ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE: Temples
Columns
The Greeks perfected column and lintel architecture. It is basic engineering at its most elegant. A column is an
orthostatic pillar, which along with others set in a line supports a lintel.
There are 3 kinds of columns and they can either be unfluted or fluted.
Reconstruction of the stoa of Attalus in Athens
A Greek stoa was a kind of sheltered market place. To the right you can see a line of unfluted Ionic columns.
Their shafts are plain. To the right we have a line of fluted Doric columns. Their shafts are decorated with flutes
(grooves) and fillets (ridges).
Elements of a column
The architrave is the lintel that the columns support
The abacus is a little plinth that beds the capital and the
architrave
The capital is the top section of a column
The column shaft is the pillar section and it is normally
composed of drums set plumb on top of each other
The base is the base section of the column
The stylobate is the floor of the temple
ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE: Temples
The 3 Orders
The order of a temple refers to the type of columns employed in its construction. There are three kinds of
columns: Doric, Ionic and Corinthian; all of them originated in ancient Greece.
The Doric Order
Remains of the temple of Hera, Olympia
Doric column
St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, Marlborough Street, Dublin
The Dorians were the ancient inhabitants of the Peloponnese. They spoke Doric Greek and their culture was distinctly different to that of the neighbouring
Ionians. The Spartans for example were Dorians. Doric columns are quite basic. They tend to be quite fat at the bottom and taper off towards the top. Their
capitals are plain and they have no base - the columns rise directly from the stylobate of the temple.
The Ionic Order
The temple of Athena Nike, on the Athenian acropolis
Ionic column
The General Post Office (GPO), O’Connell Street, Dublin
The Ionians originated in Ionia (western coastal Turkey) and spread throughout the Cycladic islands in the
Aegean eventually colonizing Attica where they founded Athens. Ionic columns are elegantly slender and taper
slightly towards the top. Their capitals are decorated with volutes (ram-horns) and they have round carved
bases. Often times, Roman Ionic columns have decorated abaci, e.g. Maison Carree at Nimes.
The Corinthian Order
The temple of Octavia, Corinth, Greece
Corinthian column Corinthian façade, O’Connell Street, Dublin
The Corinthians developed the Corinthian order during the classical period. Corinthian column shafts are similar
to Ionic columns as are the bases but the capitals boast acanthus leaves. The Romans were very fond of the
Corinthian order.
Question: How do you determine the order of a temple?
Answer: Look at the column’s capitals.
ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE: Temples
Styles
The style of a temple refers to the number of columns on the façade. The columns are counted in Greek.
4 = tetrastyle
6 = hexastyle
8 = octostyle
Question: How do you determine the style of a temple?
10 = decastyle
Answer: Count the columns of the façade in Greek
Greek influences
The Greeks had their classical age during the 5th century BC. Although Rome existed at this time, it had not
risen to any great power. Since the Greeks colonized much of Italy, later Romans naturally drew influence from
Greek culture.
Greek temples are very particular.
Conjectural reconstruction of the
Parthenon in Athens
Floor plan of the
Parthenon
Monumental
Greek temples are large edifices and are constructed of fine heavy stone like Pentelic marble.
Alignment
Greek temples are almost always aligned on an east-west axis with their facades facing the east.
Location
Greek temples are always located away from the towns in a sacred place or temenos like the acropolis and the
agora of Athens. This meant the Greeks could always build their temples on an east-west axis
Peripteral
Greek temples are peripteral, which means the inner temple is surrounded by a peristyle or colonnade (a
sheltered walkway). This has the effect that one can approach the temple from any direction and the temple will
look equally impressive.
Elevation
Greek temples are canonically raised on 3 steps
Proportional
Greek temples are more often than not designed to a specific mathematical ratio that conforms to Pythagoras’
golden ratio of beauty and the sacred rectangle. The ratio of proportion approaches 1.618, known as 
Plan
In plan, a Greek temple always has a peripteral colonnade surrounding the inner temple structure. Then one
must pass through a porch called a pronaos (before the naos). The main room in which the cult statue was
housed is called the naos and behind the naos with a west facing door is the treasury room called the
opistodomus (opposite the house).
ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE: Temples
Etruscan influences
Phoenicians from ancient Lebanon had established trading colonies throughout the Mediterranean during the
Bronze Age at a time when the Greeks could barely sail across the Aegean. Some of these trading colonies
survive today and bear the marks they left behind. Marseilles in France, Carthage in Tunisia, Malta and Etruria
(north of Rome). The Etruscans were their descendants in Italy and provided the early Romans with much of
their own culture and technology. Etruscan (or Tuscan) temples were different to Greek ones.
Terracotta model of an Etruscan temple
from Veii, near Rome
Floor plan of an Etruscan temple
Less Monumental
Tuscan temples were not usually as impressive as Greek ones. They were often built of brick and timber. The
Etruscans nevertheless decorated their temples as the Greeks did but in a more tasteful and less dramatic way.
Alignment
The Etruscans were a practical people. Tuscan temples are built in convenient places in the town centres and
face whatever way the town square faces. The east-west alignment of Greek temples was not of paramount
importance to the Etruscans.
Location
The Etruscans built their temples in the central forums of their towns.
Frontal
Tuscan temples are frontal, meaning they were intentionally built to face one way. Unlike a Greek temple, there
was no door into the back of the temple and it would have been obvious to anyone approaching from the side
that one would have to find the entrance.
Elevation
Tuscan temples are always raised on a high platform called a podium and accessed by a flight of steps at the
front.
No proportions
The Etruscans were not concerned with Greek mathematical topics like proportionality. They built their temples
according to their needs and the shapes differ significantly from town to town.
Plan
Tuscan temples are simple in plan. They feature one main room called a cella in which the cult statue was
housed along with the treasure. It is accessed by a portico (porch).
Vitruvian architecture
Vitruvius was a Roman architect and engineer of the Augustan period (late 1 st century BC to early 1st century
AD) who wrote a famous book about architecture called De Architectura (On Architecture).
Strictly speaking a Vitruvian building is any building that conforms to Vitruvius’ three principles
1.
2.
3.
Firmitas – it must be built of a durable and practical material
Utiliitas – it must have a clear function or utility
Venustas – it must be beautiful
When Wheeler refers to a Vitruvian temple of the Tuscan scheme however he means one that dates to the
Augustan Age – the time of Vitruvius – and one that conforms in plan to a Tuscan temple, though it may look
like a Greek one from outside, e.g. the Maison Carree at Nimes.
ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE: Temples
17 Temples in Wheeler!!!
Wheeler mentions a total of 17 temples in his book, though realistically you can expect to be tested only on 9 of
them. The rest can however be used to support your points in essays for more marks.
The temples are also split into rectangular and round temples.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
RECTANGULAR TEMPLES
The temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae
– Wheeler, p.13, ill.1
The temple of Athena at Syracuse
– Wheeler, p.14, ill.2
The temple of Jupiter at Baalbek
– Wheeler, p.20, ills.6 & 7
The temple of Capitoline Jupiter at Ostia
– Wheeler, p.39, ill.18
The temple of Bel, Palmyra
– Wheeler, p.64, ill.45
The temple of Mithras, Londinum
– Wheeler, p.85-6, ills.62 & 63
The temple of Capitoline Jupiter at Thuburbo Majus – Wheeler, p.89, ill.66
The temple of Rome and Augustus at Lepcis Magna – Wheeler, p.90, ill.65
The temple of Capitoline Jupiter in Rome
– Wheeler, p.90. ill.67
The Maison Carree at Nimes
– Wheeler, p.92, ill.68
The so-called temple of Bacchus at Baalbek
– Wheeler, pp.93-6, ills.69,70,71,72,73 &76
ROUND TEMPLES
A round temple in Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli
- Wheeler pp.138, ill.122
A Romano-Celtic temple at Caerwent
– Wheeler, p.80, ills.55 & 56
The circular temple on the Tiber at Rome
– Wheeler p.100, ill.78
The so called temple of Vesta at Tivoli
– Wheeler, p.100, ills.77(2),79 & 80
The so-called temple of Venus at Baalbek
– Wheeler, p.97, ills.74 & 75
The Pantheon at Rome
– Wheeler pp.104-5, ills.81,82 & 83
ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE: Temples
1.
The Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae - Wheeler p.13, ill.1
In his introduction, Wheeler cites this
temple as an early example of a temple
built with interior decoration in mind.
The Temple of Apollo at Bassae on the
Peloponnese is thought to have been
built by Phidias (who designed the
Parthenon) in the classical period (5th
century BC). The naos features an
interior frieze as well as the first
Corinthian column along the back wall.
Interior design in temples did not catch
on in Greece and this early example
sticks out as the Greek exception to the
rule that the Romans perfected temple
interiors.
This would be worth mentioning if you
are asked to describe the interiors of the
temple of Bacchus at Baalbek or the
Pantheon.
2.
– Wheeler, p.14, ill.2
The temple of Athena at Syracuse
The interior of this once temple of
Athena (now a Catholic cathedral) is
sparsely decorated but we can see the
early stages of what would become the
pseudo-peripteral temple.
The once open shrine is walled up to
create a private inner sanctum where a
devotee can engage in private worship
and secret mysteries cut off from the
outside world of public worship.
You could mention this temple in
reference to the pseudo-peripteral
Maison Carree at Nimes.
3.
The temple of Jupiter at Baalbek
Here we are looking at a
Roman expression of Greek
monumentality. The Romans
built towering edifices of
concrete but here in Baalbek
they built like the Greeks in
giant ashlar blocks Wheeler
calls this “the aggrandisement
and transmutation of the Greek
tradition.”
Mention this temple in
reference to the Greek
monumentality of the temple of
Bacchus at Baalbek.
– Wheeler, p.20, ills.6 & 7
ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE: Temples
4.
The temple of Capitoline Jupiter at Ostia
– Wheeler, p.39, ill.18
The imposing Capitolium replaced two older temples at
the northern end of Ostia’s elongated forum probably
during the reign of the dictator Sulla in 80BC.
The temple is distinctly Tuscan in appearance as it
predates the time of Vitruvius and is built of simple
brick and stone.
Contrast this temple with the Maison Carree, which is
a Vitruvian temple in the Tuscan scheme that partakes
of Greek monumentalism.
5.
– Wheeler, p.64, ill.45
The temple of Bel, Palmyra




If asked to comment on the towers
in the Temple of Bacchus at
Baalbek you should cite this temple
as one other Near Eastern temple
that also has towers leading to the
roof.
Baalbek is in Lebanon. Palymra is
in nearby Syria.
You may however be asked to
describe this temple in a town
planning question on Palymra




Dedicated to the Near Eastern god Bel or Bol in AD32
The entire temple complex (rather than the temple itself) is
raised on a high podium accessed by monumental steps through
a gatehouse with 6 bronze doors according to an inscription on
the western side – a Near Eastern custom seemingly
The temple stood at the centre of a square court surrounded by
Corinthian peristyles: three of them double (see town plan p.60,
ill.41) which were walled up with ornamented windows looking
out at the temple.
The temple itself is surrounded by a peristyle formerly
supporting a metal roof.
The temple is accessed by an off-centre doorway on its western
broadside (very strange), which is proclaimed by a monumental
free-standing gateway (a secondary construction).
Within the cella at the eastern end are niches set into the wall
that carried the cult statues of the triad Bol, Yaribol and
Aglibol.
There are towers in the four corners. One is empty. The other
three carry narrow stair-cases up to a flat ceremonial platform
on the roof.
The whole temple is “a transmutation of Roman architecture by
alien (Near Eastern or Semitic) traditions” that Wheeler
describes as “bizarre and even a trifle sinister.”
ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE: Temples
6.
The temple of Mithras, Londinum
– Wheeler, p.85-6, ills.62 & 63
The recently discovered Mithraeum
along the banks of the Thames in
London dates to AD180.
It was originally dedicated to the Persian
god Mithras, though busts of Minerva,
Serapis, Mercury and Dionysus have
been recovered from it too. There is no
evidence however that it was used for
early Christian worship.
Although the Mithraeum is a temple it doesn’t
conform to the plan of one. Instead it looks
more like a basilica and you could mention
this temple as a later British example of the
Pompeian basilica.
Just remember that Pompeii was destroyed in
AD79 and this temple was built a century
later.
The main nave is raised by sleeper walls
set above two lines of brick Corinthian
columns.
The temple floor was raised at a later
stage presumably to address a flooding
issue caused by the proximity of the
temple to the river bank.
It represents a late development in
Roman temple building as it resembles a
basilica in plan and is built exclusively
of brick.
It is rectangular in plan (60x25ft) with a
semicircular apse on the western end.
ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE: Temples
7.
The temple of Capitoline Jupiter at Thuburbo Majus
– Wheeler, p.89, ill.66
Wheeler only mentions this temple because of its impressive flight of
steps up the podium but says nothing more about it.
You could be asked a general question on Roman temples however in
reference to this photograph, so examine it closely.
 Hexastyle
 Corinthian order (unfluted)
 Peripteral
 Built by Emperor Marcus Aurelius in 168AD
8.
The temple of Rome and Augustus at Lepcis Magna
– Wheeler, p.90, ill.65
Wheeler similarly mentions almost nothing else about
this temple besides the curious fact that it was
accessed by “almost secret lateral stairs.”
Facing the temple head on therefore it would not have
appeared as if there was a stairs. You had to find the
stairs up the podium.
9.
– Wheeler, p.90. ill.67
The temple of Capitoline Jupiter in Rome
Wheeler describes this temple as one that was often
burned and refashioned in the early days of the Republic.
This photograph shows part of the temple wall.







Wheeler calls this “a Graeco-Etruscan
temple”
It is a very early Republican temple that bears
the tell tale signs of Roman temples’ origins
in the hybridization of Greek and Tuscan
temples.


Located at the top of the Capitoline Hill
overlooking the Forum in Rome.
Dedicated to Capitoline triad: Jupiter, Juno and
Minerva.
First built in 509BC
Measured 200x185ft (very large)
Deep pillared portico (later a Roman hallmark)
of 18 columns in 3 rows of 6.
Hexastyle
¾ peripteral. The colonnades stretched along the
sides of the temples but ended at lateral
extensions of the back wall.
Generally resembled the Vitruvian Tuscan
scheme except for these quosi-peripteral
colonnades.
An Etruscan sculptor called Vulca was
summoned from Veii to create the terracotta cult
statues of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva.
ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE: Temples
10. The Maison Carree at Nimes
– Wheeler, p.92, ill.68






Wheeler calls this “an unimpeachable, if also
unexciting, example of monumental Augustan
architecture.”


Probably built in 16BC, so it represents
temples of the Augustan Age.
Originally the podium stood on a
platform raised in the forum of the colony
and was surrounded by porticos. The
modern square is built over the Roman
forum and the porticos have since
disappeared; replaced by the buildings of
the town.
Hexastyle
Pseudo-peripteral
Deep portico
Corinthian order - carved in local
limestone
A frieze on the entablature boasting
tendril patterns
The abaci feature flute-like leaf motifs
typical of the early empire.
He gives it as an example of the “Vitruvian temple of
the Tuscan scheme” that nonetheless looks very Greek
in appearance.
Only the exterior survives today. The interior
has been remodeled since ancient times.
11. The so-called temple of Bacchus at Baalbek
– Wheeler, pp.93-6, ills.69,70,71,72,73 &76
Exterior Description:
 The site was built by Emperor Caracalla 211-217AD but the temple itself was completed much later –
probably in the mid-to late second century.
