The story of the Roman catacombs is vastly different than that of the catacombs of Paris, as Rome’s are much older and were created for very different reasons.

Research:
Bonello, Giovanni. “Charting the enigmatic life of Antonio Bosio.” Times of Malta. Dec. 6, 2014. https://timesofmalta.com/article/Charting-the-enigmatic-life-of-Antonio-Bosio.547468
Bonello, Giovanni. “How Antonio Bosio Became famous Worldwide.” Times of Malta. Dec. 13, 2014. https://timesofmalta.com/article/How-Antonio-Bosio-became-famous-worldwide.548393
Bosio, Antonio. “Roma sotteranea.” 1650. Accessed online: https://books.google.com/books?id=zCXXSKqq3nQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&q&f=false
Britannica Editors. "Edict of Milan". Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Aug. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Edict-of-Milan
Britannica Editors. "First Jewish Revolt". Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Mar. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Jewish-Revolt
Britannica Editors. "Law of the Twelve Tables". Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Mar. 2018, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Law-of-the-Twelve-Tables
“The Catacombs of Rome.” The Atlantic Monthly. March 1858. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1858/03/the-catacombs-of-rome/627225/
Coleman-Norton, Paul R. “The Twelve Tables.” 2024 (eBook). https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/14783/pg14783-images.html
“Diocletianic Persecution.” Ebsco. 2023. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/religion-and-philosophy/diocletianic-persecution
“Jews in Roman Times.” The Roman Empire. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/jews.html
Lamberton, Clark D. “The Development of Christian Symbolism as Illustrated in Roman Catacomb Painting.” American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 15, no. 4, 1911, pp. 507–22. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/497187
Munro, Dana Carleton et al. “Translations and reprints from the original sources of European history : series for 1897.” University of Pennsylvania. 1898. https://archive.org/details/translationsrepr00munr/page/n3/mode/2up
Northcote, James Spencer. “The Roman Catacombs.” Sophia Institute Press. 2017. (Reprint)
Northcote, James Spencer. ““The Roman Catacombs; or Some Accounts of the Burial Places of the Early Christians in Rome.” Philadelphia. Peter F. Cunningham. 1857. (Reprint)
Osborne, J. “The Roman Catacombs in the Middle Ages.” Papers of the British School at Rome , 1985, Vol. 53 (1985), pp. 278-328. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40310821
Perrottet, Tony. “Explore Rome’s Hidden Underworld, Where a City Lurks Beneath a City.” Smithsonian. April/May 2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/explore-romes-hidden-underworld-city-beneath-city-180986228/
“PONTIFICAL COMMISSION FOR SACRED ARCHAEOLOGY – Historical Notes.” Vatican. https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_commissions/archeo/inglese/documents/rc_com_archeo_doc_20011010_cenni_en.html
Richter, J. P. “Early Christian Art in the Roman Catacombs.” The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, vol. 6, no. 22, 1905, pp. 286–262. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/856226
“The Roman Catacombs.” Architecture. April 20, 1888. No. 414, p. 224. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433084078983&seq=414&q1=catacombs
“The Roman Catacombs.” Scientific American, vol. 58, no. 20, 1888, pp. 312–312. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26094597
Rossi, Giovannie Battista de, et all. “Roma sotterranea : or, Some account of the Roman catacombs, especially of the cemetery of San Callisto ; comp. from the works of Commendatore de Rossi with the consent of the author.” Longmans, Green, Reader and Dyer. London. 1869. https://archive.org/details/a606740800rossuoft/a606740800rossuoft/page/6/mode/2up
RUTGERS, LEONARD VICTOR, and לאונרד רוטגרס. “הקטקומבות היהודיות ברומא: הערכה מחודשת / THE JEWISH CATACOMBS OF ROME RECONSIDERED.” Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies / דבריהקונגרסהעולמילמדעיהיהדות, י, 1989, pp. 29–36. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23535611
Terry, Andrea, and John Osborne. “Un Canadien Errant: Charles Smeaton and the Earliest Photographs of the Roman Catacombs.” RACAR: Revue d’art Canadienne / Canadian Art Review, vol. 32, no. 1/2, 2007, pp. 94–106. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42630755
Yeomans, Sarah. “City of the Dead.” Archaeology, vol. 61, no. 4, 2008, pp. 55–62. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41780388

