The names of very many of these _collegia_ have been preserved, each of which consisted of the members of a similar profession or handicraft. Thus we have the _Collegium Medicorum_, the association of the physicians; _Aurificum_, of the gold-workers; _Tignariorum_, of the carpenters; _Dendrophororum_, of the wood-fellers; _Pellionariorum_, of the furriers; _Nautarum_, of the sailors; _Pabulariorum_, of the forage merchants; _Aurigariorum_, of the charioteers; and _Utriculariorum_, of the bargemen.[64] They were frequently also connected by the bond of nationality or of common religious observance, as _Collegium Germanorum_, the association of the Germans; _Pastophororum_, of the priests of Isis; _Serapidis et Isidis_, of Serapis and Isis; _Æsculapii et Hygeiæ_, of Æsculapius and Hygeia.[65] Sometimes they were _Cultores Veneris_, _Jovis_, _Herculis_, worshippers of Venus, Jupiter, Hercules, or, as we have seen, of Diana and Antinous. These associations were often favoured with especial privileges, 68 immunities, and rights, like those of incorporation, such as the holding of territorial property. De Rossi has shown, by ample citations, that the emperors, who were always opposed to associations among the citizens, made a special exemption in favour of these funeral clubs.[66] By conformity to the constitution of these corporations the Christian church had peculiar facilities for the burial of its dead, and even for the celebration of religious worship. Indeed, it has been suggested, and is highly probable, that it was under the cover of these funeral associations that toleration was conceded, first to the sepulchres, then to the churches. Tertullian describes the practice of the Christian community in the second century as follows: “Every one offers a small contribution on a certain day of the month, or when he chooses, and as he is able, for no one is compelled; it is a voluntary offering. This is our common fund for piety; for it is not expended in feasting and drinking and in wanton excesses, but in feeding and _burying the poor_, in supporting orphans, aged persons, and such as are shipwrecked, or such as languish in mines, in exile, or in prison.”[67] Thus the _Ecclesia Fratrum_, the “Congregation of the Brethren,” who restored the funeral monument described on page fifty-six,[68] suggests the pagan college of the _Fratres Arvales_; 69 and the _Cultor Verbi_, or worshipper of the Divine Word, in the same inscription, would seem to the heathen magistrate analogous to the _Cultores Jovis_ or _Cultores Dianæ_ of the pagan _collegia_. Indeed, it is difficult to decide from the names of some of these associations whether they were Christian or pagan. Thus we read of the _Collegium convictorum qui una epulo vesci solent_--“The fraternity of table-companions who are accustomed to feast together.” De Rossi suggests that there may be here a covert reference to a Christian