 Temple appears Greek from the outside and is aligned on an east-west axis with the entrance facing east
like Greek temples.
 Peripteral colonnade of unfluted Corinthian columns
 Deep portico framed by six fluted Corinthian columns
 Temple is octostyle however because two unfluted Corinthian columns flank the hexastyle portico columns
at either side. These mark the beginnings of the colonnades.
 Colonnade is roofed by convex monolithic blocks richly carved with busts of Mars (god of War),
Ganymede (A Trojan prince who was beloved to Jupiter and brought to Heaven to be his cup-bearer) ,
Ceres (goddess of Corn), Vulcan (god of Fire and Craft) and a local city deity.
 Entrance to the cella is gained through a “riotously ornate” frame that is flanked by two towers concealing
stairs to the roof – common in some Near Eastern (e.g. temple of Bel, Palmyra), Sicilian and Southern
ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE: Temples
Italian temples. Wheeler does not say why the architect included these towers but judging from the temple
of Bel in Palmyra there was probably a ceremonial platform on the roof.
Interior Description
 Lavishly decorated and wholly different to the bare, austere and very Greek seeming exterior.
 Floor was marble, whilst the flat roof was coffered between the beams
 Walls feature pilasters, enlarged by half Corinthian columns set on pedastals which are in turn set upon a
three stepped dado – suggestive of Greek temples.
 Two tiers of niches are set between the pilasters. The lower tiers boast arched niches, whilst the upper tiers
boasts triangular ones. They suggest miniature temples and cult images were at least set into the top ones.
 At the top of the wall right the way around between the Corinthian engaged capitals and the roof is a
decorated entablature boasting elaborate relief carvings.
 There is a flight of 9 steps stretching from wall to wall about ¾ way into the cella. This leads to an upper
level before a lavish baldachin – a fake structure housing the cult image – set into a recess at the back of the
cella and flanked by two large pilasters. It is accessed by a flight of 6 steps to the centre.
The temple was
turned into a
Christian
church probably
by Emperor
Theodosius in
the 4th century
AD.
It is now a ruin.
ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE: Temples
Round Temples
1.
A round temple in Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli
- Wheeler pp.138, ill.122
This is not really a temple but an ornamental shrine
in the magnificent garden of Hadrian’s Villa at
Tivoli, on the Tiber just outside Rome.
It is a deliberate throwback to the Greek tradition.
Its form and its fluted Doric columns as well as its
typically Greek frieze closely resemble the circular
tholos treasury (not a temple) at Delphi.
The all-round Greek aspect of the gardens is
emphasised in the copied Caryatids (columns
carved in the shape of women from the famous
Erechtheum on the Athenian acropolis - Wheeler
p.140, ill.123) that line the banks of the Canopus
Canal that runs through the garden.
Even though it is much younger than other
examples, the unmistakably Greek
characteristics of this mock circular shrine
in the Vale of Tempe in Hadrian’s Villa at
Tivoli serves as proof that the circular
temple was not a Roman scheme but was
adopted from abroad.
2.
A Romano-Celtic temple at Caerwent
The statue visible in this photo is a Roman copy of
a classical Greek one: Cnidian Venus by Praxiteles.
It dates to the reign of Hadrian: early 2nd century
AD
– Wheeler, p.80, ills.55 & 56
This square temple in a Roman military outpost in Wales is sufficiently alien to serve as a bridge
between the Tuscan rectangular temple and what Wheeler calls the ‘Romano-Celtic’ circular or
polygonal temples, which were common in the provinces under the empire. There is one such
polygonal temple in the same town – see fig. j on the town plan (Wheeler p.77, ill.54).
ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE: Temples
3.
The circular temple on the Tiber at Rome
– Wheeler p.100, ill.78
Now the Church of Santa Maria del Sole
The date of this little circular temple on the banks of the Tiber
is uncertain.
Wheeler feels that if it can be dated to the early empire it is
certainly a throwback to Greece but feels more certain that it
probably belongs to the 1st century BC.
