Subterranean Rome: In Search of the Roots of Christianity in the Catacombs of the Eternal City

The catacombsor long underground galleries into which the early Christian community of Rome buried its deadhave always fascinated visitors to Rome. Containing the graves of hundreds of thousands of early Christian believers as well as the tombs of famous martyrs and no less famous popes, the catacombs are truly awe-inspiring places. It is here, in the dark and winding galleries of these enormous subterranean cities of the dead, that one encounters the earliest physical evidence for a community that changed the course of Western civilization once and for all.

In this long-awaited bookthe first general study on the catacombs to appear in English in a long timereaders are taken on an underground tour by one of the worlds foremost specialists in catacomb archaeology. In addition to providing practical information for those wishing to enter the catacombs as visitors or pilgrims, this book explains how recent archaeological discoveries in the catacombs of Rome have changed (and continue to change) our understanding of how Romes early Christian community expressed its faith while coping with the realities of everyday life. This book is an essential for all those wishing to possess an up-to-date manual on why the early Christian and the Jewish catacombs of Rome were excavated, on how early Christian art originated, and on why the catacombs occupy a place of such central importance in the celebrations surrounding the year 2000.