Download The Pantheon

The Pantheon
I have divided my presentation into three distinct categories: Architecture, History, and “side
stories”—with a bibliography of ancient and more contemporary sources to follow.
Architecture:
The Pantheon is a circular building with a portico. The portico consists of three rows of eight
columns, 14 m (46 feet) high of Egyptian granite with Corinthian capitals. They support an
entablature facing the square, which bears the famous inscription in Latin, attributing the
construction to Agrippa-- although the extant temple was rebuilt later by Hadrian with an oculus
that is 27 feet across. The only natural light enters through the unglazed oculus at the center of
the dome and through the bronze doors to the portico. As the sun moves, striking patterns of
light illuminate the walls and floors of porphyry, granite, and yellow marbles. In the Pantheon,
seasons create their own beauty; in summer, rays of the sun go directly to the floor; during the
rainy season, rain will evaporate off the floor quite easily; and, in winter, columns of snow spiral
downwards to the floor. There are several drainage points in the marble floor so it never gets too
wet.
In the entrance there are two large bronze doors that were once plated with gold. The structure
is a blend of bronze, concrete, and marble interior. Once you go inside you are viewing what
has been described as a “teacup set in place over the rest of the structure”. This new discovery
was called a pendentive (round dome on a square base) and completely revolutionized the
approach to the usual square form that had been in use for so long. Its height to the oculus and
diameter of the interior are the same (43 meters, or 142 feet 6 inches). At the base of the dome
the coffered ceiling is 23 feet thick and rises to 2 feet thick at the oculus. This design is unique in
that its function from bottom to the top is to lessen the weight of the ceiling and eliminate “hoop
stress” (use a balloon to demonstrate how this process works). This structure was also aided by
a relatively new concrete called pozzolana lime. It was very fast drying and could harden even
under water. It came from an area known as Pozzuoli, Italy. The bricks have such a strong
propensity to support a structure that you could literally stack these bricks two miles (12,000
feet) high and still maintain structural integrity. We have two existing structures to support this:
a church in Cologne has spires that are 511 feet high; and in London, at Salisbury, the towers
are over 400 feet high. The ceiling in the Pantheon is comprised of 5 thousand tons of concrete;
and, as you rise to the oculus, it is filled with pumice and amphorae along with the pozzolana
concrete to give the building immense strength which can be attested to by the length of time it
has been left standing.
History:
It was originally built around 27 B.C. to 25 B.C. in the 3rd consulship of Marcus Vipsanius
Agrippa. The Latin inscription over the front portico reads: “Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, made
this building when consul for the third time (27 B.C.).” The following Latin shows how it appears
on the entablature of the porch with dots separating the letters instead of a flat line:
M-AGRIPPA-L-F-COS-TERTIVM-FECIT.
Agrippa did indeed build the original Pantheon around 25 b.c. but the present building was built
by Hadrian from the ground up with a design radically different from the original; the original
structure burnt in the fire of 80 A.D. and then later under the emperorTrajan. When you look at
Roman architecture you must take into account the impact of history and specifically the
Greeks. The Treasury of Artreus (tomb of Agamemnon) had a domed entrance which was built
on the curve of a parabola. Perhaps this is where Hadrian and Apollodorus of Damascus
developed theories about domes and their unique curvature. The Romans arrived at the arch,
vault, and the dome because of utilitarian needs. We see this played out in the Pantheon. Most
people feel that it was Marcus Agrippa who built the Pantheon; and, he did build the first one
around 25 B.C. but it was destroyed in a fire. The reason we know that Hadrian was responsible
for the Pantheon in its present day form was because a new technique was put into use. The
idea of stamping the bricks with a date with the year of use was first put to use in Hadrian’s
reign. It was in 1892 when French architect, Georges Chadanne discovered this technique and
most of the bricks are stamped between120-125 A.D.—and, in particular, the year 123 A.D. was
the most common.
