perret (Catacombes de Rome, 1853–1859), with its 325 plates, dazzled with its visual grandeur though offered little substantive interpretation. It has since been superseded by more rigorous scholarship.
II. Modern Masterworks and Systematic Studies
The modern era of catacomb research begins with Giovanni Battista de Rossi, the preeminent authority in the field. His magisterial La Roma Sotterranea Cristiana, published under papal auspices beginning in 1864, encompasses three folio volumes (with accompanying plates and inscriptions), with a fourth projected. De Rossi’s articles in the Bullettino di Archeologia Cristiana (from 1863 onward) remain indispensable to students of Christian antiquity. Though a devout Catholic, De Rossi was a serious and critical scholar—praised by Protestants and Catholics alike.
The English synthesis of De Rossi’s work was undertaken by J. Spencer Northcote and W. R. Brownlow in Roma Sotterranea (London, 1869; 2nd ed. 1879). This two-volume study divides between history and Christian art, offering vivid chromolithographs and engravings, especially from the cemetery of San Callisto. Their separate volume on inscriptions is an important supplement.
Other major contributions include:
- F. X. Kraus (Roma Sotterranea, 1873; 2nd ed. 1879), drawing from De Rossi and Northcote.
- D. de Richemont: Les Catacombes de Rome (Paris, 1870).
- Wharton B. Marriott: The Testimony of the Catacombs (1870), addressing doctrinal issues like Marian devotion and papal supremacy.
- F. Becker: Roms Altchristliche Cömeterien (Leipzig, 1874).
- W. H. Withrow: The Catacombs of Rome (1874), a polemical Methodist critique of Roman Catholicism through archaeological lenses.
- John P. Lundy: Monumental Christianity (1876; enlarged ed. 1882), emphasizing symbolism as theological witness.
- John Henry Parker: The Archaeology of Rome (1877), a standard reference with exemplary illustrations, especially Parts IX, X, and XII.
- Theophile Roller: Les Catacombes de Rome (1879–1881), a Protestant’s comprehensive art-historical study with exquisite heliogravure plates.
- M. Armellini: Le Catacombe Romane (1880), a popularized digest of De Rossi’s findings, and Il Cimiterio di S. Agnese (1880), a more specialized work.
- Dean Arthur Stanley: The Roman Catacombs, in Christian Institutions (1881), reflecting both pastoral warmth and historical insight.
- Victor Schultze: Several works, notably Die Katakomben (1882), covering monuments, burial practices, theology, and iconography with Lutheran sensibility and 52 illustrations.
- Bishop W. J. Kip: The Catacombs of Rome (1853; 6th ed. 1887), a devotional Episcopal view of early Church life underground.
- K. Rönneke: Rom’s christliche Katakomben (Leipzig, 1886), a late but useful contribution.
Supplementary scholarly work includes articles by Edmund Venables (in Smith and Cheetham), Heinrich Merz (in Herzog), and the eminent historian Theodor Mommsen in the Contemporary Review (1871). Standard archaeological dictionaries by Martigny and Kraus, as well as Bennett’s Christian Archaeology (1888), also address the subject with scholarly depth.
III. Inscriptions and Epigraphic Witness
Of no less importance than the artwork are the inscriptions—brief, poignant testimonies of Christian faith in the face of death. Here, theology meets archaeology in its most personal form.
Chief among the epigraphic works is De Rossi’s Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae septimo saeculo antiquiores (Rome, 1861), with over 600 pages of texts, commentary, and indices. His Roma Sotterranea and Bulletino also contain numerous inscriptions.
Other significant works include:
- Edward Le Blant: Inscriptions chrétiennes de la Gaule (2 vols., 1856 & 1865) and Manuel d’Épigraphie chrétienne (1869).
- John McCaul: Christian Epitaphs of the First Six Centuries (Toronto, 1869), covering Greek and Latin texts.
- F. Becker: Die Inschriften der römischen Cömeterien (Leipzig, 1878).
- J. Spencer Northcote: Epitaphs of the Catacombs (London, 1878), focusing on inscriptions from the first four centuries.
- G. T. Stokes: Articles on Greek and Latin inscriptions in the Contemporary Review (1880–1881).
- Victor Schultze: A full discussion of epigraphy in Section V of Die Katakomben (pp. 235–274), with further bibliography.
The broader corpora of Greek and Latin inscriptions also include Christian examples:
- Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum by Böckh and Kirchhoff.
- Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (Berlin Academy, ed. Mommsen et al., from 1863 onward).
- E. Hübner: Additions for Spain (1871) and Britain (1873).
- G. Petrie: Christian inscriptions in the Irish language, edited by Stokes (Dublin, 1870 ff.).
An overview article on “Inscriptions” appears in Smith and Cheetham (Vol. I, pp. 841ff.).
