One of the first differences which are obvious, in comparing the Christian with the heathen mortuary inscriptions, is the introduction in the former of some new words, expressive of the new ideas that prevailed among them. Thus, in place of the old formula which had been in most common use upon gravestones, D.M., or, in Greek, [Greek: TH.K.], standing for _Dis Manibus_, or [Greek: _Theois karachthoniois_], a dedication of the stone to the gods of death, we find constantly the words _In pace_. The exact meaning of these words varies on different inscriptions, but their general significance is simple and clear. When standing alone, they seem to mean that the dead rests in the peace of God; sometimes they are preceded by _Requiescat_, "May he rest in peace"; sometimes there is the affirmation, _Dormit in pace_, "He sleeps in peace"; sometimes a person is said _recessisse in pace_, "to have departed in peace." Still other forms are found, as, for instance, _Vivas in pace_, "Live in peace," or _Suscipiatur in pace_, "May he be received into peace,"--all being only variations of the expression of the Psalmist's trust, "I will lay me down in peace and sleep, for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety." It is a curious fact, however, that on some of the Christian tablets the same letters which were used by the heathens have been found. One inscription exists beginning with the words _Dis Manibus_, and ending with the words _in pace_. But there is no need of finding a difficulty in this fact, or of seeking far for an explanation of it. As we have before remarked, in speaking of works of Art, the presence of some heathen imagery and ideas in the multitude of the paintings and inscriptions in the catacombs is not so strange as the comparatively entire absence of them. Many professing Christians must have had during the early ages but an imperfect conception of the truth, and can have separated themselves only partially from their previous opinions, and from the conceptions that prevailed around them in the world. To some the letters of the heathen gravestones, and the words which they stood for, probably appeared little more than a form expressive of the fact of death, and, with the imperfect understanding natural to uneducated minds, they used them with little thought of their absolute significance.[1]

[Footnote 1: It is probable that most of the gravestones upon which this heathen formula is found are not of an earlier date than the middle of the fourth century. At this time Christianity became the formal religion of many who were still heathen in character and thought, and cared little about the expression of a faith which they had adopted more from the influence of external motives than from principle or conviction.]

Another difference in words which is very noticeable, running through the inscriptions, is that of _depositus_, used by the Christians to signify the _laying away_ in the grave, in place of the heathen words _situs, positus, sepultus, conditus_. The very name of _coemeterium_, adopted by the Christians for their burial-places, a name unknown to the ancient Romans, bore a reference to the great doctrine of the Resurrection. Their burial-ground was a _cemetery_, that is, a _sleeping-place_; they regarded the dead as put there to await the awakening; the body was _depositus_, that is, _intrusted to_ the grave, while the heathen was _situs_ or _sepultus, interred_ or _buried_,--the words implying a final and definitive position. And as the Christian _dormit_ or _quiescit, sleeps_ or _rests_ in death, so the heathen is described as _abreptus_, or _defunctus, snatched away_ or _departed_ from life.

Again, the contrast between the inscriptions is marked, and in a sadder way, by the difference of the expressions of mourning and grief. No one who has read many of the ancient gravestones but remembers the bitter words that are often found on them,--words of indignation against the gods, of weariness of life, of despair and unconsoled melancholy. Here is one out of many:--