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66-571: Venusberg may refer to: Venusberg (mythology) , in Teutonic myth, a subterranean temple of Venus Venusberg, Saxony , a municipality in Saxony, Germany Venusberg (novel) , a 1932 novel by Anthony Powell Venusberg, a locality in the city of Bonn . Venusberg (film) , a 1963 West German film Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

132-528: A call to holiness thus restoring balance. This initial internal conversion is only the beginning of Christianization; it is followed by practices that further the process of Christianizing the individual's lifestyle, which according to Hanigan, will include ethical changes. While Christian theologians such as the fourth century Augustine and the ninth century Alcuin maintained that conversion must be voluntary, there are historical examples of coercion in conversion. Constantine used both law and force to eradicate

198-610: A Frankish fortress to be erected at the Eresburg ". Early historians of Scandinavian Christianization wrote of dramatic events associated with Christianization in the manner of political propagandists according to John Kousgärd Sørensen  [ Da ] who references the 1987 survey by the historian of medieval Scandinavia, Birgit Sawyer . Sørensen focuses on the changes of names, both personal and place names, showing that cultic elements were not banned and are still in evidence today. Large numbers of pre-Christian names survive into

264-562: A conscious desire to find a way to include it in Christian culture. Aspects of paganism remained part of the civic culture of the Roman Empire till its end. Public spectacles were popular and resisted Christianization: gladiatorial combats ( munera ), animal hunts ( venationes ), theatrical performances ( ludi scaenici ), and chariot races ( ludi circenses ) were accommodated by Roman society even while that society disagreed and debated

330-408: A few isolated incidents. According to modern archaeology, of the thousands of temples that existed across the empire, 120 pagan temples were converted to churches with the majority dated after the fifth century. It is likely this stems from the fact that these buildings remained officially in public use, ownership could only be transferred by the emperor, and temples remained protected by law. In

396-473: A million, and became self-sustaining and able to generate further growth. There was a significant rise in the absolute number of Christians in the third century. The Christianization of the Roman Empire is frequently divided by scholars into the two phases of before and after the conversion of Constantine in 312. Constantine did not support the suppression of paganism by force. He never engaged in

462-494: A miracle prompts the pope to send emissaries after him to call him back, is first recorded in the form of a ballad by the Provencal writer Antoine de la Sale , part of the compilation known as La Salade (c. 1440). In this version, likely based on an Italian original, the "queen of the fairies" is named Sibylla rather than Venus and there is no association with Tannhäuser. The narrative of La Sale's ballad becomes conflated with

528-506: A name of the otherworld or fairyland is first mentioned in German in Formicarius by Johannes Nider (1437/38) in the context of the rising interest in witchcraft at the time. The earliest version of the narrative of the legend, a knight seeking forgiveness for having adored a pagan goddess in an enchanted mountain, but being rejected by the pope and returning to the mountain, even though

594-581: A nation is an ongoing process. It began in the Roman Empire when the early individual followers of Jesus became itinerant preachers in response to the command recorded in Matthew 28:19 (sometimes called the Great Commission ) to go to all the nations of the world and preach the good news of the gospel of Jesus. Christianization spread through the Roman Empire and into its surrounding nations in its first three hundred years. The process of Christianizing

660-591: A separate rite which may or may not be considered a condition for becoming a fully accepted member of the church in the sense that one is invited to take part in the celebration of the Eucharist. Among those who see confirmation as a separate rite some see it as a sacrament, while others consider it a combination of intercessory prayer and graduation ceremony after a period of instruction. Christianization has at times involved appropriation, removal and/or redesignation of aspects of native religion and former sacred spaces. This

726-448: A small temple with a sacred grove and a separate altar to Apollo stood on the hill. The population was still mostly pagan. The land was most likely granted as a gift to Benedict from one of his supporters. This would explain the authoritative way he immediately cut down the groves, removed the altar, and built an oratory before the locals were converted. Christianization of the Irish landscape

