Inscriptions, Christian

Inscriptions, Christian.

There are but few Christian inscriptions that remain extant from an early date, but these few yet suffice to convey to us a pretty accurate idea of the history of the early Christian Church, and of the customs and belief of the first followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. "They express," says Maitland, in his justly celebrated and now quite rare work on The Church in the Catacombs (Lond. 1846, 8vo, p. 13), "the feelings of a body of Christians whose leaders alone are known to us in history. The fathers of the Church live in their voluminous works; the lower orders are only represented by these simple records, from which, with scarcely an exception, sorrow and complaint are banished; the boast of suffering, or an appeal to the revengeful passions, is nowhere to be found. One expresses faith, another hope, a third charity. The genius of primitive Christianity, 'to believe, to love, and to suffer,' has never been better illustrated. These 'sermons in stones' are addressed to the heart, and not to the head, to the feelings rather than to the taste; and possess additional value from being the work of the purest and most influential portion of the 'catholic and apostolic Church' then in existence." In the early years of the Christian Church the inscriptions were, with few exceptions, confined to the memory of deceased persons and to sacred objects.

1. The custom of tombstone inscriptions was borrowed by the early Christians from the Romans and Grecians; they simplified them, however, very much, and indicated the Christian knowledge, life, and rank of the deceased partly by significant symbols, partly by written signs, words, and expressions. These symbols, as they are found in Italy, France, and the countries on the Rhine, pertain partly to the designation of the Redeemer by means of pictorial representations, partly to the life after death, hope for the same through Christ and the cross. The name of Christ, their Lord and Master, is, as would be expected of his followers, everywhere the most prominent, and is "repeated in an endless variety of forms, and the actions of his life are figured in every degree of rudeness of execution." But remarkable it certainly is, that in the inscriptions contained in the Lapidarian Gallery, selected and arranged under papal superintendence, containing one of the largest, if not the largest collection of Christian inscriptions, there are no prayers for the dead (unless the forms "May you live," "May God refresh you," be so construed); no addresses to the Virgin Mary, nor to the apostles or earlier saints; and, with the exception of "eternal sleep," "eternal home," etc., no expressions contrary to the plain sense of Scripture. Neither is the second person of the Trinity viewed in the Jewish light of a temporal Messiah, nor is he degraded to the Socinian estimate of a mere example, but he is ever represented as invested with all the honors of a Redeemer. On this subject there is no reserve, no heathenish suppression of the distinguishing feature of the Christian religion as professed by the evangelical sects. On stones innumerable appears the good Shepherd, bearing on his shoulders the recovered sheep, by which many an illiterate believer expressed his sense of personal salvation. One, according to his epitaph, "sleeps in Christ;" another is buried with a prayer that "she may live in the Lord Jesus." But most of all, the cross in its simplest form is employed to testify the faith of the deceased; and whatever ignorance may have prevailed regarding the letter of Holy Writ, or the more mysterious doctrines contained in it, there seems to have been no want of apprehension of that sacrifice' whereby alone we obtain remission of our sins, and are made partakers of the kingdom of heaven" (Maitland, Church in the Catacombs, p. 14,15). One of the principal signs used in referring to Christ is a monogram of the initial letters of the Greek name Χριστός. Most generally it is found to be composed of X and p, the latter placed in the heart of the former. Strange to say, we preserve in our own language a vestige of this figure in writing Xmas and Xtian, which can only be explained by supposing the first letter to stand for the Greek X.

This facsimile of a monogram of Christ's name is copied from Maitland, p. 166, and was originally taken from the Lapidarian Gallery. The a and w reversed in this epitaph refer to the well-known passages in the Apocalypse: their continued use proves the general reception of that book as a part of the inspired canon. The a and o, SEE ALPHA, are mentioned by Prudentius as well as by Tertullian, who regarded them as mysteriously containing the signification that in Christ rest the beginning and end of all spiritual life (De monogram. c. s.). From the ignorance of the sculptor, the entire symbol was sometimes inverted, as in the opposite figure (also from Maitland, p. 167). A change was afterwards made by the decussation (as it is technically termed) of the X, by which the figure of a cross was produced. Having once arrived at this happy coincidence, the monogram remained stationary. Its simple outline, thus chiseled on a gravestone (from the Lapidarian Gallery), or accompanied by the misplaced letters. or even converted into "Psr," as if for Psristos, Read: "To our great God-Eliasa to Soricius, in Christ." was in course of time ornamented with jewels; and the monogramma, gemmatum took its place as a work of art among Christian bas-reliefs of the 4th century. The best specimen in the Lapidarian Gallery Maitland asserts that he accurately copied, and it is here reproduced: the jewels are only in marble, but they represent the real gems often lavished upon the ancient cross.