When the Emperor Hadrian came to power, he was chiefly responsible for restoring and building
something entirely new in Roman Architecture. It can be said about Hadrian that “he built public
buildings in all places….he would inscribe his name on none of them except the temple of his
father Trajan.” Hadrian wanted the church to be a syncretistic temple to all the gods. It was built
as a temple to the seven deities of the seven planets. It wasn’t until the 7th century under the
Byzantine Emperor Phocas that it became dedicated as a church—this is what probably saved it
from total destruction. It was the first conversion of a pagan temple into a Christian church.
Phocas had a lot of the gold and bronze removed from the original ceiling and doors and
shipped back to Constantinople. He never actually saw the temple.
Until this time most of the Roman buildings could be seen from afar and were instantly visible
(such as the Forum of Trajan, Arch of Titus, etc.). Now, for the first time, a building was
designed with the real story on the inside. Once you were humbled by the porch of Agrippa you
stepped through the two massive doors into a visual world never really experienced until this
time. Later, churches would adopt this motif and everything was made to overwhelm the senses
of the observer and direct them to the inside of the structure. The Pantheon which is derived
from Greek and means pan=all or everything, and theo= gods. Pantheon literally means “house
of the gods.”
Side Stories:
“One of the unique characteristics of the great dome is that it is a perfect hemisphere—it has the
same height as the diameter of the cylindrical drum on which it sits, and the number of the rows
of coffers which divide the cupola (28) was recognized in antiquity as one of the rare “perfect
numbers”, equal to the sum of its divisors (1, 2, 4, 7, 14).” Brunelleschi’s Dome by Ross King,
Penguin Putnam Inc., 2000
Diogenes of Athens adorned the Pantheon of Agrippa. The columns of the temple include some
in the shape of Caryatids that are ranked with the very finest sculpture, as are the statues
placed on the pediment (although these are less celebrated because of their distance from the
viewer). Pliny the Elder, Enclopedia 36.38.
Cleopatra made a wager with Anthony that she could spend 10,000,000 sesterces on a single
banquet. As arranged by Cleopatra, her servants placed a single cup before her, filled with a
vinegar strong enough to dissolve even pearls. As Antony watched, wondering how she could
possibly win the wager with one cup, she detached an earring that held one of the most
precious perils on earth. She then dropped it in the cup and drank the liquefied gem. The story
continues with the pearl in the other earring that she was wearing (the unbeaten second helping,
as it were): later, when Cleopatra was captured by Augustus, this pearl was cut in half to
decorate the ears of the Venus statue in the Pantheon. Pliny the Elder, Encylcpedia 9.120-1.
With anything in history it is the side stories that make it more real and interesting. How many
times have we read of a person accomplishing great things because of the rebuke or insult from
someone older or more senior in rank. The primary architect for the Emperor Trajan was
Apollodorus of Damascus. While the two of them were going over some drawings young
Hadrian interupted with some advice of his own, Apollodorus of Damascus told him to “go away!
Go back to painting cucumbers! You don’t know what were talking about.” Well later Trajan dies
and Hadrian becomes the Emperor and now he must placare the new Emperor. Some
historians make the claim that Hadrian had him killed but the facts don’t support the story
because he was still working on buildings with Hadrian long after the alleged date of his demise.
HADRIAN by Stewart Perowne, Dorset Press, 1960 pg 109
Bibliography
Modern Sources
"Pantheon Inside," by Steven W. Semes, ArchitectureWeek, No. 254, 2005.0831, pC1.1.
Following Hadrian by Elizabeth Speller, Oxford University Press 2003.
The Pantheon, tr by J.G. Ward Perkins, Rome publishing 1951
Rome Alive by Peter J. Aicher Volume I , Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers , Inc. 2004
Hadrian by Stewart Perowne, Dorset Press 1960
Ancient Sources
Ammianus, History 16.10.14
ILS 129.1=CIL6.896
ILS 229=CIL 6.2041
Pliny the Elder Encyclopedia 36.38--9.120-1
Imperial Lives, Hadrian 19.10
Dio, History 53.27.2-3 Dio, History 69.7.1
ILS 129.2=CIL 6.896