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792-610: Is agreement among twenty-first century scholars that Christianization of the Roman Empire in its first three centuries did not happen by imposition. Christianization emerged naturally as the cumulative result of multiple individual decisions and behaviors. While enduring three centuries of on-again, off-again persecution, from differing levels of government ranging from local to imperial, Christianity had remained 'self-organized' and without central authority. In this manner, it reached an important threshold of success between 150 and 250, when it moved from less than 50,000 adherents to over

858-471: Is carried from one culture to another, intentionally or not, consciously or not, it is either adapted to that culture or it becomes irrelevant." In his book Christian Mission, Neely provides multiple historical examples of adaptation, accommodation, indigenization, inculturation, autochthonization and contextualization as the means of successful Christianization through missions. Neely's definitions are these: James P. Hanigan writes that individual conversion

924-436: Is common for details in the literary sources to be ambiguous and unclear. For example, Malalas claimed Constantine destroyed all the temples, then he said Theodisius destroyed them all, then he said Constantine converted them all to churches. Additional calculated acts of desecration – removing the hands and feet or mutilating heads and genitals of statues, and "purging sacred precincts with fire" – were acts committed by

990-519: Is the foundational experience and the central message of Christianization, adding that Christian conversion begins with an experience of being "thrown off balance" through cognitive and psychological "disequilibrium", followed by an "awakening" of consciousness and a new awareness of God. Hanigan compares it to "death and rebirth, a turning away..., a putting off of the old..., a change of mind and heart". The person responds by acknowledging and confessing personal lostness and sinfulness, and then accepting

1056-557: The Hörselberg hill chain near Eisenach in Thuringia , although other versions identify other geographical locations, as for instance in Swabia, near Waldsee. The popularity of the ballad continues unabated well into the 17th century. Versions are recorded by Heinrich Kornmann (1614) and Johannes Praetorius (1668). The Venusberg legend has been interpreted as a Christianised version of

1122-551: The Kynêgion . Herrin says it is difficult to assess the degree to which Christians are responsible for the losses of ancient documents in many cases, but in the mid-sixth century, active persecution in Constantinople destroyed many ancient texts. The "Venerable Bede" was a Christian monk (672 - 735) who wrote what sociologist and anthropologist Hutton Webster describes as "the first truly historical work by an Englishman" describing

1188-591: The 11th century. Richard A. Fletcher suggests that, within the British Isles and other areas of northern Europe that were formerly druidic , there are a dense number of holy wells and holy springs that are now attributed to a saint , often a highly local saint, unknown elsewhere. In earlier times many of these were seen as guarded by supernatural forces such as the melusina , and many such pre-Christian holy wells appear to have survived as baptistries. According to Willibald 's Life of Saint Boniface , about 723,

1254-556: The 1520s was by the means of printed single sheets popular at the time, with examples known from Augsburg, Leipzig, Straubing, Vienna, and Wolfenbüttel. The earliest extant version is from Jörg Dürnhofers Liederbuch , printed by Gutknecht of Nuremberg about 1515. This Lied von dem Danheüser explores the life of the legendary knight Tannhauser, who spent a year at the mountain worshiping Venus and returned there after believing that he had been denied forgiveness for his sins by Pope Urban IV . The Nuremberg version also identifies Venusberg with

1320-519: The Baptist which can be dated to approximately AD 28–35 based on references by the Jewish historian Josephus in his ( Antiquities 18.5.2 ). Individual conversion is followed by the initiation rite of baptism. In Christianity's earliest communities, candidates for baptism were introduced by someone willing to stand surety for their character and conduct. Baptism created a set of responsibilities within

1386-443: The Christian community. Candidates for baptism were instructed in the major tenets of the faith, examined for moral living, sat separately in worship, were not yet allowed to receive the communion eucharist, but were still generally expected to demonstrate commitment to the community, and obedience to Christ 's commands, before being accepted into the community as a full member. This could take months to years. The normal practice in

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1452-505: The Christianization of Britain. Pope Gregory I had sent Augustine and several helpers as missionaries to Kent and its powerful King Ethelbert. One of those helpers, Abbott Mellitus, received this letter from Gregory on the proper methods for converting the local people. I think that the temples of the idols in that nation ought not to be destroyed; but let the idols that are in them be destroyed; let holy water be made and sprinkled in

