For the early Christians, the cross was not the first choice of representation. The cross was still too traumatic and tragic. It was more a sign of oppression and tool of death, rather than salvation. What was actually and most widely used as a symbol of Christianity was the Ichthys, the fish.
The catacombs do not have a cross. Instead what is found in them is the image of the fish. This represented the meal, the gathering for which Christians gathered, especially in hiding in the catacombs and in private homes. It represented the Eucharist!
Perhaps it is with Helena bringing the cross from Jerusalem, along with the soil, and its exaltation as a basilica, that devotion the Cross gained popularity. I suppose by then the Romans had given up using that means as a punishment (but not sure of that). And as time progresses, the cross soon replaces the fish as the symbol of Christian faith.
Would Christianity have a different outlook or identity if we would have persevered or chosen to stick to the fish rather than the cross?? I believe it would have had significant impact on how we perceive ourselves to be! For one, more Eucharistic, for certain!
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