b ANCIENT CARVEB STONE. 



Even the monogram (Constantinian, as it is called from that 

 Emperor's use of it) is found on some Athenian tetradrachms and 

 bronze medallions of the Ptolemies. There is, also, a similar com- 

 bination of the letters X and p in the legend on a medallion of the 

 Emperor Decius. But the object that appears on the Chesterholm 

 stone seems unlike any other Pre-Christian example that I have 

 seen, for it more nearly resembles the Latin cross. Now, there is no 

 example of this form in the time of Constantine, but it often appears 

 on ^ coins of some later Emperors, e. gr. on a coin of Gratian's, as- 

 signed to 375 A.D., it is seen high up in the field, and before this on 

 the globus crticiger ^of Valentinian I. But on stones it has not been 

 found, so far as I am aware, at any date before the beginning of the 

 fifth century. In the frontispiece of " Christian epitaphs," I figure 

 the stone, on which there is the first example of this cross in dated 

 epitaphs. The inscription shows that its date is "407 A.D. See De 

 E-ossi, Inscript. Ghristiance Urhis Bomce, n. 576. It may be urged 



As I have referred to this article, I may add that the theory that is given in 

 it of the origin of the universal use of this symbol by various nations before 

 Christianity^, viz., tliat "the decussated figure, whether in a simple or a complex 

 form, symbolised the traditional happy abode of their primeval ancestors, that 

 ' Paradise of Eden towards the East,' as we find it expressed in the Hebrew," 

 and that a circle and a cross were selected " the one to denote a region of abso- 

 lute purity and perpetual felicity ; the other, those four perennial streams that 

 divided and watered the several quarters of it," seems to me remarkably unsatis- 

 factory. 



* It is extremely difficult, if possible, to fix the dates of the appearance of Chris- 

 tian symbols on imperial coins. The subject has engaged the attention of eminent 

 scholars, but nothing sufficiently precise has resulted from their investigations. 

 See " Ricerche critiche intorno alle medaglie di Costantino Magno e de sui 

 figluoli insignite di tipi e di simboli Cristiani," by M. I'Abbe Cavedoni, Modena, 

 1858, and "Numismatica Costantiniana portante segni di Ci'istianesimo," by 

 Padre R. P. Garrucci, Roma, ] 858. 



* One of the insignia on coins of the Pagan Emperors was a globus (repre- 

 senting the earth) in the right hand, with a figure of Victory standing on it ; 

 the Christian Emperors, beginning, I believe, with Jovian, substituted the cross 

 for Victory. 



^° The monogram matic cross and the monogram were certainly in use long 

 before this, and seem to have been for some time the recognized symbols of 

 Christianity. It is difficult to assign a satisfactory reason for the lateness 

 of the period at which the Latin cross was used as the symbol of the Christian 

 faith. It has been suggested that fear of the consequences may have deterred 

 believers from publicly using it, but this does not account for the absence of it 

 during the reigns of Constantine and of his Christian successors down to the 

 beginning of the fifth century. Another solution is derived from the great 

 reverence in which the cross was held, that forbade the common use of a symbol 

 so highly venerated. 