It is asserted by some antiquarians that the monogram was not used until the time of the emperor Constantine, and that, as is generally believed, it was first seen by him in the so greatly celebrated miraculous vision, which resulted in his conversion to the Christian religion. An epitaph, such as the subjoined, discovered by Bosio, may be well assigned to that time, when the motto "In hoc vinces" might have become common:

IN HOC VINCES

"In this thou shalt conquer — In Christ. Sinfonia, also for her sons. She lived forty-eight years, five months, and four days." The next is contained in Oderici:

which probably signified, "Victrix [a woman's name], victorious in Christ." But the epitaphs of Alexander and Marius, martyrs under Adrian and Antonine, also exhibit the monogram; "and though," says Maitland, "they do not appear to have been executed at the time, they contain strong marks of belonging to a period of violent persecution." Gaetano Marini, however, asserts that the earliest monogram belongs to the year 331, i.e. six years after the Council of Nice.

The only resemblance to the monogram used by the heathen was the ceraunium, or symbol of lightning. The Egyptian cross appears to be an abbreviation of the Nilometer.

Translate — "The mark of Christ. Celix and Cerealis to their deserving father," etc.

For the assertion that the monogram was a symbol of martyrdom, and signified "for Christ," there seems to be not the least authority. In many inscriptions we read, however, in

"Aselus sleeps [or is buried] in Christ." Prudentius informs us that the name of Christ, "written in jeweled gold, marked the purple labarum, and sparkled from the helmets" of the army of Constantine; — but this is, in all probability, only a poetical fiction (Liber 1, contra Symmachum). Only in the-later inscriptions, as far down as the Middle Ages, as in a Cologne inscription (Centralm. 100), are found the words initiuns et finis. The monogram with the two letters is there sometimes surrounded by a circle or a wreath. The symbols, however, were used more frequently than any other, and of these the fish (ἰχθύς), which is often found in different forms upon' the same stone, was no doubt suggested by the initials which it contains of the formula Ι᾿ησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ (Jesus Christ, Son of God, the Saviour), a sentence which had been adopted from the Sibylline verses. "Moreover, the phonetic sign of this word, the actual fish was an emblem whose meaning was entirely concealed from the uninitiated-an important point with those who were surrounded by foes ready to ridicule and blaspheme whatever of Christianity they could detect. Nor did the appropriateness of the symbol stop here. The first,' observed Tertullian, 'seems a fit emblem of him whose spiritual children are, like the offspring of fishes, born in the water of baptism."' Sometimes the word ἰχθύς was expressed at length, as in the two following (Lapidarian Gallery):

ΙΚΟΨΧ BONO ET INOCENTI FILIO PASTORI ῥ QV ῥ X ῥ Aῥ N ῥ IIII NNIS X ΙΞΟΨΧ The first contains the mistake of K for X. At other times the fish itself was figured, as recommended by Clement of Alexandria (Paedagog. 3, 106), who, besides the fish, proposed as Christian emblems for signets fishermen, anchors, ships, doves, and lyres.

In a metrical Grecian inscription at Antrim, Christ himself, at the supper, is called ἰχθύς. Usually, however, it is the fisherman, who is Christ himself; he who also called the apostles to become the fishers of men (Mt 4:19; Mr 1:17). Clement observes that it refers to the apostle Peter, and the boys who were drawn out of the water (of baptism). To these the anchor is added, which, as early as the letter to the Hebrews (Heb 6:19), is made the symbol of hope resting in the centre of holiness (comp. Mai, Inscrip. Chr. p. 375, 4; 415, 9; 424, 7; 430,10; 449,4; 460,6). Less frequently we find the sailing ship, e.g. upon. an inscription of Firmia Victoria, in the porch of Maria in Trastevere, in Rome, and (Mai, Inscrip. Chr. p. 430, 6) upon the tombstone of a certain virgin named Serenila. The same is also found in the Vatican. Clement calls it ναῦς οὐρανοδρομοῦσα, "the ship hastening heavenwards." The lyre, as far as we know, does not occur on tombstones. The lyre is perhaps an ideal picture of the harmony which reigns in the Christian soul, or is used instead of Orpheus, by whom also Christ was represented. The clove, also specified by Clement, and the olive branch, are more numerous, as the signs of love and peace. The word peace is added to this facsimile from the Lapidarian Gallery.