The entablature does not survive and although the podium is
made of tufa, the fluted Corinthian columns and circular cella
are built of Pentelic marble (imported from Greece) and the
podium is completely surrounded by steps after the Greek
manner.
Additional information not in Wheeler
Wheeler is uncertain as to the original dedication but current
archaeological feeling is that it may actually date to
Republican times (as early as the 2nd century BC – much
earlier than Wheeler’s guess) and was probably a temple to
Hercules.
4.
The so-called temple of Vesta at Tivoli
– Wheeler, p.100, ills.77(2),79 & 80
In describing this temple Wheeler draws attention to the fact that the entire building was copied by
Sir John Stone in the 18th century when he designed the Bank of England at ‘Tivoli Corner’, London.
Stone meticulously copied the fluted Corinthian columns and the Hellenistic frieze of oxen heads
linked by garlands.
Like the Tiber temple (Church of S. Maria del Sole), Wheeler dates this circular temple in the
Corinthian order to the 1st century BC.
He also disagrees with the conjecture that it was probably once domed with concrete.
He also doubts the certainty of its dedication to Vesta.
ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE: Temples
1.
The so-called temple of Venus at Baalbek










– Wheeler, p.97, ills.74 & 75
Wheeler dates the temple to the late 2nd or early 3rd century AD
Round peripteral temple set on a high 9.5 ft podium accessed by three flights of
monumental steps at the north-western side.
Aligned on a south-east to north-west axis.
Lies outside the temple complex at Baalbek.
Portico is tetrastyle though the central bay is wider than the right and left ones
Corinthian order
The broken pediment of the portico is a hybrid, containing a central arch that breaks
through the tympanum.
The unfluted Corinthian columns encircling the rotunda cella feature five sided capitals
and square bases.
The rotunda itself was covered by a masonry dome.
The architrave is concave between each column and crowns 5 arched niches set into the
exterior wall around the peristyle.
Additional information not in Wheeler
Archaeologists have identified this temple as that of Venus because of its relatively small size and its
location in the temple complex at Baalbek. It is to the side, almost hidden from view of the main temples
of Jupiter and Bacchus. It is likely that the Near Eastern goddess Astarte (goddess of War and Love –
likened to Aphrodite by the Greeks) was worshipped here and that the Romans at Baalbek matched her
to Venus. Her cult would have appeared barbaric to the Romans as it called for ritual prostitution and
perhaps it is for this reason that it is so small and tucked away to the side - out of view.
With regard to this temple, Wheeler says it is “another masterpiece of this autumn phase of classical
architecture; an autumn phase that was at the same time full of anticipation.”
It would be worth contrasting the architectural harmony of this temple with the disharmony
between the Pantheon’s portico and rotunda to show that the Romans could build nice round
temples.
ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE: Temples
5.
The Pantheon at Rome
– Wheeler pp.104-5, ills.81,82 & 83
Wheeler’s description of this temple is brief but since he does provide an illustration of the interior, you
are expected to be able to describe it and to know something about its history.
His main reason for including the Pantheon in his book is to show the disharmony between the portico,
which is representative of rectangular temples and the rotunda cella, which is representative of round
temples.
Historical information
 The temple replaced a pre-existing pantheon built first by Marcus Agrippa (as the original
inscription on the entablature testifies). This temple was destroyed in the fire of AD80 and it
was rebuilt by Emperor Domitian but again burnt down in AD110. The present day structure
was completed in AD216 during the reign of Emperor Hadrian.
 The temple’s purpose is uncertain. The word Pantheon is Greek meaning “every god”. It may
however have been dedicated to the 7 planetary bodies: The Sun, The Moon, Mercury, Venus,
Mars, Saturn and Jupiter. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are not visible to the naked eye and so
were not known to Roman astronomers. It was intended as a simulacrum (to simulate) the allcontaining universe.

