Next, we will go to one of the most famous Ancient Roman sites, the Pantheon. Built in 27-25 BC by Marcus Agrippa, the son-in-law of Augustus Ceasar, the building was used as a place for temples of all the Gods but especially Mars and Venus. The Pantheon was renovated/rebuilt two times. The first time, when it burned down, it was quickly rebuilt by Emperor Domitan. The second time, the Pantheon was struck by lightning and was rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian, but he had it done in a much different way. The way that he modeled the Pantheon is what still stands today. Emperor Hadrian's way shows the great achievement of Roman architecture throughout the Pantheon. The Pantheon is made greatly of intersecting arches which rest on eight piers. They used arches to balance the weight of the Pantheon. Also to balance the weight, the Romans decreased the thickness of the walls, increased the height, made the base thicker, and made the top lighter. Concrete was a big part of the building because most of the building was made up of it. The Romans also introduced the architecture of using pillars. The Pantheon contains of 16 pillars. One last architectural advance the Romans had was having the oculus, which was placed at the center at the top. The oculus provided light inside the building and it was the only light source they had. Overall, the Pantheon shows the advances in architecture of the Roman Empire, which was a great achievement and is used today.
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