[Illustration: Underground gallery in the Catacombs, from Th. Roller’s “Catacombes de Rome.”] gate,[83] they entered by various ways (slipping round different tombs that lined the road) into the same villa on the right-hand. Here they found all the requisites for a descent into the subterranean cemeteries, such as candles, lanterns, and the instruments for procuring light. Severus proposed that, as the guides and the strangers were in equal number, they should be divided into pairs; and in the division he allotted Torquatus to himself. What his reason was we may easily conjecture. It would probably weary our readers to follow the whole conversation of the party. Diogenes not only answered all questions put to him, but, from time to time, gave intelligent little lectures, on such objects as he considered peculiarly attractive. But we believe we shall better interest and inform _our_ friends, if we digest the whole matter of these into a more connected narrative. And besides, they will wish to know something of the subsequent history of those wonderful excavations, into which we have conducted our youthful pilgrims. The history of the early Christian cemeteries, the _Catacombs_ as they are commonly called, may be divided into three portions: from their beginning to the period of our narrative, or a few years later; from this term to the eighth century; then down to our own time, when we have reason to hope that a new epoch is being commenced. We have generally avoided using the name of catacombs, because it might mislead our readers into an idea that this was either the original or a generic name of those early Christian crypts. It is not so, however: Rome might be said to be surrounded by a circumvallation of cemeteries, sixty or thereabouts in number, each of which was generally known by the name of some saint or saints, whose bodies reposed there. Thus we have the cemeteries of SS. Nereus and Achilleus, [Illustration: THE TOMB OF SAINT CECILIA. On October 20, 1599, Cardinal Sfondrati had her tomb opened, and the body of the saint, in a state of perfect preservation, was found in the position here depicted. The sculptor, Stefano Maderno, made an exact copy of it, and his statue now ornaments her tomb.] of St. Agnes, of St. Pancratius, of Prætextatus, Priscilla, Hermes, &c. Sometimes these cemeteries were known by the names of the places where they existed.[84] The cemetery of St. Sebastian, which was called sometimes _Cœmeterium ad Sanctam Cæciliam_,[85] and by other names, had among them that of _Ad Catacumbas_.[86] The meaning of this word is completely unknown; though it may be attributed to the circumstance of the relics of SS. Peter and Paul having been for a time buried there, in a crypt still existing near the cemetery. This term became the name of that particular cemetery, then was generalized, till we familiarly call the whole system of these underground excavations--the Catacombs.