Chapter 3 Despite so much that is known about Roman buildings,

there is relatively little to say about the individuals involved

Who Built the Pantheon? in the ferment of their creation. We can reconstruct
confidently the original appearance of many a monument,

Agrippa, Apollodorus, but not much about their designers. This is not for want of
information; it is just not quite of the right kind. All around

Hadrian and Trajan the Mediterranean survive ample ruins, including some
strikingly well-preserved buildings, of which the Pantheon is
the prime example. This physical evidence is illuminated by
literary sources, inscriptions and brickstamps, and on
Mark Wilson Jones occasion by maps and drawings inscribed in stone.
Notwithstanding some long-running disputes, we can often
be sure of the identity and date of individual monuments in
major cities. We also possess quite a populous roster of
architects’ names, thanks to numbers of their tombstones,
along with the occasional textual mention of a few of the
men at the top of their profession. Some buildings bear
discreet architects’ inscriptions, yet these are nothing like as
numerous and prominent as those of their patrons; it is they
who take the credit. In short, it is normally impossible to join
up specific surviving buildings with specific architects about
whom we know any more than the name. In this the Roman
period fares worse than the Greek, when architects were
frequently tied to particular projects by specifications,
contracts and accounts recorded on stone, while the names
of famous protagonists can be found in the treatises of
Roman writers, most notably Vitruvius and Pliny.1 By such
means we know of no fewer than three individuals who had
responsibility for the design of the Parthenon in one role or
other, Ictinus, Kallikrates and Karpion, while a fourth,
Phidias, the creator of Athena Parthenos, may also have had
some architectural input. By contrast it seems ironic that
Vitruvius’ treatise, by far the most important source on
Roman architecture, comes too early in its development to
provide information about practitioners of the imperial
period.2
The Pantheon is a singular monument in so many ways,
to mention just the magnificence of its interior space, its size
and its state of preservation.3 It has richer connections in
terms of human agency and association than practically any
other ancient building, especially from the time of the
Renaissance. Suffice it to mention some of the more
prominent names tied to it in one way or other: Raphael,
Michelangelo, Palladio, Bernini, Piranesi (father and son),
Jefferson, Boullée, Stendhal, Speer, Kahn, and the Kings
Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto I, both of whom are
buried, along with Raphael and other artists, within the
building itself. Since the rise of modern archaeology leading
scholars who have contributed to understanding the
building include Heinrich Dressel, Georges Chedanne,
Rodolfo Lanciani, Herbert Bloch and William (Bill)
MacDonald (to mention only those who are no longer with
us). It is only natural to seek to add to this human pantheon
the Pantheon’s original creators – be they patron, architect
or both. But given the background just outlined, how close to
the human story can we hope to get?
To medieval eyes the stupefying size of the Pantheon
made it the work of the Devil. On a metaphorical level this
notion fed the myth that its dome was formed over a huge
mound of earth, which the grasping Roman poor excavated

Who Built the Parthenon? | 27

Plate 1 Cut-away of three-dimensional virtual model of the Pantheon (conceived by the author, created by Robert Grover)

so as to get at the coins that had been mixed in for the problematic, even regrettable, aspects of the front in
purpose. 4 Folklore aside, any literate visitor could feel particular. For the conception of the project as a whole we
confident of the identity of the man behind the enterprise, have to bring into the picture two further figures, Trajan and
for the name of the great Roman general and Augustus’ his architect Apollodorus.
right-hand man remains to this day boldly emblazoned over
the entrance in a very direct statement of euergetism: in Past debates
essence the inscription declares ‘Agrippa made (this)’.5 At the To properly gauge the chronology of the Pantheon, and
end of the 19th century, however, it became clear that implications in terms of personalities, it is necessary to
Agrippa’s project only survives as vestiges of foundations understand issues of design and phasing. These topics
incorporated into the present ones, and we have become cannot be separated from past critiques framed in aesthetic
accustomed to associate the actual Pantheon with Hadrian. terms of the relationships between the main components of
Archaeology made sense of written testimony that he the Pantheon: rotunda, portico and the intervening
restored the structure; evidently it was a total rebuilding ‘transitional block’ housing the entrance and the staircases.
from the ground up. The Historia Augusta states that Hadrian Paradoxically, given the hallowed status of the monument in
put the names of the original founders back on buildings he architectural circles, there has existed since the Renaissance
restored, so the Pantheon with its Agrippa inscription has a sustained vein of bafflement and even outright criticism.
been taken as a case in point. Furthermore, on account of Part of this was directed at the attic of the interior elevation,
Hadrian’s artistic proclivities, his passion for architecture with its little pilasters that do not align with the
and his involvement in design (referred to by Cassius Dio in compositional lineaments above and below.6 But the biggest
a passage that will be examined in due course), there has concern was the awkward resolution of the exterior and the
also been a tendency in some quarters to see him as the junction of its circular and orthogonal geometries (Pls 1, 2,
creative genius behind the project. Yet the latest scholarship 13).7 Many, to mention just Michelangelo, Antonio da
obliges us to overturn once again conventional wisdom. Sangallo and Fontana, puzzled as to why the Pantheon
Though this might seem contrary to the spirit of the present exhibited architectural solecisms, that is to say offences
volume, we shall see that Hadrian was neither the designer against the classical ‘language’ or ‘grammar’ of the orders.8
of the Pantheon nor its instigator; indeed he could be The most alarming of these is the way the entablature of the
portrayed as the individual responsible for the most portico and transitional block crashes into the rotunda. The

28 | Hadrian: Art, Politics and Economy

 many Renaissance observers who believed the Pantheon to
have been built in successive periods, first the rotunda up to
the interior order, second the rest of the rotunda together
with the dome, third the portico (along perhaps with the
transitional block).9 Others preferred to identify two phases,
with arguments back and fore as to the dividing line between
them.10 By 1800 or so, in the context of increased knowledge
of ancient sources and nascent archaeological principles,
more attention was paid to historical background and
individuals. This is evident in the title of Carlo Fea’s
publication of 1806, L’Integrità del Pantheon rivendicata a Marco
Agrippa, which popularized one of the more wayward
notions then going around, that the existing building
represented a remodelling of the caldarium of Agrippa’s Baths
that lie on axis to the south (though in reality the complex
Plate 2 Pantheon, junction between the rotunda and transitional did not extend so far north). This idea can be traced back to
block at high level (Photo author) the Renaissance, when it was beautifully if misleadingly
rendered by Palladio in one of his drawings conserved in
entablature simply stops, while notably failing to align as London in the collection of the Royal Institute of British
one might think it should with the cornice that wraps around Architects (Pl. 3).
the middle of the rotunda. The secondary applied pediment, Disputes rumbled on down to the 1890s, when, as
partially cut off as it is by the roof associated with the intimated, previous convictions had to be completely revised
full-blooded pediment over the portico, is only the best following detailed study of brickstamps, the identification
known of a series of other puzzles. Palladio seized upon the labels which were in some periods imprinted in the still soft
double pediment to help resolve how church facades might clay of occasional bricks prior to baking. Heinrich Dressel
reflect different heights of naves and side aisles, but there is and Georges Chedanne interpreted brickstamps recovered
no obvious positive rationale for this almost unparalleled from the Pantheon and its surroundings, some of them still in
device in the Pantheon itself. For these and other problems situ, to indicate that the brick and concrete structure
explanation was sought in phasing. Michelangelo spoke for belonged to the first half of the 2nd century ad, and not the

Plate 3 Andrea Palladio, conjectural reconstruction of the Baths of Agrippa, including the Pantheon as a caldarium. Royal Institute of British
Architects, inv. no. SC212/VII/3 (RIBA, British Architectural Library, database entry 28210)

