pagan pontificesoversaw the construction and use of the tombs, even after the advent
of Christian emperors; a law of Constantius dated to 349 ceindicates that this con-
tinued to be the case (CTh9.17.2). Hence, private burial grounds were sacred spaces
under Roman law for pagans and Christians alike, and there was no legal reason why
members of the same family, but of different religious orientations, could not be
buried together in private or non-church collegiaburials. Only in church cemeter-
ies, from the third century on, could clerics prevent pagans from being buried next
to Christians, but from the fourth century there is no evidence to indicate that the
church interfered with private or non-church collegiaburials (Johnson 1997: 42–3).
And indeed, throughout the fourth century there is ample evidence that pagans and
Christians continued to share private and non-church collegiatombs across the empire,
even if some localities did at times regulate this practice (Johnson 1997: 37–59).
Perhaps the most striking instance of such shared space from the fourth century is
the Catacomb of Vibia located on the Via Appia outside of Rome. The style of the
paintings, the epigraphy, and certain words indicate that the catacomb was at the
height of its use from c. 350 to 400 ce(Ferrua 1971: 58 – 61). The paintings and
inscriptions indicate pagan worshipers of Dei Solis Invicti Mithraewere buried here;
so too were a good number of Christians (Ferrua 1971: 44, 33, 56 – 62). The reli-
gious koinerepresented by such shared burial space remained protected by Roman
law throughout the fourth century.
In addition to sharing tombs, Christians and pagans also shared certain rituals
for the dead. The Apostolic Constitutions, a late fourth-century compilation of various
sources, provides information about Christian burial practices; it supplies a prayer
for the deceased and stipulates that the third, ninth, and thirtieth days after the
death should be commemorated (Constitutio Apostolica 8.42: for the edition and
dating, see Les constitutions apostoliques, SC 320, 329, 336, ed. M. Metzger,
1985–7; Johnson 1997: 43). This practice is closely related to pagan usage which
stipulated that a funeral feast and sacred rites, known as the novemdialis, be held on
the ninth day after death (Johnson 1997: 43). Similarly, pagans and Christians shared
the custom of offering food and wine to the dead. We hear about Augustine’s mother,
Monica, who was about to make such an offering of cake, bread, and wine to honor
the memorials of the sainted dead in a suburban cemetery outside Milan when bishop
Ambrose prevented her “both for fear that to some they might be occasions for
drunkenness and also because they bore so close a resemblance to the superstitious
rites (parentalia) which pagans held in honor of their dead” (Aug. Conf.6.2). Augustine
follows Ambrose (Aug. Epist.29) in viewing this custom of refrigeriumas a dis-
guised version of the annual pagan feast of the dead, the Virgo Vestalis Parentat (or
Parentalia) on February 13, when mourners visited the tombs of their dead relatives
and gave gifts of cake and wine. These private rites culminated in two public holidays
for the dead: the Feralia on February 21, which included sacrifices and offerings to
the Manes, the ancestral spirits of the dead; and the Cara Cognatio (=Caristia) on
February 22, when families gathered for a meal and to offer food and incense to
the family gods (Lares) to maintain good relations with the dead (Ov. Fast.2.631ff ).
Such annual honors were publicly recorded in the official state calendars, and
Christians performed these as well, as evidenced by attempts to halt such practices
Religious Koineand Religious Dissent 115