1518-572: The Eucharist. In the Middle Ages , the Eucharist came to be understood as a sacrament (wherein God is present) that evidenced Christ's sacrifice, and the prayer given with the rite was to include two strophes of thanksgiving and one of petition. The prayer later developed into the modern version of a narrative, a memorial to Christ and an invocation of the Holy Spirit. In the early 1500s, confirmation

1584-811: The Jews. In 612, the Visigothic King Sisebut , prompted by Heraclius, declared the obligatory conversion of all Jews in Spain. In the many new nation-states being formed in Eastern Europe of the Late Middle Ages , some kings and princes pressured their people to adopt the new religion. And in the Northern crusades , the fighting princes obtained widespread conversion through political pressure or military coercion. Jesus began his ministry after his baptism by John

1650-595: The Roman Empire was never completed, and Armenia became the first nation to designate Christianity as its state religion in 301. After 479, Christianization spread through missions north into western Europe. In the High and Late Middle Ages , Christianization was instrumental in the creation of new nations in what became Eastern Europe , and in the spread of literacy there. In the modern era, Christianization became associated with colonialism , which, in an almost equal distribution, missionaries both participated in and opposed. In

1716-620: The Saxon's most important holy site, a sacred grove in southern Engria . "It was dominated by the Irminsul ('Great Pillar'), which was either a (wooden) pillar or an ancient tree and presumably symbolized Germanic religion's 'Universal Tree'. The Franks cut down the Irminsul, looted the accumulated sacrificial treasures (which the King distributed among his men), and torched the entire grove... Charlemagne ordered

1782-503: The Tannhauser legend, as does the BBC TV series Life on Mars . Christianization Christianization (or Christianisation ) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity . Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individual conversions, but has also, in some instances, been

1848-491: The Titans had been worshipped (Pfeiffer 1980, 79). [The] Monte Giove "Hill of Jupiter" came to be known as San Bernardo, in honour of St Bernhard (Pfeiffer 1980, 79). In Germany an old Wodanesberg "Hill of Ódin" was renamed Godesberg (Bach 1956, 553). Ä controversial but not unreasonable suggestion is that the locality named by Ädam of Bremen as Fosetisland "land of the god Foseti" is to be identified with Helgoland "the holy land",

1914-404: The ancient church was baptism by immersion of the whole head and body of an adult, with the exception of infants in danger of death, until the fifth or sixth century. Historian Philip Schaff has written that sprinkling, or pouring of water on the head of a sick or dying person, where immersion was impractical, was also practiced in ancient times and up through the twelfth century. Infant baptism

1980-548: The blossoming staff of the eponymous Young King in Oscar Wilde 's fairy tale evokes that of Tannhäuser. H. G. Wells ' Sleeper watches an adaption in The Sleeper Awakes (1910). He also references it in his short story " The Man Who Could Work Miracles " (1898). John Heath-Stubbs wrote a poem on the legend called "Tannhauser's End" (Collected Poems page 294). Aleister Crowley wrote a play called Tannhauser which follows

2046-439: The borders of civilizations. Berend sees a frontier as "a contact zone where an interchange of cultures was constantly taking place". In this way, the missionary religions of Buddhism, Islam and Christianity spread themselves geographically, through teaching and preaching, with interaction sometimes producing conflict, and other times mingling and accommodation. Alan Neely writes that, "wherever Christianity (or any other faith)

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2112-564: The characters Tannhauser and Venus. English poet Algernon Charles Swinburne 's "Laus Veneris" ("In Praise of Venus") is a telling of the Tannhauser legend in the first person. Swinburne also composed the medieval French epigraph that purports to be its source. Anthony Powell called an early novel of his Venusberg . Another visitor was Thomas the Rhymer (Thomas Ercildoune, c. 1220–1297). The Tannhauser Gate motif of film ( Blade Runner , 1982) and cyberpunk fiction originated as an allusion to

2178-400: The city of Rome were converted to churches primarily to preserve their exceptional architecture. They were also used pragmatically because of the importance of their location at the center of town. During his long reign (307 - 337), Constantine (the first Christian emperor) both destroyed and built a few temples, plundered more, and generally neglected the rest. In the 300 years prior to