The substitution of botis. and birgini for votis and virgini: the b and v are sometimes as absurdly reversed.

DECEMBER S EVIVO FECIT SIBI BISOMVM.

Clement, among other things, forbids Christians to carry pitchers and swords upon their rings. The pitcher, with or without handle, does occur, however, frequently in Rome, Trier, and elsewhere, on Christian graves, usually between two doves. Whether this symbol refers to the doves drinking from a bowl, or whether it points to the water of life which is to refresh the thirsty soul, is not known. Instead of the sword, the axe occurs a few times on Christian tombstones: thus in Rome, at the church Nereo ed Achille, in the Palazzo Guilelmi, several times at Aringhi, etc. They are most probably a concealed representation of the cross, whose form they somewhat resemble. The Christians could use this symbol more readily, because it was also used by the heathens as dedicatio sub ascia. In addition to these, we find the seven-armed candlestick, which occurs in the cloister of St. Paola at Rome and elsewhere upon Jewish tomb-stones, but also upon Christian basilisks of Rome; not so frequently on graves, e.g. Mai,

Inscript. Chr. p. 408, 4. The lamb occurs seldom, e.g. Mai, Inscript. Chr. p. 401, 3; the same, between two doves, p. 363, 5. The balance occurs twice at Aringhi; and upon private sarcophagi, representations of the good shepherd, Old and New Testament histories, etc. Besides these, there are also occasionally met with the anchor, "understood to signify the close of a well-spent life: the conclusion of a successful is cast. This supposition is strengthened by the fact that the Church was often represented by a ship sailing heavenward: ἡ ναῦς οὐρανοδρομουσα of Clement: in later times steered by Sts. Peter and Paul." This symbol may help to explain the expression used by Peter, "So shall an entrance be ministered unto you abundantly," generally referred to the prosperous entrance of a vessel into port. "The ignorance displayed by the sculptor is scarcely to be accounted for, excepting by the circumstance that the traffic on the Tiber was confined to barges, unprovided with masts and sails, and towed by horses. The peacock is said to have been used as an emblem of immortality. This idea was borrowed from the pagans, who employed it to signify the apotheosis of an empress: for this purpose it was let fly from the funeral pile on which her body was consumed. The phoenix was also adopted by the Christians with the same intention; so, also, the crowned horse, as a sign of victory." The supposed emblems of martyrdom, such as a figure praying, a crown, or a palm branch, which generally belong to this class, are borrowed from paganism, with additional significance in Christian cases, especially on account of the mention of it in the book of Revelation. "On the strength of some expressions there used, antiquarians of later times have taken it for granted that the early Church employed both crown and palm, or either separately, as emblems of martyrdom." This supposition, though apparently reasonable, has been abandoned from want of proof; and such a fragment as the following, found in the cemetery of St. Priscilla (Lapidarian Gallery), is now only supposed to belong to the epitaph of an ordinary Christian:

NA VIBAS DOMINO E S V

The crown and palm conjoined are also met with: in the present example, from the Vatican library, they encircle the monogram, as represented below:

The extreme youth of the neophyte, while it proves the custom of infant baptism, makes the martyrdom of Jovina improbable. "The notice of death is various in the heathen inscriptions. Occasionally occurs D.M. (dis manibus); instead of that, also B. M., i.e. bonae memoriae. The beginning formula usually is hic quiescit, or requiescit in pace; in the Greek, ἐνθάε κεῖται or κατακεῖται ἐν εἰρήνη; the latter also occurs on the Jewish inscriptions of St. Paola. Instead of this stands also hic pausat in pace, ἀνέπαυσεν ἐν εἰρήνῃ, hi posita est, hic sepultus jacet, requiescit in somno pacis, dormit in pace, locus, κατάθεσις EN ΠAZE (? inpace Graecized), ἐν εἰρήνῃ κοίμησις, τόπος ἀναπαύσεως, etc.; or simply the name of the deceased in the nominative or dative, with and without in pace, ἐν εἰρήνῃ."

