2000-Year Old Toga-Clad Skeletons
Monday June 26, 2006
I think this might be of interest to many of you, but I'm not sure whether it's because of the controversy it is engendering or the topic itself. The Scotsman.com News has an article about 1,000 skeletons found in Rome catacombs that are thought to have been Christian because it is thought that 2 millennia back in Roman history, cremation was the standard burial process. The bodies are thought to have belonged to wealthy upper class Romans. Those commenting about the article are discussing whether residents of Rome from 2000 years ago would have been Christian and whether burial in the catacombs means that they were Christian. They are also taking jabs at people who get their information on early Christianity from the Da Vinci Code movie/book.
Comments
I think one needs to wait until further exploration has been done.
And 1,000 upper class Christian Romans in one spot seem rather unlikely. Some could have been wealthy freedmen. Nor is the specualtion that they were Nero’s victim very sound: Would they have been allowed to be buried in all their finery?
The latest is that they may have died during an epidemic in the 3rd century AD.
See PhDiva’s blog, http://phdiva.blogspot.com/2006/06/rome-skeletons-update.html
That certainly makes better sense. Thanks f for the update.