Who Built the Parthenon? | 29

Plate 4 Pantheon, section through the front steps with the outline of steps associated with its predecessor, as revealed by excavations
conducted in 1997–8. Annotations: A: earlier stair and podium; D: existing stair and podium; H: current level of the piazza (Virgili and
Battistelli 1999, fig. 3, drawn by G. Ioppolo)

time of Agrippa, around 150 years earlier. The excavations significantly of late. The excavations of the 1890s directed by
prompted by the controversy, together with later Luca Beltrami and ably interpreted graphically by Pier-
observations, demonstrated that the portico was put up – or Olinto Armanini, prior to his untimely demise, had
at least planned – at the same time as all the rest, while also uncovered traces of earlier substructures of contrasting
exposing traces of its Agrippan forerunner below floor character in the area of the portico on the one hand and the
level.11 Agrippa thus remained important as the builder of rotunda on the other.19 Under the portico were found
the first Pantheon completed in 27 or 25 bc. In the wake of a extensive masonry foundations that had been reused and
fire that affected many other buildings an intervention consolidated in the imperial rebuilding, while the primary
followed by Domitian, though the literary testimony to this remains associated with the rotunda consisted of a marble
effect has yet to find an echo in archaeological findings.12 floor 2.15 metres below the actual equivalent.20 Accordingly,
The building suffered a fatal conflagration in ad 110, after under the powerful influence of suggestions by Lanciani, the
which the definitive Pantheon was created from the will to notion developed that Agrippa’s Pantheon was a south-
restore Agrippa’s conception in fire-proof form. The portico facing T-shaped structure, with a laterally disposed cella
became roofed not with timber but by means of trusses made corresponding more or less to the outline of the present
of bronze, while the majestic structure of the rotunda is of portico.21 This theory is now a thing of the past, thanks to
course made of brick and concrete.13 excavations undertaken in front of the Pantheon in 1996–7
by the archaeological service of the Comune di Roma,
Agrippa’s Pantheon directed by Paola Virgili and encouraged by the then
Such a comprehensive bouleversement of the pre-1890s status Soprintendente Eugenio La Rocca. (The Comune have
quo was for some hard to digest; Chedanne’s drawings were responsibility for the piazza, the Ministero for the Pantheon
exhibited in Rome with infelicitous timing in 1895, that is to itself.) These excavations show that the imperial Pantheon
say just months after the Agrippa inscription was restored at had more in common with its Agrippan predecessor than
the command of the new Minister of Public Instruction used to be thought.22 Of the various findings probably the
Guido Baccelli, who was understandably furious – the most decisive is the discovery of an earlier set of north-facing
operation had consumed 800 kilograms of bronze acquired approach stairs directly under those of portico (Pl. 4).23 In
from the Ministry of War.14 As late as the 1920s and 1930s effect Agrippa’s project prefigured the existing edifice in
Giuseppe Cozzo persisted in championing differential having a circular body facing north with a porticoed
phasing and an Agrippan core for the rotunda.15 But such entrance on the same spot.24
theories were comprehensively dismissed by Julien Guey and These findings appear to complement earlier (and more
Bloch, whose study of the brickstamps fine-tuned the dating or less simultaneous) intuitions concerning Agrippa’s project
of the building to the Hadrianic period.16 The ‘sphinx of the from different perspectives by William Loerke and Filippo
Campus Martius’ nonetheless continues to provoke Coarelli.25 Loerke envisaged a circular space while Coarelli
contrasting interpretations. In fact the authors of two recent set down an intriguing rationale for the choice of site on the
tomes dedicated to the building sustain differential phasing ancient palus caprae (goat marsh), where according to one
to varying extents. Gene Waddell proposes that substantial tradition Romulus, legendary founder of Rome, became the
portions of the portico were rebuilt in the Severan period.17 god Quirinus and ascended to the heavens. Agrippa would
Giovanni Belardi – the current director of the Pantheon – therefore have intended a programmatic connection
still believes that much of what stands today belongs to between the founder of the city and a new Rome in the age
Agrippa.18 of Augustus.26 In addition, dynastic ambitions are suggested
The nature of Agrippa’s project is in fact one of the main by virtue of the north-facing Pantheon aligning axially with
areas in which understanding of the Pantheon has advanced the entrance to the Mausoleum of Augustus half a mile

30 | Hadrian: Art, Politics and Economy

 be reconsidered. In fact the attic may now be recognized not
as flawed, but on the contrary a vital participant in a
brilliant and coherent interior scheme that spurned a
predictable radial solution in favour of a dynamically
rhythmical experience.30 As for the potentially problematic
exterior junctions, it has been argued by scholars such as
MacDonald and John Ward-Perkins that these would have
been scarcely visible in antiquity on account of the way the
building was originally framed, taking into account the
levels that then pertained. Doubts were also raised as to the
validity of looking at Roman design from perspectives
conditioned by aesthetic and theoretical premises of
Renaissance origin.31 But for my friends Paul Davies, David
Hemsoll and me, looking at the building afresh in the late
Plate 5 Pantheon, soundings made at the junction between the 1980s, the problem could not be so easily put aside. The
rotunda and the staircase wall running longitudinally on the side of observations of MacDonald and Ward-Perkins seem sound,
the entrance in the transitional block. Left: east stair at high level; but hardly sufficient. They might help us to understand how
Right: west stair at low level (second landing). The arrow on the
some of the infelicities of the Pantheon were minimized and
right-hand side image points to a course of two-foot wide bricks or
bipedales, one of which traverses the junction whole and their consequences mitigated, but there is no denying their
undamaged (photo: author) existence. It is difficult to dismiss the thrust of the criticisms
directed from a design standpoint made by architects as
away. This programmatic connection attunes with the eminent as Michelangelo and Fontana. It should be
passage by Cassius Dio (53.27) which states that Agrippa emphasized that some of the puzzling features have little to
intended to honour Augustus by dedicating the building to do with aesthetic considerations that are potentially
him, naming it after him and erecting his statue inside, susceptible to Renaissance or academic bias. That the fabric
though Augustus declined.27 Agrippa therefore had statues of the transitional block is bonded with the rotunda at low
of himself and Augustus set up in the porch (presumably in level (Pl. 5, right), but not bonded at high level (Pl. 5, left), is
the two great niches) and placed inside a statue of Augustus’ just the most striking technical oddity associated with the
adoptive father, the deified Julius Caesar, along with execution of the project.32
Olympian gods including Venus and Mars. Thus Augustus The problematic aspects of the design of the Pantheon
would find his way inside only after his death, upon his are sufficient to raise the doubt that an architect at the
presumed future divinization. All this is consistent with the apogee of the imperial period would have ever intended
adaptation to Roman sensibilities of the use of buildings and them, at least in the ideal world. In fact one school of thought
the name pantheon in the Hellenistic east aimed at cementing saw ineptitude as proof of Hadrian’s authorship.33 Thus he
associations between rulers and divinities.28 The circular would have been the genius behind the conceptual novelty of
form of the Pantheon itself is appropriate for the task; the project, the fusion of a (Greek) portico and a (Roman)
moreover, according to both La Rocca and Judith rotunda, while his lack of professional experience meant he
McKenzie, in separate and again simultaneous publications was unable to carry this conception through to a perfect
coming to press, it may have taken its cue from the lost resolution.34 One can only admire this ingenious, if
Tychaion in Alexandria, a structure which brought together contorted, theory! Hadrian may well have been the driving
statues of divinities and one of a Ptolemaic monarch inside a creative force behind his extraordinary ‘villa’ at Tivoli,
circular space articulated it seems with axes and subsidiary operating rather like the director of an orchestra in which
accents, perhaps recesses or exedrae.29 In the case of the architects and builders were the instruments. But there are
Pantheon we may assume that Venus, Mars and Julius good reasons to doubt that his position was compatible with
Caesar were accompanied by other statues disposed in its designing major projects in any detail, especially those in the
exedrae and aedicules. It is also likely that over time the public realm in Rome itself.35 As regards to the Pantheon in
statues of divinized members of the imperial family were particular, Apollodorus has a much superior claim to its
added, as the initial dynastic aspect of the programme design.
evolved into a celebration of the imperial institution and its The architect-engineer Apollodorus (or Apollodorus of
cosmic authority. It is this inheritance which provided the Damascus) was Trajan’s preferred designer and author of his
thematic underpinning for the existing building when it Forum and Baths, both quite exceptional projects.36 As we
came to be rebuilt after the fire of ad 110. shall see, one source suggests a confidential relationship
between the two men, and it is reasonable to visualize the
Hadrian and Apollodorus architect filling a role broadly comparable with that of Royal
While making allowance for later repairs, the brickstamps, Surveyor in the British context of the 17th century.37 As
the foundations, along with the stylistic similarity of the befitted a profession that in antiquity spanned the modern
marble orders inside and out, show that the whole of the divides of architecture and engineering, Apollodorus stood
existing Pantheon was erected more or less in one go. No at the pinnacle of both. His technical mastery is evident
longer being able to fall back on differential phasing to from his authorship not only of the Poliorcetica,38 a treatise on
explain what used to be viewed as solecisms, these needed to siege engines and the like, but also the celebrated wooden