Quite remarkable, however, is the distinguishing feature of Christian inscriptions of the early centuries, and perhaps one in which more than in any other it differs from pagan inscriptions, viz in its use of names. "While the heathen name consisted of several essential parts, all of which were necessary to distinguish its owner, the Christians in general confined themselves to that which they had received in baptism." But as some of the converts came from Roman families, it was quite natural for them to retain their Gentile and other names, yea, genuine heathen names, and thus even the names of heathen gods occur, e.g. Azizos, the name of a Syriac goddess, we find in Trier (Centralmus, 3:53) given as the name of a Syriac Christian. Also Artemia, Martinus, Mercurilis, Jovinus, Venerosa, Venerigina, Saturninus, names united with Sabbatia, Sabbatius, Nundinas, and Dominica, taken in a great measure from the names of the days of the week. But the desire to simplify names, and to give them an ethical signification, is none the less noticeable even among the Roman converts; for while it was at that time nothing unusual in the heathen world for a person to have six, eight, or ten names, in Christian inscriptions (the name given at the time of baptism being always preferred) but one or two names generally occur. The name was, as a rule, taken in view of facts universally believed to be good or desirable, e.g. with regard to lite: Vitalis, Vitalio, Vitalinus, Vitalissimus, Viventius, Zoe, etc.; in view of fortune: Felicio. Fortunio, Fortunula, Felicissima, Faustina. Prosper, Successus, Eutyches, etc.; of joy: Gaudentius. Gaudiosus, Hilario, Hilarianus, Jucunda, Edone; of victory: Victor, Vincentius, Nike, Pancratir; of strength: Virissimus, Fortissima, Alcimus, Dynamiola; of faith: Theophistus, Fidelis; of hope:

Spes, Helpis, Elpidia; of love: Philetus, Philumena, Agape, Agapetus, Caritosa; of spiritual blessing: Dorotheus, Theodorus. Theodota, Theodulus, Timothea, Theophila, and various others. The kingdom of nature has also its part in Christian names, e.g. months: Januarius, Februarius, Aprilis, Decembrina; animals, plants, employments of rural life, etc. Of Old Testament names few are found, e.g. Susanna, Daniel, and Daniel; of New-Testament names, Maria, Petrus, Paulus. The consideration of national names is foreign to our purpose. After the name of the deceased there is frequently appended a short statement of his Christian position, views, or habits which distinguished him in civil life. He is called a neophyte (once in albis), a believer (fidelis), i.e. one who is really accepted: martyr, diacon, exorcista, subdiacon, etc.; child, virgin, man, wife; anima dulcis, mirae innocentiae anima or exemplum, dulcis aptissimus infans et visugrata et verbis dulcissima cunctis, filius innocentissimus. dulcissimus, bonus, sapiens, omnibus honorificentissimus et moneus, deo fidelis et dulcis marito, nutrix familiae, cunctis humilis, placata puro corde, amatrix pauperum, abstinens se ab omni maligna re, etc.; 'the most common form is bene merens. Then follows the age, with a qui vixit or in' sceculo, ἔζησεν, ζήσας, either with an accurate account of the years, months, and days, or merely about the time, with the additional statement plus minus, πλέον ἐλάττον. Then the day of burial, with a depositus or deposito, not seldom the fasti for the year; sometimes, also, the announcement of the person who erected the stone (titulum posuit or posuerunt), and of his suffering (dolens, contra votum, etc.). Of course this arrangement is not always followed. Sometimes we find following the name a motto, such as ζήσης, vivas in Christo, in deo vivas, vivas in domino, spes pax tibi, accepta sis ll u nnrsto. The language is largely corrupted, the Latin degenerating into the Roman, but for this reason is very important in grammar. Occasionally we find Latin words written in Greek letters, or mixed inscriptions in both languages. When written in poetry, the hexameter or distich measure is commonly used, and yet they are rhythmical rather than metrical. In such rhythmical inscriptions we find extension of thought not in the foregoing. The material upon which the inscriptions were made consists of small, plain marble slabs, either laid upon the grave or put into the coffin. Sometimes, to designate the death of martyrs, there occur vessels of blood and the instruments of death; also glasses, etc.

