Cook, Arthur B.: Zeus: a study in ancient religion (Band 3,1): Zeus god of the dark sky (earthquake, clouds, wind, dew, rain, meteorits): Text and notes (Cambridge, 1940)

444 The holed vessel in Italy

The resemblance of the whole edifice (fig. 291)1 to the sky would be
enhanced by its ceiling coffered with bronze flowers2 or stars
(fig. 292)3, and perhaps also by its seven niches tenanted—if
Mommsen's conjecture is sound4—by the seven gods of the week

tion walls of which were uprooted when the rotunda was built); (4) that the rotunda was
built on the site of the circular piazza, some 7 or 8 feet above the pavement of the same >
and (5) that at a subsequent period Agrippa's temple and its portico were taken down and
rebuilt at a higher level, to form the portico of the existing Pantheon facing north. In
rebuilding the portico it was made octostyle instead of decastyle, the eight columns of the
front resting on what must have been the rear wall of Agrippa's cella. The entablature;
with the inscription on the frieze, and the pediment also belonged to Agrippa's temple
(W. J. Anderson—R. P. Spiers The Architecture of Ancient Rome rev. by T. Ashby
London 1927 p. 79 f.).

Recently, however, the pendulum has swung back. G. Cozzo Ingegneria romana RoW'
1928 pp.255—297 ('Lacostruzionedel Pantheon') with pis. 96—117 figs. 185—2l4arSue
that the Pantheon of to-day is essentially the structure raised by Agrippa in 27 b.c.; ^
its original entrance was on the south through a great outer hall; that later this "V
became part of the Thermae, the rotunda-entrance being then transferred to the noi' ^
and lastly that the solid projection and porch of the Pantheon were added, perhaps in
time of Septimius Severus, on the site of a quite separate pre-Agrippan building. g
D. S. Robertson A Handbook of Greek cV Roman Architecture Cambridge 1929 P" ^
a propos of Cozzo's view concludes: ' This bold theory, which is supported by w
arguments of detail, could perhaps be adapted to fit a Hadrianic date for the rotunda, |
even so, it seems very unlikely that it will win general acceptance.' Id. in the Class- .
1934 xlviii. 229 demurs also to F. Granger's contention, 'most fully explain?
t 7> in a ~/c tvt______1,—---- t»-_*.i_____ 1_____ ____^signed

of *e

show the summer solstice by the passing of the sun's rays through the centre
imaginary sphere of which the dome forms the upper half.' wof'c
An item of evidence hitherto, I think, unnoticed may be found in the fresco ^
illustrated above (fig. 292). Wall-decoration of the 'Third Pompeian Style' \f< 2'.-llinph
c. 50 a. D.) might well be inspired by Agrippa's Pantheon, a recent architectural tri
just finished in 25 ex. No doubt, the ^»a»°-architecture of the 'Third Style s0rne
fantastic and unreal. Still, the occurrence of this novel and striking motif 'derna ^g]Jied
explanation. It is fittingly explained, if we admit that Agrippa's building was
structure like its Hadrianic successor. g ls=tny

1 C. E. Isabelle Les Edifices Circulaires ct les Ddmes Paris 1855 p. 53 ^ P' 1 .fridge
fig. 291), D. S. Robertson A Handbook of Greek &= Roman Architecture Ca

1929 Pi- 17- T AshW

2 W. J. Anderson—R. P. Spiers The Architecture of Ancient Rome rev. by ^ ^ tj,e
London 1927 p. 81: 'The coffers of the vault were all gilded with bronze flowe
centre, and M. Chedanne found the bronze bolts in the vault.' pis. '3

3 A. Mau Geschichte der decorativen Wandtualerei in Pompeji Berlin 18S2 p. 4'+^ the
and 14 ( = my fig. 292 : scale J) from the right side-wall of the tablinum injthe 1° jppel
banker L. Caecilius Iucundus (v. 1. 26), id. Fiihrer durch Pompeji* bearbeitet so ^ bejS#.
Leipzig 1928 p. 54 ff. fig. 19. The design shows a spacious dome as seen af£]S th<j
Seven concentric rows of lacunaria in diminishing perspective lead the eye uJ) ^e an<j
zenith of a cupola crowded with whitish stars on an imbricated ground ot jjjuniinate^
purple. The whole rests on a widely spaced Ionic colonnade, and is clever y an
by slanting shafts of sunlight. The Ionic columns, the concentric lacunaria,

the imbricated cupola are all suggestive of the Pantheon. y ^ol >•

' H. Jordan—C Httlsen Topographic der Stadt Rom im Alterthum Ber^ pjanete»'

58r n. 61: 'Mommsens Vermuthung, in den sieben Nischen hatten die.s|epestechenlJ^'
goiter gestanden, hat, wenh man an das jetzige Pantheon denkt, vie J Tw

begegnet aber Schwierigkeiten ftir das ursprUngliehe,' S. B. Platner T.