Who Built the Parthenon? | 31

Plate 6 Pantheon, interior elevation of the rotunda projected flat. The only instances in which there is concordance between different levels
of the composition are indicated by dotted lines (author: from Wilson Jones 2000, fig. 9.25)

bridge over the Danube. An audacious wooden structure bear on such discussions in modern times, this evidence is
spanning between stone and concrete piers, this is not sufficient for an unassailable attribution; however it is
represented prominently on Trajan’s Column, besides being probably the closest chance we have of going beyond the
the subject of another treatise by Apollodorus, a work which, generalized anonymity that is the Roman architect’s fate.
though since lost, was referred to by Procopius in such a way Yet at the same time we need to be aware of stressing the
as to suggest that it was well known as late as the 6th individual at the expense of team endeavour, certainly no
century.39 In its turn the Column, at least as regards to its less relevant in antiquity than it is today, despite the media
architectural definition, could also be included in focus on a few ‘starchitects’.
Apollodorus’ oeuvre by virtue of being an integral part of his
(i.e. Trajan’s) forum. It would be reasonable to suppose that The ‘compromise hypothesis’
the architect was responsible for other projects besides those Were the Pantheon indeed designed by the capable
mentioned, though without appeal to documentary evidence Apollodorus, the shortcomings of its exterior seem all the
it can be difficult to pin down any specific attribution, more puzzling. How then to explain them? Together at first
Trajan’s Markets being a case in point.40 Leaving to one side with Davies and Hemsoll, I have argued that the exterior of
for the moment the date of the Pantheon, its attribution to the Pantheon is not what was originally intended, but rather
Apollodorus makes sense on several levels. There are shared the outcome of compromises induced by unforeseen
stylistic traits in the marble decoration of the Pantheon and circumstances. The ‘compromise hypothesis’ proposes that
his Forum of Trajan.41 The open-air half-rotundas of the portico was initially planned with sixteen columns
Trajan’s Baths offer points of similarity with the Pantheon incorporating 50ft monolithic shafts of Egyptian granite
rotunda. The latter is notable for a kind of ‘syncopation’ (Pl. 8). These columns would have been set out on the same
which baffled Renaissance commentators and which saw a centres as those of the actual portico, perhaps with the same
vertical concordance between the main order, the attic and distribution of materials, i.e. eight shafts of grey granite from
the coffering of the dome only on the main axes (Pl. 6). A the quarries at Mons Claudianus in front, eight of pink
similar syncopation occurred at the Baths, albeit in a simpler granite from Aswan behind. The decision was made to
form given the absence of an attic (Pl. 7).42 Moreover, the employ 40ft shafts instead only after work had started on site,
trapezoidal staircases fitted in behind these half-rotundas for some reason unknown – perhaps because of logistical
directly presage those of the Pantheon (Pls 7 and 9).43 difficulties with quarrying and/or transportation. Might a
Finally it may be noted that Apollodorus’ expertise in the consignment of 50 footers have sunk en route between
erection of giant timber structures, as attested by both the Alexandria and Rome?45 Alternatively it is possible to
Poliorcetica and his famous bridge, put him in a singularly imagine, as we shall see, that shafts originally intended for
good position to have masterminded the giant centring that the Pantheon were diverted to the Temple of Trajan. Either
must have been employed to build the Pantheon dome.44 To way, it is significant that Roman monolithic column shafts
repeat, without the kind of archival evidence that would tended to be standardized in multiples of 5ft lengths, with 30,

32 | Hadrian: Art, Politics and Economy

 Plate 7 Baths of Trajan, hemicycles ‘H’ and ’L’:
plans, elevations and three dimensional
projections. Note the alignment between niches
and coffers indicated by red lines, and the
triangular shaped staircases tucked in behind
both of the hemicycles (after Licht 1974, Taf. 1 and.
3, Abb. 17 and 44)

40 and 50ft lengths being the dominant larger sizes. Shafts originally have been used. But evidently not all the
40ft long thus represented the next major step down from difference could be lost by such improvisations, hence the
50ft, and, moreover, were much more common and ‘jog’.48
therefore more likely to be available.46 First published in 1989, fleshed out with further
The case for the compromise hypothesis relies primarily supporting evidence in 2000 and 2009, the ‘compromise
on deductions based on the physical examination of the hypothesis’ has had a predominantly positive reception.49
building and its solecisms. Indeed, all its various solecisms But the reader should be aware of opposition, principally
and curiosities would simply not have existed in the that of Lothar Haselberger, a leading scholar of ancient
hypothetical original project.47 Since those mentioned so far architecture.50 He worries about the dangers inherent in
concern the more strategic aspects of design and presuming we can know what ancient architects intended,
construction, it is well to illustrate one small-scale example while questioning whether several of the shortcomings really
so as to give an idea of the level of detail that is embraced by amount to such.51 For him the preoccupation with what
this theory. Where the portico meets the transitional block should have been deflects us from a subtler understanding of
on the west flank the entablature ‘jogs’ or steps out by a small what actually is.52 He notes a series of lapses from precise
amount, one neither so small as to be insignificant, nor so regularity and symmetry (some of which are disconnected
big as to constitute a positive feature (Pl. 2). This is the with the solecisms I highlight), that adds up to an
product of the ‘shrinking’ of the columns predicted by the inconsistency, or elasticity, that is perhaps surprising (to us).
compromise hypothesis. The columns had become smaller, On the other hand the portico displays some features of
demanding that the overall width of the entablature they considerable refinement, for example the slight thickening of
carry contract inwards, in theory by 5/8 of a foot on both the corner columns (by about 5–6cm, or 3 per cent,
the east and west flanks. Yet the structure of the transitional compared with the rest).53 For Haselberger the juxtaposition
block was already in position, and could not be moved. of exacting details with ‘misfits’ could reflect a non-academic
Mitigation could be achieved by shifting the column axes approach to design, besides divisions between different kinds
with respect to the foundations (though naturally this shift of operation (or the labour involved), aspects that we have
could only be marginal), and perhaps also by cladding the yet to fully appreciate in this as in other imperial
transitional block with thinner sheets of marble than would monuments.54 This is a valid debating position, and I am

Who Built the Parthenon? | 33

Plate 8 Pantheon, plans and elevations as intended and as executed (author: from Wilson Jones 2000, fig. 10.12)

happy to concede that one or two of the Pantheon’s solecisms transitional block and rotunda, the other has to do with
should be viewed less dogmatically, and perhaps absolute chronology and the date of construction. More
discounted.55 A couple of others are inconclusive (the second importantly, for the present inquiry, both have a bearing on
pediment is merely very unusual, it is not in fact unique in the human side of the equation.
ancient architecture).56 But several major supports of the
‘compromise hypothesis’ remain intact, or not even Phasing, chronology – and Trajan
challenged. This is not the place to rehearse again all the Academic disputes have the dialectical function of
arguments in its favour; however, given the opposition just sharpening a line of argumentation, and this is the case here.
cited, it is well to confront aspects of the problem from fresh The juxtapositions Haselberger noted in the measurements
directions, both of which have a temporal dimension. One of the Pantheon (precise-imprecise, regular-irregular and so
has to do with relative chronology, the phasing of on) seem to me not so much to detract from the compromise

34 | Hadrian: Art, Politics and Economy

Plate 9 Pantheon, plans of the East Stair at different levels, 1:200 (author, Roberta Zaccara and Robert Grover)

hypothesis as to add to it, for they are easier to understand if proximity between the upper and lower halves. The
an upset occurred that obliged an element of re-design, and evidence of the brickstamps confirms this point. 59 Therefore
hence delay, along perhaps with a rush to make up lost the work on the transitional block and the stairs merely
time.57 Given that such questions are open to debate, as are suffered a pause; after operations were halted about half way
solecisms based primarily on aesthetic considerations, it up work then resumed quite quickly. It is not impossible that
seems particularly important to focus on matters of a both phases were supervised by the same people.60 Just as
technical nature. During one of our conversations about our remarked in connection with the ‘misfits’, all this is perfectly
old friend the Pantheon some years ago, Haselberger compatible with a project that suffered a serious, but
pointed out that the nature of the discontinuity at the temporary, setback. According to my reading, the lack of
junction of the rotunda and transitional block had never bond was forced on the builders by the non-arrival of the
been properly scrutinized (or at any rate not published), and intended columns and the ensuing hiatus, during which they
this led me to make my own survey of the east staircase of could only proceed with the construction of the rotunda.
the Pantheon in 2005 and 2006, with the help of Cinzia When work on the transitional block resumed it was obliged
Conti, Giangiacomo Martines and a team of assistants.58 to simply abut the rotunda.
Because the staircases have limited architectural The building site of the Pantheon was afflicted by other
pretensions, being essentially functional, they present the adversities too. Agrippa’s building had earlier suffered
best opportunities to inspect the raw construction of the significant settlement of the foundations, and some lesser but
transitional block, and its junction with the rotunda (Pls 1, still worrying settlement made itself manifest in the building
9). We were able to witness the bond between these bodies of of the imperial rotunda.61 The structure known in Italian as
fabric at low level (Pl. 5, right). This proved the unity of the grottoni, a two-storey infill building between the south
conception that had been so much disputed in the past. On side of the rotunda and the Basilica of Neptune, was
the other hand, we could also document a clearly unbonded evidently an improvised buttressing measure for the rotunda
condition in the upper half of the structure (Pl. 5, left). Via even before it was complete. This is indicated on three
the study of technique (as manifest by such things as brick- counts: firstly, the six longitudinal walls (running north–
to-mortar ratio, and the distribution of so-called bonding south) of the grottoni do not bond with the rotunda, but are
courses made with bipedales, the especially large, two-foot butted up against it; secondly the brickstamps from the
wide, bricks) it is furthermore possible to chart the close grottoni fall in roughly the same date range as those from the
similarity in the character of the construction of the upper rest of the building.62 The third point emerges out of my
and lower halves of the transitional block. Although the recent inspections, which have revealed a remarkable state
change in the bonding condition between the rotunda and of affairs that had hitherto escaped appreciation: despite not
the staircases must occur somewhere around the level of the being bonded below, the upper parts of the grottoni are
entablature, it is not possible to detect an obvious break or bonded with the rotunda. This point indicates that the
change in the elevation of the staircase in this area (Pl. 10). whole of this structure was put up extremely fast,
This suggests, even if it cannot prove, the close temporal presumably so as to be in place by the time the dome was