The story of the Roman catacombs is vastly different than that of the catacombs of Paris, as Rome&rsquo;s are much older and were created for very different reasons.
Research:
<ul>
<li>Bonello, Giovanni. &ldquo;Charting the enigmatic life of Antonio Bosio.&rdquo; Times of Malta. Dec. 6, 2014. https://timesofmalta.com/article/Charting-the-enigmatic-life-of-Antonio-Bosio.547468</li>
<li>Bonello, Giovanni. &ldquo;How Antonio Bosio Became famous Worldwide.&rdquo; Times of Malta. Dec. 13, 2014. https://timesofmalta.com/article/How-Antonio-Bosio-became-famous-worldwide.548393</li>
<li>Bosio, Antonio. &ldquo;Roma sotteranea.&rdquo; 1650. Accessed online: https://books.google.com/books?id=zCXXSKqq3nQC&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;source=gbs_atb#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false</li>
<li>Britannica Editors. "Edict of Milan".&nbsp;Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Aug. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Edict-of-Milan</li>
<li>Britannica Editors. "First Jewish Revolt".&nbsp;Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Mar. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/First-Jewish-Revolt</li>
<li>Britannica Editors. "Law of the Twelve Tables".&nbsp;Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Mar. 2018, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Law-of-the-Twelve-Tables</li>
<li>&ldquo;The Catacombs of Rome.&rdquo; The Atlantic Monthly. March 1858. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1858/03/the-catacombs-of-rome/627225/</li>
<li>Coleman-Norton, Paul R. &ldquo;The Twelve Tables.&rdquo; 2024 (eBook). https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/14783/pg14783-images.html</li>
<li>&ldquo;Diocletianic Persecution.&rdquo; Ebsco. 2023. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/religion-and-philosophy/diocletianic-persecution</li>
<li>&ldquo;Jews in Roman Times.&rdquo; The Roman Empire. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/jews.html</li>
<li>Lamberton, Clark D. &ldquo;The Development of Christian Symbolism as Illustrated in Roman Catacomb Painting.&rdquo;&nbsp;American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 15, no. 4, 1911, pp. 507&ndash;22.&nbsp;JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/497187</li>
<li>Munro, Dana Carleton et al. &ldquo;Translations and reprints from the original sources of European history : series for 1897.&rdquo; University of Pennsylvania. 1898. https://archive.org/details/translationsrepr00munr/page/n3/mode/2up</li>
<li>Northcote, James Spencer. &ldquo;The Roman Catacombs.&rdquo; Sophia Institute Press. 2017. (Reprint)</li>
<li>Northcote, James Spencer. &ldquo;&ldquo;The Roman Catacombs; or Some Accounts of the Burial Places of the Early Christians in Rome.&rdquo; Philadelphia. Peter F. Cunningham. 1857. (Reprint)</li>
<li>Osborne, J. &ldquo;The Roman Catacombs in the Middle Ages.&rdquo; Papers of the British School at Rome , 1985, Vol. 53 (1985), pp. 278-328. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40310821</li>
<li>Perrottet, Tony. &ldquo;Explore Rome&rsquo;s Hidden Underworld, Where a City Lurks Beneath a City.&rdquo; Smithsonian. April/May 2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/explore-romes-hidden-underworld-city-beneath-city-180986228/</li>
<li>&ldquo;PONTIFICAL COMMISSION FOR SACRED ARCHAEOLOGY &ndash; Historical Notes.&rdquo; Vatican. https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_commissions/archeo/inglese/documents/rc_com_archeo_doc_20011010_cenni_en.html</li>
<li>Richter, J. P. &ldquo;Early Christian Art in the Roman Catacombs.&rdquo;&nbsp;The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, vol. 6, no. 22, 1905, pp. 286&ndash;262.&nbsp;JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/856226</li>
<li>&ldquo;The Roman Catacombs.&rdquo;&nbsp;Architecture. April 20, 1888. No. 414, p. 224. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433084078983&amp;seq=414&amp;q1=catacombs</li>
<li>&ldquo;The Roman Catacombs.&rdquo;&nbsp;Scientific American, vol. 58, no. 20, 1888, pp. 312&ndash;312.&nbsp;JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26094597</li>
<li>Rossi, Giovannie Battista de, et all. &ldquo;Roma sotterranea : or, Some account of the Roman catacombs, especially of the cemetery of San Callisto ; comp. from the works of Commendatore de Rossi with the consent of the author.&rdquo; Longmans, Green, Reader and Dyer. London. 1869. https://archive.org/details/a606740800rossuoft/a606740800rossuoft/page/6/mode/2up</li>
<li>RUTGERS, LEONARD VICTOR, and לאונרד רוטגרס. &ldquo;הקטקומבות היהודיות ברומא: הערכה מחודשת / THE JEWISH CATACOMBS OF ROME RECONSIDERED.&rdquo;&nbsp;Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies / דברי הקונגרס העולמי למדעי היהדות, י, 1989, pp. 29&ndash;36.&nbsp;JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23535611</li>
<li>Terry, Andrea, and John Osborne. &ldquo;Un Canadien Errant: Charles Smeaton and the Earliest Photographs of the Roman Catacombs.&rdquo;&nbsp;RACAR: Revue d&rsquo;art Canadienne / Canadian Art Review, vol. 32, no. 1/2, 2007, pp. 94&ndash;106.&nbsp;JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42630755</li>
<li>Yeomans, Sarah. &ldquo;City of the Dead.&rdquo;&nbsp;Archaeology, vol. 61, no. 4, 2008, pp. 55&ndash;62.&nbsp;JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41780388</li>
</ul>

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Stuff You Missed in History Class

The story of the Roman catacombs is vastly different than that of the catacombs of Paris, as Rome’s are much older and were created for very different reasons. 

Catacombs of Rome

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