2244-692: The common people during the early centuries. While seen as 'proving' the impotence of the gods, pagan icons were also seen as having been "polluted" by the practice of sacrifice. They were, therefore, in need of "desacralization" or " deconsecration ". Antique historian Peter Brown says that, while it was in some ways studiously vindictive, it was not indiscriminate or extensive. Once temples, icons or statues were detached from 'the contagion' of sacrifice, they were seen as having returned to innocence. Many statues and temples were then preserved as art. Professor of Byzantine history Helen Saradi-Mendelovici writes that this process implies appreciation of antique art and

2310-420: The concept of Christian mission . Missionaries "go out" among those who have not heard the gospel and preach. Missions, as the primary means of Christianization, are driven by a universalist logic, cannot be equated with western colonialism, but are instead a multi-cultural, often complex, historical process. David Abulafia and Nóra Berend speak of religious activity in relation to the "frontier" regions at

2376-523: The definition and scope of christianization. Historian of antiquity Richard Lim writes that it was within this process of debate that "the category of the secular was developed ... [which] helped buffer select cultural practices, including Roman spectacles, from the claims of those who advocated a more thorough christianization of Roman society." This produced a vigorous public culture shared by polytheists, Jews and Christians alike. The Roman Empire cannot be considered Christianized before Justinian I in

2442-652: The destruction of Aphrodite's temple. Using the vocabulary of reclamation, Constantine acquired several more sites of Christian significance in the Holy Land. In Eusebius' church history, there is a bold claim of a Constantinian campaign to destroy the temples, however, there are discrepancies in the evidence. Temple destruction is attested to in 43 cases in the written sources, but only four have been confirmed by archaeological evidence. Historians Frank R. Trombley and Ramsay MacMullen explain that discrepancies between literary sources and archaeological evidence exist because it

2508-557: The first parts of it were published in The Savoy and later issued in book form by Leonard Smithers with the title Under the Hill . In 1907, the original manuscript was published and entitled The Story of Venus and Tannhäuser . William Morris retells the story in "The Hill of Venus", the final story of his epic 1868–1870 poem The Earthly Paradise . Guy Willoughby in his book Art and Christhood: The Aesthetics of Oscar Wilde asserts that

2574-709: The first time in the Christian catacombs - i.e. the Good Shepherd, Baptism, and the Eucharistic meal – the Orant figures (women praying with upraised hands) probably came directly from pagan art. Bruce David Forbes says "Some way or another, Christmas was started to compete with rival Roman religions, or to co-opt the winter celebrations as a way to spread Christianity, or to baptize the winter festivals with Christian meaning in an effort to limit their [drunken] excesses. Most likely all three". Michelle Salzman has shown that, in

2640-550: The fourth century, there were no conversions of temples in the city of Rome itself. It is only with the formation of the Papal State in the eighth century, (when the emperor's properties in the West came into the possession of the bishop of Rome), that the conversions of temples in Rome took off in earnest. According to Dutch historian Feyo L. Schuddeboom, individual temples and temple sites in

2706-532: The hero spent seven years there before departing for Rome, while Carl Borromäus von Miltitz ' short story " Die zwölf Nächte " ( ' The Twelve Nights ' ) tells a different story set at a castle near the Venusberg, which the hero and Venus return to haunt once a year. Aubrey Beardsley started to write an erotic treatment of the legend which was never to be finished due to his conversion to Catholicism , repudiation of his past works, and subsequent illness and death;

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2772-445: The island off the coast of northern Friesland which, according to Ädam, was treated with superstitious respect by all sailors, particularly pirates (Laur 1960, 360 with references). The practice of replacing pagan beliefs and motifs with Christian, and purposefully not recording the pagan history (such as the names of pagan gods, or details of pagan religious practices), has been compared to the practice of damnatio memoriae . There

2838-447: The missioner Boniface cut down the sacred Donar's Oak also called the 'Oak of Jupiter' and used the lumber to build a church dedicated to St. Peter. By 771, Charlemagne had inherited the long established conflict with the Saxons who regularly specifically targeted churches and monasteries in brutal raids into Frankish territory. In January 772, Charlemagne retaliated with an attack on