Who Built the Parthenon? | 35

Plate 10 Pantheon, part-section of the East Stair. Bonding courses of bipedales are shown dotted, 1: 80 (author, Roberta Zaccara and
Robert Grover)

36 | Hadrian: Art, Politics and Economy

Table 1 Key dates for the building of the Pantheon

BC 27/25 Agrippa’s Pantheon dedicated

AD 80 Pantheon damaged by fire
post AD 80 Restoration of uncertain scope
AD 110 Pantheon burns Trajan’s reign ongoing
AD 111–14 demolitions; conception and design
AD 114–16 site preparation and foundations
AD 116–19 progress on brick and concrete superstructure 117 Hadrian’s accession
AD 119–21 erection of the grottoni ; 118 Hadrian arrives in Rome
non-arrival of 50ft shafts for the portico;
work on the transitional block interrupted 121 Hadrian leaves Rome
AD 122–4 completion of the dome;
decision to use 40ft shafts for the portico;
completion of the transitional block
AD 124–5 completion of the portico 125 Hadrian arrives in Rome
AD 125–6 installation of statuary and fittings;
finishing and dedication
128 Hadrian leaves Rome

constructed. Here, then, is a yet another sign of of such stamps in the Pantheon shows that the bricks used in
improvisation and haste.63 its construction must have been made prior to ad 123. The
A further twist in scholarship over the Pantheon has superstructure must therefore have been completed by this
emerged with Lise Hetland’s recent research. In line with time, if not soon after. (The exact time lag twixt production
Wolf-Dieter Heilmeyer’s earlier arguments based primarily and use is impossible to know.68)
on the style of capitals and other marble elements, this pulls The single in situ brickstamp datable to the Hadrianic
back the date of the commencement of the project to a few period and specifically the key year ad 123 allows additional
years earlier than the prevailing consensus of c. ad 117–18.64 precision. The piece of brick in question was found where
Only a few years, it is true, but enough to force a change in the columnar system of the portico meets the transitional
any assumptions about Hadrian’s involvement. Credit for block, in the fill material that accompanied the positioning
the project should now go to his predecessor Trajan. of the marble pilasters.69 Given that the portico could have
This proposal relies on a reappraisal of the same body of been put up relatively rapidly, this suits dedication of the
brickstamps that had already been studied by Guey and new Pantheon in or after ad 125. Since Hadrian returned to
Bloch. A minority of brickstamps are of critical interest, for Rome in the summer of ad 125 after his first tour of the
these are dated to a specific year by virtue of the empire,70 it is tempting to imagine that he would have
abbreviations included of the names of the consuls then in presided over the ceremonies in person. Was he keen for this
power. A larger group of stamps can be dated within rough event to take place soon after his return, forcing the rush to
limits by tracing other names that appear, and by cross- which several details attest?
referring to the same names on dated examples. It is striking The likely duration of the project from conception to
that all the in situ brickstamps preserved in the Pantheon completion was thus around a dozen years (c. ad 113/14 to c.
which can be dated with reasonable confidence are late ad 125/6). In the normal course of events, a construction
Trajanic, save for one Hadrianic example. Bloch, the doyen period of around eight years for the Pantheon would be
of brickstamp studies in the middle of the last century, had feasible, given the legendary logistical capabilities of the
realized this.65 However, a fondness for a more general Roman building machine.71 But in this case events were far
theory of his concerning brick production in this period led from normal. Delays would have been incurred firstly by the
him to argue that the Trajanic shipments were stockpiled, improvised erection of the grottoni, and secondly by the
not to be taken up until Hadrian instigated the project after interruption and reconfiguration of the transitional block
coming to power in mid ad 117. Exposing circularity in and portico. (It remains difficult to say whether these delays
Bloch’s position, Hetland guides us towards the more logical ran separately or concurrently.) In any event, the evidence
conclusion that the project was Trajan’s. Is it not more likely, from brickstamps and phases combined with worksite
she asks, that Trajan commissioned a replacement Pantheon logistics leads to the above sketch chronology for the
sooner rather than later after the fire of 110 that destroyed its Pantheon and its main component parts (see Table 1).
previous incarnation?66 In short, allowing for demolition The revised dating of the Pantheon reminds us that we
and planning, a start date between ad 113 and 115 is should be wary of assigning building projects according to
substantially more probable than one around ad 118. artificially clean break-lines relating to individual emperors.
As for the end date, this can also be established within a It is convenient to be able to call a building Domitianic,
fairly close range. The key consideration here is that in ad Trajanic, Hadrianic and so on. But to do so distorts the
123 – presumably in response to an edict of Hadrian – an realities of the imperial administrative system; policies and
unusually high proportion of Roman brick production was attitudes could certainly change on the diktat of a new
stamped (i.e. with the abbreviated names of the then emperor, but the machinery of state ensured relative
reigning consuls, Apronianus and Paetinus).67 The absence continuity across a spectrum of activities. Hadrian only

Who Built the Parthenon? | 37

Plate 11a–b Pantheon, entrance and door. Note the pilasters and grille that fill the gap between the double doors and the masonry opening
(a: photo: Maxim Atayants; b: Francesco Piranesi, Raccolta de’ tempi antichi, II (1790), Tav. 20)

came onto the scene after the unexpected death of Trajan, doors do not fit the marble aperture, which is in part filled by
and in general terms it is inevitable that some projects begun the associated pilasters at the sides, and the grille overhead
in one emperor’s reign were finished in another; death making it legitimate to wonder whether they were retrofitted
hardly works to a schedule. When we speak of Trajan’s (Pl. 11a–b). Having been originally produced in the
Forum, we should keep in mind that Hadrian may have Augustan period according to one interpretation, the doors
completed it.72 Likewise there would be nothing so themselves may have been recycled, perhaps in the Severan
exceptional about a Pantheon begun in Trajan’s time and period if not in the Hadrianic phase.74 Other Severan
completed in Hadrian’s. interventions are difficult to identify. It is possible that
Along with practically everyone else I used to accept the settlement, even if not so pronounced as that which
conventional Hadrianic date, albeit reluctantly, conscious bedevilled Agrippa’s Pantheon, continued to cause problems.
that it did not suit the attribution to Apollodorus on account Its severity should not be overstated – the Pantheon stands,
of Hadrian’s antagonism. So it is a pleasure to be freed from after all, and the radial cracking of the rotunda is probably
this error. With the dating of the Pantheon revised and its generated by stresses affecting most unreinforced
inception under Trajan clarified, the case for the hemispherical domes – but settlement possibly contributed to
involvement of his favourite architect Apollodorus is the collapse of the north-eastern corner of portico in the 17th
significantly strengthened. Indeed, who more likely to have century. It has also been wondered if the bronze trusses and
been given charge of the new project than Apollodorus, ceiling were created or restored in the Severan period.75
covered in glory as he was concerning the bridge over the However it may be noted that the Trajanic fabric of the
Danube, Trajan’s Baths and Trajan’s Forum? transitional block seems to anticipate vaults of some kind over
The last significant intervention in the Pantheon of pagan the side aisles.76 Perhaps movements in the fabric over the
antiquity consisted of restoration works by the emperors course of the 2nd century caused portions of its marble
Septimius Severus and Caracalla, as attested by the revetment to detach, giving rise to a programme of repairs
inscription that runs below Agrippa’s in much smaller letters attested by the Severan inscription, a document that, despite
on the architrave.73 The scope of works is however uncertain. the rather grandiose claim to have restored ‘all the
A pair of brickstamps has been found associated with the decoration’, can be assumed to have inflated reality, as was
vaulted fabric over the entrance portal. Here the bronze common practice at the time.77 There then followed centuries

