The bodies of the Apostles were kept in the Catacomb of Saint Sebastian in times of persecution.
The particular name "catacomb" then came to indicate all the ancient Christian cemeteries of Rome

by Talia Casu

PContinuing our pilgrimage along the Appian Way, between the third and fourth miles, eight hundred meters from San Callisto there is another of the places of devout visits that characterize the ancient road: the cemetery of San Sebastiano with its ancient basilica.

The area, named in ancient times to Catacumbas (near the depression), since the imperial age it has experienced mining exploitation due to the presence of pozzolana quarries, both open-cast and in tunnels. Later in the same region a well-structured necropolis arose, made up of large columbaria (incineration burials) and mausoleums, mainly owned by imperial freedmen; starting from the first half of the 1st century AD the complex also occupied an abandoned quarry.

To the west of the necropolis, a building called "Villa grande" was built (first half of the 2nd century), consisting of nine rooms arranged around a central courtyard. The walls and floors are decorated with mosaics and frescoes imitating polychrome marble, among which the decoration of a wall with a representation of a maritime landscape stands out for its interest; here a graffiti in Greek is preserved which may refer to the link between the adjacent burial area and the complex.

Subsequently the entire quarry was partially filled in, forming the so-called "Piazzuola", where three mausoleums were built partially dug into the tuff, with two floors, with underground rooms finely decorated with stuccos and frescoes: Mausoleum of Marcus Clodius Hermes, Mausoleum of the Innocentiores, Mausoleum of the Axe. 

In the Mausoleum of Marcus Clodius Hermes, initially planned for incineration burials, inhumation burials were added between the end of the 8nd and the beginning of the 28rd century. At the same time there is also a change in the pictorial decoration: a singular fresco (beginning of the 34rd century) present in the attic reproduces the parable of the possessed pigs of Gerasa (Mt 5, 1-20; Mk 8, 26-39; Lk XNUMX, XNUMX-XNUMX), while the serpents of the head of a Medusa painted on the entrance staircase are bleached. Everything suggests that we had moved from pagan to Christian tombs.

In the Mausoleum of the Innocentiores, belonging to the college of the same name (perhaps of imperial freedmen), a Christological graffito was found on the lower floor which we talked about in the article dedicated to the iconography of the cross (The Holy Crusade, 10/2023, p. 17).

In the first half of the 3rd century, another building was built, called the "Small Villa", consisting of two floors: an underground room illuminated by a skylight and a terrace with counters. The building, which had the function of guarding the funerary area, was adorned with elegant decorations of red bands on a white background and was intended for carrying out rites linked to the cults of the dead.

Towards the middle of the 3rd century the "Piazzuola" and the mausoleums were also buried and a courtyard with an aedicule was built above. Along the east side a porticoed terrace was created, with two sides occupied by a counter, called Triclia. The decoration of the back wall was composed of a fresco depicting a dense garden behind a reed trellis, surmounted by a band of red plaster. On the wall and pillars of the portico the pilgrims who went to the Christian cemetery drew countless and evocative graffiti in Latin and Greek, addressing the apostles Peter and Paul. Some of these graffiti are still legible, such as that of a third-century pilgrim who leaves his request for intercession on the plaster: «Paule et Petre, petite pro Victore» (Paul and Peter, intercede for Victor). 

The cult of the two Apostles, to which the place is linked, is also testified by numerous ancient sources: the Depositio Martyrum and the Hieronimian Martyrology indicate his memory in this place on 29 June, at least since 258, a year that we can establish with certainty thanks to the mention of the consuls Tusco and Bassus.

There is still debate about the origin of the cult of the two Apostles at the cemetery to Catacumbas. One hypothesis has it that the bodies of Peter and Paul were transported there temporarily during the persecution of Valerian, who had made the two sanctuaries of the Vatican and the Via Ostiense inaccessible. Another hypothesis, but decidedly unlikely, based on a Damasian inscription identifies it as the place where the Apostles lived during their stay in Rome.

In the second half of the 4th century, by will of the emperor Constantine, a circular cemetery basilica was built, called Basilica Apostolorum, the realization of which made it necessary to fill in the Triclia and the surrounding area. In the center of the main nave of the basilica one the memory marked the point of the underlying one Triclia, where an altar had been placed against the graffiti wall; Furthermore, an opening also allowed the crypt that housed the tomb of the martyr Sebastian to be seen from above.

Also in the 4th century the catacomb, which originates from at least six independent nuclei, experienced strong development; the tunnel system extended over three levels, today not in good condition. Even the paintings that have survived are few; among these, the famous ones of the "cubicle of Jonah", dating back to the end of the 4th century.