The Roman taxi system xD
Every time I imagine the Ancient Roman times I picture buildings that resemble the Pantheon. For me, it’s the epitome of what Rome architecture is about so naturally I was very excited to see it. I read some reviews saying that the Pantheon “isn’t that great” and it’s “quite boring”, I mean yeah what’s so interesting about a structure that’s been standing since 126AD and is one of the best-preserved of all Ancient Roman buildings. *shrugs shoulders*
The Pantheon houses the tomb for the first king of Italy, so it’s an extremely important site. It’s also a church! As most Roman structures, there is a dome ceiling, which is also the only light source for the Pantheon. It’s so surreal to think how they’ve created structures such as the Pantheon with no help from modern technology, our ancestors were amazing.
You have to walk through a lot of alleyways to get to the Pantheon, it’s kind of hidden but you’ll know when you’re near as you’ll start to see tourists with their cameras all heading towards the same direction and English menus everywhere.
Across the top of the pantheon it says “MAGRIPPALFCOSTERTIVMFECIT” which translates to:
“M(arcus) Agrippa, son (F) of Lucius (L), Consul (COS) for the third time (Tertium), built this.” Apparently this is misleading, as Agrippa did not build this Pantheon. Agrippa built the first Pantheon in 25BC which was destroyed by a fire in 80AD. The current Pantheon was built by Emperor Hadrian who honored Agrippa by inscribing what was written on the first Pantheon.