38 | Hadrian: Art, Politics and Economy

 that can easily be seen at the foot of the Column itself.79 Thus
50ft shafts were envisaged for both the Pantheon and
Trajan’s temple, and indeed Amanda Claridge has directly
connected the fortunes of these two projects. Delays in
supply are easy to envisage, whether due to transportation or
shipwreck, or simply the time needed to produce such a
large number of huge columns that the combined projects
demanded. It should be borne in mind that at the time the
Pantheon was commissioned Trajan’s death could not have
been anticipated, while building the temple to the god that
he thus became was a political imperative for Hadrian, a
way of consolidating his accession. By Claridge’s intriguing
reasoning the prospect of unacceptably long delays for this
project could have triggered an instruction to divert to it
shafts originally intended for the Pantheon.80 This or
shipwreck are thus the two chief likely causes of the problem.
Plate 12 Hadrian’s Villa, the so-called Serapeum, also known as the Naturally, we will never know the exact dynamics, but the
‘Temple of Canopus’ or less problematically the Scenic Triclinium
papyrus gives us a remarkable glimpse of the possibilities.
(Giovanbattista Piranesi)

Trajan, Apollodorus and Hadrian

of decay, robbery, repair and conservation, which, albeit The next text of potential relevance is perhaps the most
fascinating, cannot detain us here. famous passage concerning an ancient architect that comes
to us from a source other than Vitruvius. Written by Cassius
Three texts Dio, it happens to brings together, in the context of major
In summary, then, a range of evidence makes it clear that imperial projects, all three of the key names involved in this
Agrippa built the first Pantheon, that the actual building phase of the Pantheon: Trajan, Apollodorus and Hadrian:
was begun by Trajan and finished by Hadrian, while [Hadrian] first banished and later put to death Apollodorus,
Apollodorus has the best claim to having been its designer. the architect who had built the various creations of Trajan in
Now for a change of gear, as we turn to three texts that may Rome – the forum, the odeon and the baths. The reason
provide further depth to the scenarios discussed, and their assigned was that he had been guilty of some misdemeanour,
human dimension. This is no longer the realm of proof and but the true reason was that once when Trajan was consulting
him on some point he had said to Hadrian, who had
logical argumentation, but that of conjecture. Nonetheless
interrupted him with some remark: ‘Be off and draw your
my inferences help create a narrative that has the potential
pumpkins. You don’t understand any of these matters’ – it
to tie up loose ends and make sense of them, while not chanced that Hadrian at the time was pluming himself upon
actually violating any of the facts at issue. some such drawing. When he became emperor, therefore, he
The first document to which I appeal is a letter on remembered this slight and would not endure the man’s
papyrus concerning a 50ft shaft in transit from the quarries freedom of speech. He sent him the design of the Temple of
of Mons Claudianus across the eastern Egyptian desert. The Venus and Rome by way of showing him that a great work
letter bears a date in the third year of Hadrian’s reign, that is could be accomplished without his aid, and asked Apollodorus
to say the winter months of ad 119/120.78 Written to secure whether the proposed design was satisfactory. The architect in
his reply stated first, in regard to the temple, that it ought to
fodder for the draught animals involved, which by
have been built on high ground ... so that it might have stood
implication of the urgency of the request must have been out more conspicuously on the Sacred Way ... Secondly, in
running worryingly short, the papyrus illustrates the kind of regard to the statues, he said that they had been made too tall
problems that might bedevil the transport of such monstrous for the height of the cella. ‘For now’, he said, ‘if the goddesses
– 100 tonne – stones. This event is too early for the wish to get up and go out, they will be unable to do so.’ When
destination to have been a Hadrianic Pantheon, but the he wrote this so bluntly to Hadrian, the emperor ... restrained
winter of ad 119/120 fits well with the Pantheon as we now neither his anger nor his grief, but slew the man. Indeed, his
know it to have been begun under Trajan, and which, nature was such that he was jealous not only of the living, but
according to the compromise hypothesis, should have had also of the dead.81
50ft shafts. If the shaft in question was not part of a As Frank Brown surmised, the disparaging reference to
consignment that was lost at sea and successfully arrived in pumpkins or gourds was most likely an allusion to the
Rome, where might it have ended up? Fifty-foot monoliths, it scalloped vaults that Hadrian and his architects used to such
must be emphasized, were very rare indeed. Though the effect in his villa at Tivoli (Pl. 12).82 The text conveys an
letter is too early for the shaft to originally have been antipathy between Hadrian and Apollodorus that was
intended for the Temple of Trajan – a project that was provoked or augmented by the ‘slight’, and which may
probably only begun after Trajan’s death – it most likely perhaps have been rooted in differences of opinion and/or
found use there. The exact date and location of this building approach on the subject of architecture. This would not be
eludes scholarly consensus, but pieces of several shafts of this the first nor the last time that the professional and the
very size lie underneath the modern Palazzo Valentini not dilettante rouse mutual irritation. A further cause for
far from Trajan’s Column, in addition to the large chunk resentment on the part of Apollodorus can be ascribed to the

Who Built the Parthenon? | 39

Plate 13 Pantheon, view of the front and its inscription (photo: author)

destruction of his great bridge on Hadrian’s orders, out of bent no doubt on keeping to the more impressive original,
fears that barbarian forces would use it to cross to the ideal, design, in spite of protracted further delays associated
Romans’ side.83 Yet the most striking event, Apollodorus’ with a new order and delivery of the requisite giant shafts
execution at Hadrian’s behest, would seem to be embroidery from Egypt. On the other side was the emperor: concerned
aimed at tarnishing the emperor, in keeping with Dio’s above all with limiting the duration of the embarrassment,
efforts to portray him in a bad light. (The Historia Augusta has and getting the project finished as quickly as possible. Was it
the architect collaborating on one of the emperor’s later Hadrian who insisted on the compromise solution,
unrealized projects, which was to create a statue of Luna to authorizing the diversion from another project of a set of 40ft
accompany the Colossus.84) As for the passage about the columns that was already in Rome, or on its way? In one
Temple of Venus and Rome and its goddesses, this is but an sense or another then it is correct to call the portico
adaptation of the well-known anecdote about the classical Hadrianic, in contradistinction to the rest of the building.
Greek sculptor Phidias’ statue of Zeus in his temple at The construction of the Pantheon may already have run
Olympia.85 Yet Dio’s rendition may still contain genuine into problems at its southern end, where the grottoni would
elements, and it is tempting to suppose that the Pantheon rise as a precautionary measure, and then there arose the
was the real focus of the dispute. Perhaps he had heard about portico fiasco at the northern end. Though the cause may
the controversy over the height of its portico, pinning a well have been what we would call an act of god – Poseidon/
jumbled version on the Temple of Venus and Rome instead. Neptune? – and not of Apollodorus’ making, there may yet
After all, in Dio’s mind the Pantheon was built by Agrippa, have been a perceived element of fault on his part. (Was he
since another passage of his shows that he took the over optimistic about the number of shafts that could be
inscription under the pediment at face value.86 quarried? Did he order shafts to be shipped from Alexandria
According to this intuition, the clash would have arisen too late in the season, thus endangering them in storms? Did
not primarily over the Temple of Venus and Rome, but over he instruct them to be sent in one flotilla, as opposed to the
the problems that afflicted the portico of the Pantheon. more prudent option of separate batches?) Hadrian and
Apollodorus would be the designer and Hadrian the Apollodorus, I imagine, locked horns over their divergent
emperor/patron, the death of Trajan having propelled him preferences for resolving the catastrophe – albeit at a
into a commanding position over Apollodorus, along with so distance or via delegates, for the emperor was away from
much else. We may envisage the two men on opposite sides Rome for most of the period during which this drama
of a dispute over how to resolve the project, which stood unfolded. (A parallel of sorts exists in surviving
preposterously incomplete in the middle of the Campus correspondence between Trajan and Pliny the Younger,
Martius just as so much other building work all around was when as governor of Bithynia he needed instruction as how
finished, or soon so to be. On the one side was the architect: best to manage problems with public buildings in