2904-539: The name of Tannhäuser in German folklore of the early 16th century. A German Tannhauser folk ballad is recorded in numerous versions beginning around 1510, both in High German and Low German variants. Folkloristic versions were still collected from oral tradition in the early-to-mid 20th century, especially in the Alpine region (a Styrian variant with the name Waldhauser was collected in 1924). Early written transmission around

2970-576: The pathway that the knight used to discover and travel to this supposed place of ultimate erotic adventure. The "Castle Anthrax" episode in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) was based on the Venusberg myth. Author Philip José Farmer references Tannhäuser and Venusberg in the 1967 science fiction novella Riders of the Purple Wage . The plot of Neil Gaiman 's story " Neverwhere " broadly mirrors

3036-450: The post-colonial era, it has produced dramatic growth in China as well as in many former colonial lands in much of Africa . Christianization has become a diverse, pluralist, global phenomenon of the largest religion in the world. Historian Dana L. Robert has written that the significant role of Christianization in shaping multiple nations, cultures and societies is understandable only through

3102-401: The practice of sacrifice and repress heresy though not specifically to promote conversion. Theodosius also wrote laws to eliminate heresies, but made no requirement for pagans or Jews to convert to Christianity. However, the sixth century Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I and the seventh century emperor Heraclius attempted to force cultural and religious uniformity by requiring baptism of

3168-513: The present day, and Sørensen says this demonstrates the process of Christianization in Denmark was peaceful and gradual and did not include the complete eradication of the old cultic associations. However, there are local differences. Outside of Scandinavia, old names did not fare as well. The highest point in Paris was known in the pre-Christian period as the Hill of Mercury, Mons Mercuri. Evidence of

3234-467: The process of converting the Roman Empire's aristocracy, Christianity absorbed the values of that aristocracy. Some scholars have suggested that characteristics of some pagan gods — or at least their roles — were transferred to Christian saints after the fourth century. Demetrius of Thessaloniki became venerated as the patron of agriculture during the Middle Ages. According to historian Hans Kloft, that

3300-507: The reign of Constantine, Roman authority had confiscated various church properties. For example, Christian historians recorded that Hadrian (2nd century), when in the military colony of Aelia Capitolina ( Jerusalem ), had constructed a temple to Aphrodite on the site of the crucifixion of Jesus on Golgotha hill in order to suppress veneration there. Constantine was vigorous in reclaiming such properties whenever these issues were brought to his attention, and he used reclamation to justify

3366-452: The result of violence by individuals and groups such as governments and militaries. Christianization is also the term used to designate the conversion of previously non-Christian practices, spaces and places to Christian uses and names. In a third manner, the term has been used to describe the changes that naturally emerge in a nation when sufficient numbers of individuals convert, or when secular leaders require those changes. Christianization of

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3432-464: The rite of baptism came directly from Jesus of Nazareth . Father Enrico Mazza writes that the "Eucharist is an imitation of the Last Supper " when Jesus gathered his followers for their last meal together the night before he was arrested and killed. While the majority share the view of Mazza, there are others such as New Testament scholar Bruce Chilton who argue that there were multiple origins of

3498-472: The said temples, and let altars be erected and relics placed. For if those temples are well built, it is requisite that they be converted from the worship of devils to the service of the true God; that the people, seeing that their temples are not destroyed, may remove error from their hearts, and, knowing and adoring the true God, may the more familiarly resort to the places to which they have become accustomed. When Benedict moved to Monte Cassino about 530,

3564-516: The sixth century, though most scholars agree the Empire was never fully Christianized. Archaeologist and historian Judith Herrin has written in her article on "Book Burning as Purification" that under Justinian, there was considerable destruction. The decree of 528 barred pagans from state office when, decades later, Justinian ordered a "persecution of surviving Hellenes, accompanied by the burning of pagan books, pictures and statues". This took place at

