The newly uncovered frescoes ceiling in th catacomb of St Domitilla in Rome.
Deep in a labyrinth of dark tunnels, in the heart of Rome's oldest and largest catacombs, archaeologists have discovered an exquisite set of 1,6000-year-old frescoes painted to commemorate the city's
early Christians.
Experts used the latest laser technology to uncover the centuries of grime which had rendered the frescoes
invisable.
The discovery had shed new light on the process by which wealthy Romans shifted away from their pagan beliefs
and embraced the new religion of Christ in the fourth century AD.
Archaeologists found a series of frescoes which chronicle how grain was transported by ship from around the
Mediterranean to the ancient Roman port of Ostia, then transferred to smaller boats which brought it up the
Tiber River to warehouses in the centre of the imperial capital.
The import and distribution of grain was a state monopoly controlled by high ranking officials, at a time when
every Roman was entitled to a daily bread ration.
The crypts, hacked out of soft volcanic rock, were created for the families of the imperial functionaries who
grew rich on the grain trade and the production of bread.
For centuries, the ceiling frescoes in the Catacombs of St Domitilla were covered in a thick black layer of calcium
deposits, algae and smoke from oil lamps.
Laser instruments were used to burn away the dirt and deposits, leaving only the rich colours of the frescoes
beneath.
At the centre of the ceiling frescoe is an image of Christ, seated on a throne, with two men either side of him.
They are thought to be either St Peter and St Paul of St Nerius and St Achilleus, two Roman soldiers who were
martyred for preaching the new faith.
There are scenes from the Old and New Testaments, including Niah and his Ark and the miracle of ththe five thousand with bread and fishes.
The frescoe is adorned with peacocks, which in pagan belief were symbols of the afterlife. The crypts were
painted around 360 AD-just a few decades after Christianity had been made legal by
Emperor Constantine,
By Nick Squires
30th, May 2017