40 | Hadrian: Art, Politics and Economy

Claudiopolis.87) One can almost feel the tension between a determined by its Agrippan predecessor. Agrippa’s portico
principled Apollodorus, holding out for the ideal taller must have been a no less monumental affair than the present
portico, and an impatient Hadrian, imposing his will for the one; in fact the columns along the front were set out on the
sake of minimizing embarrassment and for the speediest same spacing. In praising the pedimental statues of
possible opening of the grandest hall the world had yet seen. Agrippa’s Pantheon, Pliny the Elder gives the impression
So as to justify his instruction to make do with a set of 40ft that their lofty position made them relatively unfamiliar or
shafts, who knows if Hadrian used similar arguments to difficult to see.92 The columns, then, were tall; might both
those advanced by MacDonald and Ward Perkins, to the porticoes have had the same height as well as the same
effect that the resultant offending junctions were of limited rhythm? In other words the Hadrianic portico may well
visibility? Knowledgeable as he was of Athens, did Hadrian have replicated the general scale of Agrippa’s if not also
point to the stacked roofs-cum-pediments of the Propylaea some of its key dimensions.93 Yet since the time of Agrippa
on the Acropolis as a precedent of sorts that sanctioned his Roman audiences would have become used to displays of
chosen solution?88 All this may be speculation, but as the taller columns with tighter spacing in proportional terms
compromise hypothesis is refined in the light of the revised (i.e. the ratio of the intercolumnation, or interval between
dating, the plausibility of the Pantheon as the focus of the columns, to their diameter). Both the temple of Mars Ultor
quarrel between Apollodorus and Hadrian grows. In any and of Concordia had similar column spacings but 60ft tall
event, it is Trajan who should take the credit as the patron of columns with 50ft shafts, rather like the Pantheon should
the project; Hadrian only finished it off. ideally have had. One of the consequences of the revised,
lowered portico (as built) would arguably have been a faintly
Hadrian and Agrippa old-style or archaizing air conveyed by the relatively squat
The third and final text returns to where we began – the proportions. If Doris and Gottfried Gruben are right, the
laconic Agrippa inscription dominating the frontal frieze of great bronze doors date originally from the Augustan
the portico: M. Agrippa L. f. cos. tertium fecit (Pl. 13). Of course, period, later being adapted for the Pantheon (Pl. 12). This is
no one today takes this at face value, as Dio did. Nor is it to an intriguing hypothesis, for it could explain why they do
be interpreted as a faithful replication of any original not fit the opening in the normal way, and the recourse to
inscription belonging to Agrippa’s Pantheon. The pilasters at the sides, and the fish-scale grille at the top.94 As
formulation seems rather to be inconsistent with his own already mentioned, the installation could be attributed to a
lifetime.89 Most probably the inscription was a Hadrianic Severan intervention, but in the absence of firm evidence to
creation, purpose-made for the Pantheon that was this effect a Hadrianic date seems more likely. (One can only
completed in ad 125 or soon after. wonder further whether the lost bronze trusses and vaults
What would be the motivation behind such a device? As harked back to the use of bronze in Agrippa’s Pantheon; it is,
already remarked, the Historia Augusta cites Hadrian setting after all, known to have had bronze capitals.95) The frieze
up building inscriptions which accredit his forerunners, out reliefs with incense burners and swags that divide up the
of a show of modesty and respect.90 This was a literary topos; elevation of the transitional block also appear to be inspired
Augustus is recorded as having made similar gestures in his by precedents of Augustan date.96
Res Gestae.91 However, as Mary Boatwright explores in this There are, then, indications to suggest that the Hadrianic
same volume, no comparable examples from the time of portico had a character congenial to the statues of Agrippa
Hadrian have survived. Indeed the literary and epigraphical and Augustus that Dio says stood in the entrance of the
evidence do not march in tandem, and where inscriptions on Pantheon he described, that is to say the actual Trajanic-
restored buildings are known (including ones involving Hadrianic one. The almost eclectic, revivalist, approach
Hadrian), she shows that they typically ‘highlight, not cover implicit in the retrofitting of the doors and in the Augustan-
up, the actions of the re-builder’. Rather than manifesting a style reliefs does not obviously find a place within the formal
more general habit of Hadrian, did the Pantheon inscription and stylistic consistency of Apollodorus as discernible in the
alone, reinforced by the longstanding literary topos and remains of Trajan’s Forum and Baths (not to mention the
associated propaganda, prompt the passage in the Historia Pantheon interior). The revivalist composition of the portico
Augusta? This prompts in turn a more radical question: was seems to reflect a predominant interest in programme and
the official presentation of Hadrian’s modesty a device to politics and a willingness to compromise for this sake,
avoid taking ownership for the compromised portico? making it legitimate to wonder whether key decisions
It would be flippant to present this as a simplistic one- originated with Hadrian (perhaps via a delegate), then to be
liner. As Boatwright shows, there are likely to be multiple imposed on a reluctant Apollodorus.
subtle messages encapsulated in both the inscription as a Hadrian is an important figure in the history of
whole, with its unusual size and form, and even its minor architecture; the extraordinary architectural laboratory that
details (for example, the exact rendering of tertium). The is his villa at Tivoli is enough to ensure that.97 But it happens
thinking that went into such a prominent inscription was no that the most emblematic monument at the apogee of
doubt considered and nuanced. It is worth reflecting on the Roman achievements was not his. The character of the
possibility that it was intended to complement or reflect the Pantheon was determined by Agrippa in the first instance
character of the front end of the Pantheon, and specifically and subsequently by Trajan and Apollodorus. The one part
overtones that took the visitor back to the time of Agrippa that might bear the imprint of Hadrian’s thinking, the
and Augustus. We have already seen that the basic portico and transitional block, is the most problematic.
conception of the imperial Pantheon was substantially Indeed, the ‘sphinx of the Campus Martius’ is far too