3630-769: The tale in his Romantische Dichtungen collection of 1799. The Praetorius version of 1668 was included in Des Knaben Wunderhorn , a compilation of German folk poems published by Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano in 1806. A summary was included in the Deutsche Sagen collection by the Brothers Grimm in 1816. Later adaptions include Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff 's novella Das Marmorbild ( The Marble Statue , 1818), as well as works by Ludwig Bechstein (1835) and Ludwig Uhland ( Volkslieder , 1844). In Heinrich Heine 's laconic poem Tannhäuser: A Legend (1837),

3696-473: The title Venusberg . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Venusberg&oldid=1217574537 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Venusberg (mythology) Venusberg as

3762-430: The way Christians buried one another: they gathered unrelated Christians into a common burial space, as if they really were one family, "commemorated them with homogeneous memorials and expanded the commemorative audience to the entire local community of coreligionists" thereby redefining the concept of family. R. P. C. Hanson says the direct conversion of temples into churches began in the mid-fifth century but only in

3828-569: The well-known folk-tale type of a mortal visiting the Otherworld : A human being seduced by an elf or fairy experiences the delights of the enchanted realm but later the longing for his earthly home is overwhelming. His desire is granted, but he is not happy (often noting that many years have passed in the world during his absence) and in the end returns to fairy-land. The ballad was then received in German Romanticism . Ludwig Tieck published

3894-430: The worship of this Roman god here was removed in the early Christian period and in the ninth century a sanctuary was built here, dedicated to the 10000 martyrs. The hill was then called Mons Martyrum , the name by which it is still known (Mont Martres) (Longnon 1923, 377; Vincent 1937, 307). San Marino in northern Italy, the shrine of Saint Marino, replaced a pre-Christian cultic name for the place: Monte Titano , where

3960-469: Was a complex process that varied considerably depending on local conditions. Ancient sites were viewed with veneration, and were excluded or included for Christian use based largely on diverse local feeling about their nature, character, ethos and even location. In Greece, Byzantine scholar Alison Frantz has won consensus support of her view that, aside from a few rare instances such as the Parthenon which

4026-441: Was added to the rites of initiation. While baptism, instruction, and Eucharist have remained the essential elements of initiation in all Christian communities, theologian Knut Alfsvåg writes on the differing status of confirmation in different denominations: Some see baptism, confirmation, and first communion as different elements in a unified rite through which one becomes a part of the Christian church. Others consider confirmation

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4092-495: Was allowed, or required, or sometimes forbidden by the missionaries involved. The church adapts to its local cultural context, just as local culture and places are adapted to the church, or in other words, Christianization has always worked in both directions: Christianity absorbs from native culture as it is absorbed into it. When Christianity spread beyond Judaea, it first arrived in Jewish diaspora communities. The Christian church

4158-610: Was because the Eleusinian Mysteries , Demeter's cult , ended in the 4th century, and the Greek rural population gradually transferred her rites and roles onto the Christian saint. Several early Christian writers, including Justin (2nd century), Tertullian , and Origen (3rd century) wrote of Mithraists copying Christian beliefs and practices yet remaining pagan. In both Jewish and Roman tradition, genetic families were buried together, but an important cultural shift took place in

4224-614: Was controversial for the Protestant Reformers , but according to Schaff, it was practiced by the ancients and is neither required nor forbidden in the New Testament . The celebration of the eucharist (also called communion) was the common unifier for early Christian communities, and remains one of the most important of Christian rituals. Early Christians believed the Christian message, the celebration of communion (the Eucharist) and

4290-600: Was converted to a church in the sixth century, temple conversions (including the Erechtheion and the Theseion ) took place in and after the seventh century, after the displacements caused by the Slavic invasions. In early Anglo-Saxon England , non-stop religious development meant paganism and Christianity were never completely separate. Archaeologist Lorcan Harney has reported that Anglo-Saxon churches were built by pagan barrows after

4356-490: Was modeled on the synagogue , and Christian philosophers synthesized their Christian views with Semitic monotheism and Greek thought. The Latin church adopted aspects of Platonic thought and used the Latin names for months and weekdays that etymologically derived from Roman mythology. Christian art in the catacombs beneath Rome rose out of a reinterpretation of Jewish and pagan symbolism. While many new subjects appear for

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