2. Besides the inscriptions on graves, which Rettberg first made useful to Church history, there are also sacred inscriptions, which we find partly upon glass, partly upon coins, gems, lamps, amulets, crosses, dishes, and other works of art. The more ancient Christian inscriptions have not yet been sufficiently sought for. In the collections of Fabretti, Reinesius, Gruter, Muratori, Donati, Castelli, Spon, Osann, Orelli, etc., they are badly injured. For descriptions of them, consult Franz, who speaks of the following: Bosio. Roma sotterranea (Rome, 1651); P. Aringhi, Ronma subterranea novissima (Rome, 1657; Paris, 1659), vols. 1 and 2; Boldetti. Osservazioni sopra i ciniteri de' santi martiri ed antichi christiani (Rome, 1720); Banduri, Numismata inmpp. Rom. a Traiano Decio ad paleologos Augustos (Paris, 1718), vols. 1, 2; Eckhel, Doctr. Nunm. vol. 8; Bellori, Lucernae veteres (Col. 1702); Ficoroni, Gemace ant. litt. Rome; Buonaruoti, Osservazioni sopra alcuni vast auntichi di vetro (Firenz. 1716); Seroux d'Agincourt, Histoire de l'artpar les monuments, etc. (Paris, 1823),vols. 1-4; Krebs, Lipsanotheca Weilburgensis (1820); Memoires de l'nstitut Royal de France (1837, 1838), vol. 3. The following are not mentioned by Franz; the treatise of Pellicia, De re lapidaria et siglis yet. Christian., in his Christianca ecclesie politia (ed. Braun, Colonise, 1838), 3:111-297; Kopp, Paleogr. Critic (Mannhemii, 1829), vols. 3 and 4; Mai, or rather Marini, Inscriptiones Christianme, in Mai, Script. veterum nova collectio (Rome, 1831), vol. 5, a work that leaves untreated much to be wished for. Earlier undertakings are spoken of by Mai in his introduction, p. 8 to 15. For the inscriptions at Naples, consult the works concerning the Catacombs there found; for those at Milan, Givo, Labus intorno alcuni monumenti epigrafici christiani scoperti in Milano l'anno MDCCCXIII nell' insigne basilica di san' Ambroqio (Milan, 1824, fol.); and the same, Intorno alcuni monumenti epi qrafici gentileschi e christiani scoperti nell' insigne basilica di S. Simpliciano (in the Giornale dell' J. R. Instituto Lombardo di Science, Lettere ed Arti, vol. 3, Milan, 1842); for those at Verona, Maffei's Miuseum Veronense (Veronae, 1749), p. 178-184. For those at Autun, comp. Franz. Das chrisfliche Denkilal (Berl. 1841, 8vo), in German and French. For Treves, see the works of Lersch. especially his Central Museum Rheinlandischer Inschriften (Bonn, 1842), 3:29-48; Steiner, Cod. inscrip. — Rhen, No. 829-849; Wyttenbach, Neue Beitrage z. antiken, heidnisch u. christl. Epigraphik (Treves, 1833); and others. For later epigraphs of the Middle Ages, see Otte, Abriss e. Kirchl. Kunst-Archaeol. d. Mittelalters (Nordhausen, 1845), p. 71-92; Menti, in Didron, Annales Archeologiques, 1, 106. For inscriptions still later, see Galletti, Inscriptiones Romtance infimi cevi (Rome, 1760), vols. 1-3; Morcelli, Op. Fpigraph. (Patavii, 1823), vols. 4 and 5; Hipsch, Epigrammatographie (Cologne, 1801), vol. 2. See Aschbach. Kirchen- Lex. 3:484 sq.; Martigny, Dict. des Antiquites, p. 315 sq.; and especially Maitland, Church in the Catacombs (London, 1846, 8vo), from which we have freely quoted.