Who Built the Parthenon? | 41

slippery a subject to be pinned down to a single explanation. (pp. 23–5); c. that the portico was built at a later phase; d. that the
The very function of the building, along with its status as a whole edifice was transformed from a basilica to a temple in the
Severan period, to when is assigned the portico rebuilt in its
temple (or not), is notoriously ambiguous.98 As for the
current form with a pediment as opposed to the attic or parapet
portico, multiple overlapping intentions must have gone into hypothesized for the Hadrianic portico (pp. 124–38, esp. 136, point
a struggle to resolve a veritable crisis, and then the delicate 5; 149–50).
dilemma presented by the need for an inscription. Perhaps 18 With the institutional authority behind him of the Soprintendenza
Hadrian did not feel justified to claim a project he only per i Beni Architettonici e per il Paesaggio di Roma, and so
ultimately the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali, Belardi
completed – though such sentiment hardly stopped others champions a variant on Palladio’s, Fea’s and Cozzo’s ideas.
and indeed himself elsewhere. Perhaps he felt disinclined to According to Belardi (2006) the core of the existing rotunda dates
do so given the negative connotations that come with to the time of Agrippa.
compromise. Perhaps it was politically expedient to affect a 19 Beltrami 1898; 1929; La Rocca forthcoming.
20 Virgili and Battistelli 1999; Virgili 2009.
grand gesture of pious modesty in giving up his claim. All
21 Lanciani 1892; see La Rocca forthcoming. For a graphic summary
these considerations may have acted in concert. In any see Kähler 1970, Abb. 9.
event, claim the Pantheon he did not. 22 Virgili and Battistelli 1999; Virgili 2009.
23 For simultaneous argumentation in favour of a northern
Notes orientation based on other grounds see Simpson 1997.
1 On Roman architects see Donderer 1996; Anderson 1997; Wilson 24 For further recent assessments (not all in unison) see Grüner 2004;
Jones 2000, ch.1, with bibliography on 246–7. On Greek architects, the texts by Broucke, Grüner and Ziolkowski in Graßhoff et al.
see Svenson-Evers 1996. 2009; La Rocca forthcoming.
2 On the architects of the Parthenon see Barletta 2005, esp. 88–95. 25 Loerke 1982; Coarelli 1983. See also Tortorici 1990.
For introductions to Vitruvius and associated scholarship see 26 Coarelli 1983.
Howe and Rowland 1996; Corso and Romano 1997; Wilson Jones 27 Dio 53.27. For translation and commentary see Licht 1968, 180;
2000a, ch. 2; Gros 2006; Schofield and Tavernor 2009. Ziolkowski 2007, 468–70; 2009, 36; La Rocca forthcoming.
3 Key monographs on the Pantheon remain those of MacDonald 28 Will 1951; Coarelli 1983; Godfrey and Hemsoll 1986.
(1976) and Licht (1968). For recent scholarship on the building see 29 La Rocca forthcoming; McKenzie and Reyes 2013. For the
Lucchini 1996; Thomas 1997; La Rocca 1999; Virgili 1999; anonymous text, which has been associated with Libanius, see
Ziolkowski 1999; Waddell 2008; Graßhoff et al. 2009; Marder and [Libanius] Ecphr. 25; R. Foerster (ed.), Libanii opera VIII (Leipzig
Wilson Jones forthcoming (with coverage of its post-antique 1915) 529-31 = Ps. Nicolaus Ecphr. 8 (ed. Walz I 408.11-409.29).
history). Edmund Thomas earlier made the connection between this
4 This inscription appears in the 15th-century writings of John ekphrasis and the Pantheon, but interpreted the location of the
Capgrave, see his Y Solace of Pilgrimes; Fiore and Nesselrath 2005, Tychaion to be in Antiochus on the Orontes, see Thomas 2004.
191. 30 Kähler 1967, esp. 45; Marder 1989; Loerke 1990, esp. 30 ff.; Wilson
5 This and other ancient sources relevant to the Pantheon are Jones 2000, 191–6.
conveniently compiled, with translations, in Licht 1968, 180–4. 31 MacDonald 1976, 62–70; 1982, 113; Ward Perkins 1981, 111–12;
6 Buddensieg 1971; Marder 1989; Pasquali 1996, ch. 5 and 6; Wilson Wilson Jones 2000, 202.
Jones 2000, 189–91. 32 Davies et al. 1987; Wilson Jones 2000, ch. 10; forthcoming.
7 Buddensieg 1971; Davies et al. 1987; Wilson Jones 2000, 199–202. 33 For the possibility that the emperor Hadrian was involved, or even
8 On the Renaissance interpretation of architecture using linguistic responsible for the design of the Pantheon, see Brown
analogies, see Payne 2000, esp. 150. The metaphor was extended in 1964; MacDonald 1976, 11–12; Stierlin 1984; Boatwright 1987,
the 18th century by figures such as Germain Boffrand and 30–1; Gros 2002, 48–57; Martini 2009.
Quatremère de Quincy, going on to become widely accepted in 34 Rivoira 1921, 149–50; Vighi 1957, 11–12.
20th-century architectural history and criticism. See, for example, 35 The idea has long been popular that Hadrian performed as an
Summerson1963 and Jencks 1977. architect (see for example Rivoira 1909), with some recent
9 Vasari, The Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects, as translated affirmation: Ricotti 2000; 2001; Waddell 2008, 19, 23–5
by Hinds 1963, 275–6; Buddensieg 1971, 265. (summarized in an earlier note here). For collected opinion and a
10 For example, Palladio believed that Agrippa added the portico to a more critical stance see Wilson Jones 2000, 24; Hetland
Republican rotunda, while Carlo Fontana imagined a simple forthcoming.
masonry first phase, with both the portico and the columnar 36 On Trajan’s Baths see Licht 1974; Anderson 1985; Caruso and
scheme of the interior being attributed to a later remodelling. See Volpe 1999;. On Trajan’s Forum Packer 1997, 2001, 2003;
Palladio 1570, IV, 73; Fontana 1694, Book VII, 453 ff., esp. plates on Meneghini 2001; Claridge 2007.
p. 457 (interior) and 467 (exterior). Fontana was anticipated in some 37 Dio 69.4. On Apollodorus see Leon 1961; MacDonald 1965 (1982),
respects by Demontiosus, see Pasquali 1996, 12–14, fig. 6. 129–34; Heilmeyer 1975; Scagliarini Corlàita 1993; Anderson 1997,
11 Beltrami 1898; Colini and Gismondi 1926. 59–64; La Regina 1999; Wilson Jones 2000, 21–4; Festa Farina et al.
12 Dio, 66.24.2; Chronogr. a. 354, 146 (Licht 1968, 182 for translations); 2001.
Hieronymous a. Abr. 2105; cf. Suetonius, Dom. 5.1 and Boatwright’s 38 La Regina 1999.
chapter here. For argumentation to the effect that the Domitianic 39 By referring his readers to Apollodorus’ treatise Procopius kept his
works did not amount to a rebuilding, and were limited in scope, see own mention brief (De Aedificiis, 4.6.11–16). For a fuller account see
La Rocca forthcoming. For arguments in favour of a Domitianic Dio, 68.13.1–6. Piers from the bridge still survive at Turnu-Severin
Pantheon see Ziolkowski 2009, esp. 34; cf. Broucke 2009. in Romania (out of a probable total of twenty mentioned by Dio, as
13 Rice 2008a; 2008b. opposed to five shown on Trajan’s Column for the sake of artistic
14 Letter from Baccelli to the Ministro della Guerra, Mocenni, 7 efficacy). See Barcacila 1966; O’Connor 1993, 142–5; Coulston
September, 1897; Loerke 1982, 44; Williams forthcoming. 2001, esp. 124–5.
15 Cozzo 1928. 40 Wilson Jones 2000, 22–3.
16 Guey 1936; Bloch 1947, esp. 14–26. For the rebuttal of Cozzo see 41 Following a hint by Bloch (1947, 116) the attribution of the Pantheon
also Beltrami 1929. For the consensus view in place until recently to Apollodorus was argued in depth by Heilmeyer (1975). See also
see Licht 1968, 185–90. Wilson Jones 2000, 192–3; Viscogliosi 2001, 158–9; Heene 2004.
17 Waddell (2008) advances the following interpretive positions: a. The focus of the forum, Trajan’s Column, also bears comparison
that the Pantheon, aside from its rebuilt portico, dates after ad 118 with the Pantheon as regards to some formal aspects of radial
(pp. 17–21); b. that Hadrian was possibly both patron and designer planning, see Martines 1989; forthcoming.
42 Wilson Jones 2000, 192–5.

