For millions of pilgrims and tourists, the ancient catacombs of Rome- intricate labyrinths of burial chambers built roughly between the third and fifth century A.D- represent the rise of Christianity. Carved over several centuries from soft rock on the outskirts of the imperial capital, the catacombs are the resting places of hundreds of thousands of Christians. But while many people have heard of these 60 early-Christian complexes, not many people are aware that Jewish catacombs also survive in Rome, and that this system of vast underground burial complexes may owe their origins to Judaism instead.

Rear view of the Villa Torlonia, which sits above the Jewish catacomb of Torlonia. This villa was built in 1802 by Guiseppe Valadier and was the home of Mussolini in the 1920s.

Recent studies now show that at least one of the Jewish catacombs, Villa Torlonia, predates its Christian counterparts. Using radiocarbon dating techniques, a Dutch research team found that charcoal fragments embedded in lime powder used in the construction of Villa Torlonia dated from 50 B.C. to A.D. 400. The discovery suggests that the Jewish catacomb came into use a century before the earliest Christian sites, and even before Christianity itself appeared in Rome. The catacombs are in a remarkable state of preservation and contain the “Kokhim” graves and painted cubicula, distinguished by Judaic motifs such as the seven-branched candelabras, or menorahs, that appear on many grave stones.

Ancient Romans both cremated their dead- depositing the ashes in a family tomb (sepulcrum, memoria), a vault or a common sepulchre (columbarium)- and interred the dead in earth, one or the other being the fashion at various times during the early centuries. But the Roman Jewish community always retained their native method of burial, imitating the rock-graves of Palestine by laying out cemeteries in the stone-like stratum of tufa around Rome. Connected with the two chief Jewish colonies, one in the quarter of the city across the Tiber and the other by the Porta Capena, were two large Jewish catacombs. One is located on the Via Portuense and the other on the Via Appia, as well as some smaller ones. All are recognizable by the menorah repeatedly appearing on gravestones and lamps.

These catacombs are another sign of the profound history of the Jews in Rome. The city has the oldest Jewish community in the Western world, with Jews living here since before the birth of Christ and for more than eight generations. The first Jews came from Jerusalem in 161 B.C. as ambassadors from Judah Macabee to ask Rome for protection against the Syrians. Caesar authorized money to preserve their temple in Jerusalem, and many stayed on in Rome, settling across the Tiber river from the Imperial center in Trastevere. But soon Rome focused their desire to expand their ever-growing empire on Palestine, and the clamp-down on Jews began. When they revolted, Rome quashed the rebellion and destroyed the Second Temples in 70 A.D., leading to the Jewish exile from Palestine for the next 1,900 years. The emperor Titus dragged Jewish slaves back to Rome, along with the seven-branch menorah from the Temple, and act depicted in a bas-relief in his arch in the Forum. As Jews soon became second-class citizens in Rome, their dead and the catacombs that entombed them were all but forgotten.

Roman catacombs were long believed to be first constructed and used by the early Christians. They called them koimeteria, or “sleeping places,” suggesting that, for a Christian, death was merely sleep before resurrection. By the 3rd century the catacombs were administered by the church.
In its simplest form, a catacomb consisted of several underground galleries and chambers in a rectangular or grid plan. Loculi (recesses) were cut in the walls, one above another, to receive the bodies of from one to four family members. Persons of distinction were buried in stone coffins or carved sarcophagi placed in arched niches. The tombs of martyrs, usually in separate chambers, served as altars. As Christianity gained converts and burials multiplied, the catacombs were expanded into honeycombs of galleries. When one level was no longer sufficient, staircases were dug and a second, third, fourth, or even fifth level of galleries was excavated below. Many of the catacombs of prominent Christians were decorated with wall paintings depicting Christian symbols, such as the fish, lamb, and anchor, or with biblical scenes. Similar motifs were carved on tombs.

During times of persecution, the catacombs became places of refuge because burial places were sacrosanct by law. When churches above ground were destroyed by imperial order, worshipers met in the catacomb chapels. In the middle of the 3rd century, as mobs and officials began to violate the catacombs, Christians destroyed the old entrances and made secret ones.

Over the course of three hundred years some fifty catacombs, large and small, formed a wide circle around the city, the majority being about half an hour's walk from the city gate. Unlike the more developed Christian catacombs- established sights on the Roman tourist trail, the Jewish catacombs have no permanent lighting system, and explorers must come armed with flashlights or lamps.