Catacomb of Priscilla
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Via Salaria
The Via Salaria was an ancient Roman road in Italy.It eventually ran from Rome to Castrum Truentinum on the Adriatic coast - a distance of 242 km. The road also passed through Reate and Asculum...
in Rome, Italy, is situated in what was a quarry in Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
times. This quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
was used for Christian burials from the late 2nd century through the 4th century. Some of the walls and ceilings display fine decorations illustrating Biblical scenes. The Catacombs of Priscilla are believed to be named after Priscilla, a member of the gens Acilia and who was probably the wife of the Consul
Consul
Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
Acilius who became a Christian and was killed on the orders of Domitian
Domitian
Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...
. They contain a number of wall paintings of saints and early Christian symbols. Particularly notable is the "Greek Chapel" (Capella Greca), a square chamber with an arch which contains 2nd century fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
es generally interpreted to be Old
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
and New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
scenes, including the Fractio Panis
Fractio Panis
Fractio Panis is the name given to a fresco in the Greek Chapel in the Catacomb of Priscilla, situated on the Via Salaria Nova in Rome. The fresco depicts seven persons at a table, six men and a woman. Like the whole of the decorations of the chapel, the fresco dates from the first half of the...
. Above the apse is a Last Judgment
Last Judgment
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of every nation. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. It will purportedly take place after the...
. New, and somewhat controversial research has begun to suggest that the scenes traditionally interpreted as the deuterocanonical story of Susannah (Dn 13) may actually be scenes from the life of a prestigious Christian woman of the 2nd century AD. Near this are figures of the Madonna and Child and the Prophet Isaiah
Isaiah
Isaiah ; Greek: ', Ēsaïās ; "Yahu is salvation") was a prophet in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah.Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed of the neviim akharonim, the later prophets. Many of the New Testament teachings of Jesus...
, also dating from the 2nd century.
The Priscilla catacombs depict the oldest Marian paintings from the middle of the second century Mary is shown with Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
on her lap, a standing man with tunic left hand a book right hand a star over his head symbol of messiahs. Priscilla also has a depiction of the annunciation
Annunciation
The Annunciation, also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus the Son of God. Gabriel told Mary to name her...
.
The catacomb of Priscilla, mentioned in all the ancient liturgical and topographic sources, has its modern entrance on the Via Salaria through the cloister of the monastery of the Benedictines of Priscilla. The Catacombs of Priscilla is divided into three principal areas: an arenarium, a cryptoportico from a large Roman villa
Roman villa
A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...
, and an underground burial area of the noble Roman family Acilius Glabrio
Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 91)
Manius Acilius Glabrio was the name of a Roman consul in AD 91, conjointly with Trajan, who was afterwards emperor. He belonged to one of the noblest families of Rome, and no fewer than nine men sharing his name held the consular office. As he was of great strength and activity, he was commanded by...
.
Papal tombs
On account of the fact that seven early popes and many martyrsChristian martyrs
A Christian martyr is one who is killed for following Christianity, through stoning, crucifixion, burning at the stake or other forms of torture and capital punishment. The word "martyr" comes from the Greek word μάρτυς, mártys, which means "witness."...
were buried in the cemetery, it was known as the "Queen of the Catacombs" in antiquity. Two popes were buried in the Catacomb of Priscilla: Pope Marcellinus
Pope Marcellinus
Pope Saint Marcellinus, according to the Liberian Catalogue, became bishop of Rome on June 30, 296; his predecessor was Pope St CaiusMarcellinus’ pontificate began at a time when Diocletian was Roman Emperor, but had not yet started to persecute the Christians. He left Christianity rather free and...
(296 - 304) and Pope Marcellus I
Pope Marcellus I
Pope Saint Marcellus I, pope from May 308 to 309, succeeded Marcellinus, after a considerable interval, most probably in May or June 308.Under Maxentius he was banished from Rome in 309 on account of the tumult caused by the severity of the penances he had imposed on Christians who had lapsed under...
(308 - 309).
Alleged relics of Popes Sylvester I, Stephen I, and Dionysius were exhumed and enshrined beneath the high altar of San Martino ai Monti
San Martino ai Monti
San Martino ai Monti, also known as Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti - Titolo Equizio, is a basilica church in Rome, Italy, in the Rione Monti neighbourhood.-History:...
(founded as Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti), in the Esquiline
Esquiline Hill
The Esquiline Hill is one of the celebrated Seven Hills of Rome. Its southern-most cusp is the Oppius .-Etymology:The origin of the name Esquilino is still under much debate. One view is that the Hill was named after the abundance of holm-oaks, exculi, that resided there...
area of Rome. Pope Sylvester I was likely originally buried in San Martino ai Monti, although some sources say his remains were transferred there. An unidentified papal sarcophagus discovered during the demolition of Old Saint Peter's Basilica
Old Saint Peter's Basilica
Old Saint Peter's Basilica was the building that stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, on the spot where the Basilica of Saint Peter stands today in Rome. Construction of the Basilica, built over the historical site of the Circus of Nero, began during the reign of emperor Constantine I...
was attributed to Sylvester I and moved to Nonantola Abbey, near the altar that contains the remains of Pope Adrian III
Pope Adrian III
Pope Saint Adrian III was Pope from May 17, 884 to September 885. He was born at Rome. He died in September 885, at San Cesario sul Panaro , on a journey to Worms, in modern Germany....
. Other sources describe a combination of Sylvester I and Vigilius in an altar in St. Peter's.
Other relics
The bones of Saints PraxedesPraxedes
Saint Praxedes is a traditional Christian saint of the 2nd century. She is sometimes called Praxedis or Praxed.-Biography:Little is known for about Praxedes, and not all accounts agree. According to Jacobus de Voragine's The Golden Legend, Praxedes was the sister of Saint Pudentiana; their brothers...
and Pudentiana
Pudentiana
Pudentiana is a traditional Christian saint of the 2nd century. She is sometimes called Potentiana and is often coupled with her sister, Praxedes....
were contained in the catacomb until they were translated, in the 9th century, by Pope Paschal I
Pope Paschal I
Pope Saint Paschal I was pope from January 25, 817 to February 11, 824. A native of Rome and son of Bonosus, he was raised to the pontificate by the acclamation of the clergy, shortly after the death of Pope Stephen IV, and before the sanction of the emperor Louis the Pious had been obtained - a...
to be housed in the rebuilt Santa Prassede
Santa Prassede
The Basilica of Saint Praxedes , commonly known in Italian as Santa Prassede, is an ancient titular church and minor basilica in Rome, Italy, located near the papal basilica of Saint Mary Major...
.
It is also in this catacomb that the relics of saint Philomena
Philomena
Saint Philomena is venerated as a virgin martyr saint of the Catholic Church, said to have been a young Greek princess martyred in the 4th century. Her veneration began in the early 19th century after the archaeological discovery in the Catacombs of Priscilla of the bones of a young woman, which...
were found.