Although St. Paul stopped briefly in Syracuse on his way to Rome, the earliest evidence for Christianity in Sicily comes from the third century AD, mostly in the form of burials. Christians were initially persecuted under Rome, but the faith was accepted under the Emperor Constantine (in AD 313) and fully established under the Emperor Theodosius (AD 379-395). The evidence increases rapidly during the fourth century. The early Christian communities in Sicily are mostly found in the eastern cities such as Catania and Syracuse. Third-century epitaphs are rare (inscription 29 may be the earliest from Catania). Inscription 28 is one of the earliest dated Christian epitaphs from Sicily, from AD 345.
Early Christian epitaphs cannot always be distinguished from pagan ones, because Christians and pagans were often buried in the same places and used very similar language. However, the difference in beliefs and the creation of a community based on faith (and burial within that community, especially in catacombs) mean that Christian funerary inscriptions soon developed distinctive features and language. For example, the Christian belief in the afterlife means that the date of death (entry into the afterlife) is important and is recorded, unlike in pagan epitaphs. Christian symbols are also commonly added to the texts, such as the chi-rho, fish, doves, and palm branches.
