We flew from Athens to Rome this morning and arrived around 11AM. Our hotel rooms weren't ready when we got to the hotel so we went to a nearby open-air cafe for lunch.
We enjoyed our first taste of pizza and calzones in Italy
Across the street from our hotel
After lunch we went to visit the Catacombs. It has been rumored for many years that the persecuted Christians used the Catacombs to hide from the Romans. This appears to be a bit of a raging controversy as some say it isn't true. I'll let you do your own research. In doing some Googling, there are some who believe Christians did hide there during a later time of persecution. At any rate...what CAN be proven is that the Christians during Roman times used the Catacombs to bury their dead. Romans always cremated their dead so this was a significant departure from the norm. Roman Christians considered cremation as lacking reverence and belief in the resurrection. To bury their dead in the Catacombs carried a significant financial cost and put them in danger of persecution. (Incidentally, it was likely with cruel intent that many martyrs were burned at the stake, denying them a burial. Not only did it deny a proper burial but it seemed to mock a future hope of eternity with Christ that Christians were known to believe.) Romans were also so uncomfortable with death, that seeing a funeral was considered a bad omen and they were only held at night. Christians on the other hand, led joyful funeral processions like a march of triumph in broad daylight.
There are many Christian symbols on the walls of the Catacombs. This is a symbol that means Jesus Christ, Alpha and Omega. Interestingly, Constantine used the X and P --which are the first two letters of Christo in Greek--on the shields of his soldiers. They came to symbolize Constantine but his original intent was to emblazon Jesus Christ on his men after having a dream telling him to do so. This was similar to the symbol for Christians that we saw in Ephesus and it's my favorite of all the symbols used.
We weren't allowed to take pictures in the Catacombs because the Vatican has a copyright on all images - so I found this one on the Internet. Hopefully they will not arrest me. ha. There are a labyrinth of narrow underground passageways that only permitted us to walk single file. The walls actually looked black but that may have been due to the dim light. We needed flashlights to see where we were walking. The rectangles shown in the walls were where the bodies were placed and there were still some remains visible (dust and bone fragments).
One more image from the Internet. Once the bodies were placed in the crevices, a piece of marble generally covered the hole with a name, date and Christian symbol(s).
This is the symbol for a preacher
This is the fish symbol we are all familiar with
This is a dove with an olive leaf, symbolizing peace.
To hide the symbol of a cross, they added to it to make it look like an anchor. The anchor could also give it another meaning of Christ being our Anchor.
This is the Shepherd with a lamb on his shoulders. Some of the Shepherd symbols had a whole flock of sheep.
Since we were walking single file in the cold and dark, I had some time to think about what it must have been like for the Christians in Rome. My heart ached as I thought of all they went through. I'm sure whatever I can imagine is still not the half of it.
We returned to the bus and were driven around to see some of the sites of Rome. Most we will not have a chance to visit.
This is the famous Circus Maxiumus where chariot races were held. It was featured in the story of Ben Hur (although I'm sure Hollywood just built a replica).
Directly overlooking the Circus Maximus is Caesar's Palace.
We drove past the Colosseum and will be returning to tour it on Friday.
I'm fascinated by these trees. Our guide doesn't know what they are and said she calls them mushroom trees.
