Secret cults? – Do the catacombs actually represent retreats for early Christians?

By the time the emperor Galerius’s tolerance edict was issued in 311 AD, the Christian religion was in an extremely precarious situation. At that time it was little more than a religious movement that hovered between permission and ban. For Christians, life at this time was characterized by insecurity, constant danger and a multitude ofPersecutions that were systematically and with increasing brutality through the Roman Empire. The first major waves of persecution were initiated under Emperor Decius in 249, who deliberately targeted the Christians to rob them of their community and rituals. A few years later, under Emperor Valerian, the situation worsened again. the worstPhase, however, began with Emperor Diocletian and the so-called tetrarchy, in which Christians were systematically persecuted to rob them of their religion and to urge them out of the public eye. These repressions were characterized by a cruelty that was hardly comparable to the previous measures. Many Christians were tortured, arrested or publicly humiliated because they were given to themassumed to forge in secret mischief and to destabilize society. There were numerous conspiracy theories that attributed a mysterious power to Christians, even the ability to practice cannibalism, because the transformation of bread and wine into the flesh and blood of Christ could not be understood. These prejudices and distrusts led toChristians were often suspiciously eyed and persecuted in public.

Underground burial sites: catacombs and their diverse use

However, the so-called catacombs were not places of refuge in the actual sense, but rather burial sites that have a long history and existed long before the spread of Christianity in Italy. They were not exclusively Christian facilities, but served as burial places for a wide variety of population groups long before the Christian epoch. theEtruscans, one of the most important ancient cultures in Italy, had already buried their deceased in underground burial chambers. The Romans, who later gained supremacy in the region, initially preferred cremation, in which the ashes of the deceased were kept in urns. These urns were stored in so-called Columbaria, which are large community graves, orplaced in individual tombstones in cemeteries. Along the old streets, such as the famous Via Appia, you can still find impressive facilities of this kind that document the diversity of Roman burial culture. They are witnesses to a time when the burial rites were closely related to social status and religious beliefs. For Jews, in turn, wasCremation not an option. Even before the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, many Jewish communities in Rome, which had already increasingly connected themselves to the Roman cultural area before the turning point, had buried their deceased in large, complex, often multi-storey underground burial chambers. These systems were deeply anchored in the ground, widely branched and mostly very complexdesigned. The Christians also first took over the practice of burial and used the public cemeteries in Rome outside the city walls. However, as the majority of Roman populations increasingly preferred cremation in the second century AD, the existing cemeteries became narrower and narrower. Given the limited space in the densely populatedMetropolis, the underground funeral facilities became an economically sensible solution. The burial chambers were carved in the soft, porous tuff that was relatively easy to work with. The workers, who were probably called slaves, dug deeper and deeper into the rock over time to create more levels. This resulted in complex underground systems with up toFive levels, sometimes stretching about twenty meters below the surface. The individual burial sites, so-called Loculi, were small niches in the walls in which the deceased were laid in stone coffins. These coffins were wrapped in linen and placed in the niches. After the funeral, the Loculi were closed with a stone slab on which the name, age and thedate of the deceased’s death. Families with more financial resources could even create private rooms, so-called cubicula. These served to jointly bury several relatives and were often artistically designed with wall and ceiling paintings that staged the deceased and the mourning community.

Christian funeral rituals and their development in the catacombs

In the second century, Christians also began to bury their deceased in the underground complexes, the so-called cryptae. There was no strict religious exclusivity, so that many catacombs were buried Christians alongside members of other religious communities. It is known that some plants were originally used polytheistically before being used by Christianswere taken over. The term “catacombs” itself comes from the Greek word “katá kýmbas”, which means “near the caves” and refers to the field names on the Via Appia. This designation prevailed in the Middle Ages and became a synonym for the subterranean funerals of the city on the Tiber. During the early Christian period, the catacombs were mainly funeral places,However, also served as places of protection and gathering, especially in times of persecution. After Emperor Valerian issued a ban on meeting Christians in 257 and denied them the use of public cemeteries, the believers sought refuge in the dark corridors and chambers under the city. Here they could bury their dead and still meet secretly,Practice your faith. Over time, especially in the fourth century, the catacombs experienced a renaissance. The persecutions waned and Christians began to make the facilities magnificent. They attached inscriptions that testified to faith, and decorated the walls with wall paintings and symbols that showed the Christian faith openly. The importance ofCatacombs grew, and they increasingly became pilgrims for believers who wanted to visit the tombs of the martyrs and saints. The grounds became an important part of Christian identity, and the underground cemeteries developed into places of worship and remembrance. The Christian community showed that despite persecution and danger, they believedcould preserve and express.

The courage of early Christians and the challenges of their faith

But the question arises as to how the Christians really fared during this time. Not all had the courage and trust expressed in martyrs such as Perpetua and Felicitas, who made their lives believe in the Amphitheater of Carthage in 203 AD. Many Christians lived in constant fear of persecution, were taken out of their homes and had toface the threatening situations. It is unclear whether everyone was fully open to their faith or whether some had to hide their beliefs out of fear. There were certainly Christians who hid their scriptures for fear of discovery, while others secretly met in small groups to pray together and strengthen their community. The RomanWriter Tertullian, who lived in the late second and early third century, described the fear and hesitation of many Christians who only came to worship “with trembling and hesitation” in one of his works. These meetings mostly took place in the backrooms of private houses, since magnificent churches did not yet exist and public assemblies were forbidden. Despite everyoneInsecurities trusted the believers in the power of God and their own trust in God, but many of them were full of fear. The dignitaries and leaders of the Christian community were also often divided on the courage to be open to their faith. The persecutions took their toll on courage and persuasion, and not everyone could or wanted to take the risksbe exposed to the public confession. The image of this time is characterized by a constant struggle between fear and faith, between persecution and religious devotion, which significantly shaped the early Christians in their everyday lives.