42 | Hadrian: Art, Politics and Economy

43 Wilson Jones 2009, 75–81; forthcoming. relatively tight time frame by comparative analysis, all of them
44 Martines forthcoming; Wilson Jones forthcoming. being Trajanic–late Trajanic (ad 100–17). As Hetland observes, the
45 Davies et al. 1987; Wilson Jones 2000, ch. 10. For shipwrecked emergent pattern is a great preponderance of Trajanic examples (4
cargoes of ancient marbles see Pensabene 2002, esp. 34–6. See also + 19, equalling 23), as against the one Hadrianic example dated to
Amanda Claridge’s chapter in the present volume. ad 123 that will be discussed further here.
46 On column proportions and standardized sizes see Wilson Jones 66 Hetland 2007, by coincidence on pages 110–11.
1989; 2000, 148, 155, 208, Appendix B; Barresi 2002; Pensabene 67 Waddell (2008, 19) interprets the ubiquity of brickstamps dated to
2002, 24–5. ad 123 thus: ‘Considering that Hadrian was an architect, it is likely
47 The list of nine solecisms (Wilson Jones 2000, 203) has now been that an unusually large quantity of brick had been manufactured
expanded to twelve, see Wilson Jones 2009; forthcoming. on his orders in anticipation of his return from his initial period of
48 Wilson Jones 2000, 203–6 (point viii); forthcoming. travel.’ However this ubiquity more likely indicates simply that a
49 Peña 1989, 131; Thomas 1997, 179–80; Ziolkowski 1999, 58; Taylor higher proportion of bricks than usual were stamped in that year,
2003, 129–32; 2004, esp. 244–54 (with a different proposal for the and/or stamped with consular abbreviations.
cause); Waddell 2008, esp. 135 (who accepts the change of column 68 A lag of a few months if not a year would have probably have been
size, but thinks settlement lay at the root of further problems and the norm, yet on occasions bricks may have been rushed to market,
his own proposal of a Severan rebuilding of the portico). For or conversely set aside for future usage. Note divergent views
further references see Haselberger 2009 and Wilson Jones relating to Trajan’s Markets, where Domitianic brickstamps have
forthcoming. been interpreted to favour a Domitianic inception (Bianchi 2003,
50 For negative reception see Gruben and Gruben 1997, 72, n. 217; 349–52), or as stockpiled supplies consistent with a Trajanic date
Tiberi 1998, esp. 14. For Tiberi the Propylaea to the Athenian (Anderson 1985, 508; Lancaster 1995).
acropolis constituted a precedent for the double pediment, a point 69 Lanciani 1892, 153; Bloch 1947, 107, 114.
taken up by Haselberger (2009, 182–3). 70 Bloch 1947, 117. Cf. Licht 1968, 186; MacDonald and Pinto 1995,
51 In November 2006 Haselberger presented his objections at the 17–19; Birley 1997, 189–91; Wilson Jones 2000, 177, 210–11.
conference at the Karman Centre in Bern (see Haselberger 2009, 71 DeLaine forthcoming.
esp. 181–4). For discussion and counter arguments see Wilson Jones 72 Bianchi 2001, esp. Appendix II, 117–19; Hetland forthcoming.
forthcoming. 73 The inscription (CIL VI 896 [2]) reads: Imp. Caes. L. Septimius Sev[e]
52 Haselberger 2009, 182. rus Pius Per[t]inax [Aug. Ar]abicus A[dia]b[e]nicus Parth[icu]s Ma[xim]us,
53 Haselberger 2009, 172–3. Only the western corner represents the pontif(ex) max(imus), [t]rib(unicia) pot[est](ate) X, imp(erator) XI, [c]o(n)
original condition (the eastern corner having been rebuilt in the s(ul) III, p(ater) p(atriae), [p]roco(n)s(ul) et / imp. Caes. M. Aurelius
17th century). Anton[inus Pius Fe]lix Aug., [tri]b(unicia) potest(ate) V, co(n)s(ul), proco(n)
54 Haselberger 2009, 174–8. s(ul), Pant[heu]m vetusta[te] corruptum cum omni cultu restituerunt. For
55 In response to the critique developed from observation of the lack translation see Mary Boatwright’s chapter in the present volume.
of alignment between the fluting and capitals of the antae (Wilson 74 Gruben and Gruben 1997.
Jones 2000, 203, point vi), Haselberger (2009, 174–8, fig. 3) notes 75 Waddell 2008, 136; DeLaine forthcoming.
comparable misalignment in the rotunda. However this is neither 76 The features in question are semi-circular projections of c. 30cm
so acute nor so systematic as it is for the antae in the portico, i.e. for formed by the two relieving arches integral to the transitional
all of them. Haselberger’s point about variable modillion spacing block over the great niches. See Waddell 2008, fig. 15a for a
(pp. 176–7) is pertinent, but it does not vitiate my point about photograph of one of these arches, though the projection is not
differential sizes (point iv). visible; this is however indicated by shadowing in Leclère’s survey
56 Haselberger (2009, 181–3), is right to point out that there did exist (Waddell 2008, fig. 107), and in Wilson Jones forthcoming, fig. 17.
ancient buildings with secondary or staggered pediments, as See also Colini and Gismondi 1926.
occurred at Mnesikles’ Propylaia to the Athenian Acropolis and at 77 Thomas and Witschel 1992, 136; see also Boatwright here, p. ••.
the temple of Zeus Asklepios at Pergamon, built soon after the Waddell’s contention (see here n. 17) that the portico was rebuilt
Pantheon. However see Wilson Jones 2009, 86, for a counter and modified in the Severan period as a response to settlement can
observation. It is also possible that the unusually steep rake and be challenged on a number of grounds. One difficulty is
heavy proportions of the main pediment of the Pantheon could accounting for the stepping forward of the entablature on the west
have been deliberately intended, though in my view they are best flank [Pl. 2]. The blocks that incorporate this ‘jog’ span from the
explained in terms of the hypothetical intended design. transitional block to the adjacent column of the portico, and so are
57 Apart from the possible effect on some of the misfits Haselberger integral to both structures; they cannot therefore be different in
assembles, a rush to finish may be deduced from the absence of a date unless one were to envisage an anastylosis of improbable
remedy for the awkward lop-sided antae and capitals with extra fidelity. It is also inconsistent with differential settlement between
portions of rough marble where the portico columnar system meets the transitional block and the portico as a cause (Waddell 2008,
the transitional block (Wilson Jones 2000, 203–4 (point vi). A esp. 126–7), for this implies that blocks like these, straddling as they
possible theoretical remedy would be to have added a requisite do the junction, would have cracked. Alternatively such solecisms
thickness of marble revetment to the faces of the transitional block could have been created during the Severan rebuilding, which in
between the antae. One reason for this not being carried out could that case must have contributed large portions of the portico (the
be that the architrave built into the transitional block lacked the antae and associated pilasters, the entablature blocks just
necessary projection to master any such revetment. Presumably mentioned). This implies a certain ineptitude, which seems at odds
forethought in this regard was lacking in the haste to proceed with with the skill necessary to obtain a close match, in terms of both
the revised design. style and metrical coordination, with those Hadrianic members
58 Wilson Jones 2009, 75–81. that were reused. Independently of these problems, Waddell’s idea
59 Hetland 2007, 101. that the pediment we see today was created for the Severan project
60 In this regard I am most grateful for the detailed observations of is problematic on three counts: firstly with Pliny’s report that
Cinzia Conti. Agrippa’s building had a pediment (HN 36, 38); secondly with the
61 For evidence of settlement affecting the Pantheon, see Beltrami pediment featured in the working drawings inscribed in the
1898; Virgili and Battistelli 1999; La Rocca forthcoming; Wilson pavement near the entrance of the Mausoleum of Augustus which
Jones forthcoming. Haselberger (1994) has connected to the 2nd-century Pantheon;
62 Licht 1968, 157–71; Wilson Jones 2009, 72–5. thirdly with the presence of the secondary upper pediment on the
63 Wilson Jones 2009, 74, fig. 5. For a different interpretation, see transitional block. Why would this exist if the portico of the
Waddell 2008, ch. 13. Trajanic/Hadrianic project only had an attic or parapet?
64 Heilmeyer 1975; Hetland 2007; forthcoming. 78 Peña 1989; cf. Ward Perkins 1992; Claridge 2007.
65 There are only five consular dated in situ stamps, of which four are 79 For contrasting opinion see Meneghini 2001; La Rocca 1999;
Trajanic, one Hadrianic. Nineteen others can be defined within a Packer 2003; Claridge 2007 and her chapter in the present volume

Who Built the Parthenon? | 43

 (with further bibliography). Instituti Danici 10, 41–6.
80 Claridge 2007, 94. See also Taylor 2003, 129–32; 2004, for another Coarelli, F. 1993, ‘Caprae palus’, in LTUR, I, 234.
scenario involving diverted shafts. Coarelli, F. 1997, Il Campo Marzio: dalle origini alla fine della reppublica,
81 Dio 69.4. Cf. MacDonald 1982, 131–2; Wilson Jones 2000, 23–4. Rome.
82 Brown 1964, 57; MacDonald 1982, 135. Colini, A.M. and Gismondi, I. 1926, ‘Contributo allo studio del
83 Once again Dio (68.13.5–6) is the source. Pantheon: La parte frontale dell’avancorpo e la data del
84 HA Hadrian 19.12–13. portico’, BullComm 44, 67–92.
85 Strabo, 8.3.30. Corso, A. and Romano, E. 1997, Vitruvio. De Architectura [trans. with
86 Dio 53.27; cf. Wilson Jones 2000, 192–3, 212–13. Ziolkowski (2007, commentary], 2 vols, Turin.
473–4) objects to what amounts to a portrayal of Dio as a man Cozzo, G. 1928, Ingegneria Romana: maestranze romane; strutture preromane,
easily taken in, with a poor grasp of historical context. Certainly strutture romane, le costruzioni dell’ anfiteatro flavio, del Pantheon, dell’
there would be dangers in exaggerating this point, but it is not just emissario del Fucino, Rome.
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87 Pliny, Ep., 10.39–40 (for other instances see 10.37 and 10.51–2). Davies, P., Hemsoll, D. and Wilson Jones, M. 1987, ‘The Pantheon:
88 Wilson Jones 2009, 86. triumph of Rome or triumph of compromise?’, Art History 10,
89 Ziolkowski 2007, 466–8; 2009, 38–9; Simpson 2009. See now 133–53.
Boatwright’s chapter here, and for background Thomas and Delaine, J. forthcoming, ‘The Pantheon builders: estimating
Witschel 1992; Fagan 1996. manpower for construction’, in Marder and Wilson Jones
90 HA Hadrian 19.10. forthcoming.
91 See here Boatwright’s chapter. Donderer, M. 1996, Die Architekten der späten römischen Republik und der
92 Pliny, HN 36, 38. Kaiserzeit: epigraphische Zeugnisse, Erlangen.
93 The material of the shafts of the original building is unfortunately Fagan, G. 1996, ‘Reliability of Roman rebuilding inscriptions’, Papers
unknown; presumably white marble was used, since this period of the British School at Rome 64, 81–93.
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96 Broucke 2009, 28. Paolo Fiore, F.P. and Nesselrath, A. 2005, La Roma di Leon Battista
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