The Pantheon was one of ancient Rome’s greatest temples – dedicated to all the gods. (pan: all / theos: gods)
The Pantheon was originally built in 27 BC by Emperor Agustus’s son-in-law, Marcus Agrippa. You can see the inscription in Latin, above the pillars, stating this.
What we see today of the Pantheon is an “update” built by Emperor Hadrian in AD 120. The scale of the Pantheon is absolutely enormous!
Imagine living in ancient Rome and walking past this enormous temple each day … without any of the modern apartments buildings in the background. Just this enormous temple rising up in supreme prominence!
Massive! It’s just massive!
The Pantheon was a one-stop-shopping temple where a person could worship any of the many different gods, whose statues were in the niches all around.
The original statues of these gods now reside in the Vatican Museum, in the Round Room.
Here, in the Round Room, a small-scale replica of the dome of the Pantheon has been reconstructed.
The dome of the Pantheon is an engineering marvel … being mathematically perfect at exactly 142-feet in height and 142-feet in width.
The dome of the Pantheon was constructed from concrete – which was a Roman invention.
At the base of the dome, the thickness of the concrete is 23 feet. Here the material is heavy travertine concrete. As the dome rises toward the top, the thickness decreases to 5 feet. Here at the top the material is made from light volcanic pumice.
At the top of the dome of the Pantheon there is a circular opening 30-feet in diameter, which allows a column of light to shine down into the realm of the gods.
Here you can see some of the ancient gods which once used to occupy the niches of the Pantheon.
The enormous purple marble basin in the center was not originally in the Pantheon. This basin once decorated the palace of Emperor Nero. Purple was rare, royal, and expensive. This particular type of purple marble was the stone of emperors.
Here are more gods which once used to be in the Pantheon. The large bronze statue is Hercules.
The beautiful mosaic floor was not originally in the Pantheon. This mosaic floor once decorated the bottom of a pool in an ancient Roman bath.
Here you can see Dionysus … the god of wine.
Perhaps this might be Diana … goddess of hunting? (apologies for the blurry photo … we were taking photos as we were walking)
Perhaps this is Luna? … goddess of the moon. (I’m not quite sure)
Perhaps this is Minerva? … goddess of the arts.
Perhaps this might be Carmenta? … goddess of childbirth and prophecy.
Perhaps this might be Fides? … goddess of loyalty.
Perhaps this might be Honos? … god of military honours and chivalry.
The gods worshiped by the ancient Romans were many more.
Many, many more …
In this city of ancient Rome, surrounded by temples at every turn all dedicated to the worship of emperors and every god imaginable … there were followers of Jesus Christ.
In fact, the apostle Paul wrote a letter to these followers of Jesus Christ in Rome.
This letter is in the Bible … and it is called Romans.
After seeing the enormous magnificence of the Pantheon – and all the many statues of all the different gods which were worshipped there (gods which were “divine” yet took on human forms) – I find it very moving to read the opening lines of Paul’s letter to the followers of Jesus Christ who lived here in ancient Rome.
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God – the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
“Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus.
“To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” – Romans 1:1-7
I find this to be so moving!
These citizens of ancient Rome had only ever known the worship of all the many gods of the Pantheon. And here the one true God of the universe – Yahweh – is having Paul write a letter specifically to them … to let them know that they are loved by God! God wants them to know that they have been “called out” … called to belong to Jesus Christ.
It’s not anything that we have done. It’s not our own “goodness” or “spirituality.”
God loves us! Just because he is that good!
And God calls us! Just because he is that good!