No one is sure who actually designed the Pantheon. Some suggest it was Hadrian’s architect
Apollodorus of Demascus. Others claim it was Hadrian himself, which may go some way
towards explaining the disharmony between the portico and rotunda, since Hadrian whilst a
good architect was not a master like Apollodorus, who he had commit suicide when he
criticized Hadrian’s aspirations for the Pantheon. Recent excavations on the site revealed
bricks stamped with the mark of Trajan (Hadrian’s father) which suggests that the construction
was started by Emperor Trajan. This may explain why Hadrian never claimed the Pantheon as
his own.
Note:
A common mistake is to confuse the famous Parthenon in Athens with the Pantheon of Rome.
Athena was a parthenos (virgin) hence the temple’s name. One is on the Athenian acropolis.
The other is in Rome. Don’t mix them up!
When describing the Pantheon you should always break it into its constituent parts.
1.
2.
3.
The Portico
The Rotunda
The Dome
ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE: Temples
1.
The Portico - there are 2
Outer Portico
 Octostyle
 Corinthian order
 Columns made of expensive imported Egyptian granite
 Arranged in 3 ranks. 8 columns stretch across the front but behind these two rows of 4
columns are set behind the 1st, 3rd, 6th and 8th columns leaving a gap of 2 columns at the centre.
 Entablature bears the original inscription: M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIVM·FECIT,
which is abbreviated from Marcus Agrippa, Lucii filius, consul tertium fecit, which means
Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, consul for the third time, built this
Inner portico
 Engaged in the rotunda wall
 Set higher than the front portico’s pediment
 Wheeler notes the lack of uniformity here
2.
The Rotunda (interior)
 It has been remodeled constantly since antiquity so it would be unwise to claim the present
day array of marble panels for the original, however the bare elements are genuine, i.e. the
floor, the columns, the niches and the coffered ceiling.
 The interior is also purely aesthetic. The weight of the dome is supported entirely by the thick
inner walls of the rotunda broken into 8 barrel vaults, which form the entrance archway and
the 7 niches.
 The entrance archway and the only arched niche on a direct line across from it are flanked by
Corinthian pilasters that support arches.
 The arches of the other 6 barrel vaults either side of these axial points are hidden by an
architrave. Each of these 6 niches feature two fluted Corinthian columns flanked on each side
by two similar Corinthian pilasters.
 A tier of square niches crowned by triangular pediments crown the architraves between the
two axial archways.
 The floor is decorated in marble slabs in a checker-board pattern of squares and circles which
contrast with the concentric squares of the coffered ceiling.
ROMAN ART & ARCHITECTURE: Temples
360o view of the Pantheon’s interior – Not in Wheeler
NB
Generally examiners will not look for the specifications and measurements. But you should note that the interior
height from floor to oculus (142ft/43.3m) is equal to the floor diameter of the rotunda, i.e. a perfect 43.3m3
sphere could fit inside the Pantheon’s cella.
If asked to comment on the disharmony between the Pantheon’s portico and rotunda it is useful to briefly
mention the harmony between those two parts in the so-called temple of Venus at Baalbek as proof that the
Romans were capable of successfully marrying a rectangular temple scheme to that of a circular one but failed
to in this instance for some unknown reason, which Wheeler suggests was “an apology to tradition” – an
attempt to preserve the remains of the older temples in the newer one in as harmonious a way as was possible.
Despite the best intentions however they nonetheless failed.
It is also worth mentioning in this regard that Wheeler cites the Pantheon in his introduction (p.12) as “the
oldest surviving triumph” of buildings built almost entirely for the purpose of creating “larger and more
magnificent interiors to match the imperial pride and growing self-consciousness and importance of the
individual.” You might also cite the temple of Apollo at Bassae (possibly the work of Phidias himself) as the
Greek exception to the rule that the Romans invented lavish interior temple decoration.
The Pantheon thus seems to have been built with the interior in mind. It may therefore be that it was not
really supposed to be admired from the outside. You have to stand under the dome to appreciate its
genius and beauty.
End of Temples