The articles of the series Urbem Fecisti are dedicated to the way Rome has shaped the modern world, to its modernity. It's a fact that Roman Empire is still living inside each of us in the western world and not only.
Pantheon, a masterpiece of engineering and architecture
Hadrian was one of the greatest emperors of Rome, for sure the one that, more than anyone else, patronized arts, literature and philosophy. By many, he is considered to have be the most wise emperor.Nowadays we can still admire its legacy in many works, starting from the Hadrian's Wall, one of the most important landmark in Britain, to Hadrina's Villa in Tivoli, near Rome, to its mausoleum, now known as Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome.
However the most impressive among the buildings that were erected under Hadrian's rule is for sure the Pantheon in Rome. He rebuilt the temple dedciated to all Gods, originally built by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa during the empire of Augustus, that was destroyed by a fire in the year 80 AD. What remains of the original buildg is the inscription in the front part and the to massive bronze doors, each one having the weight of 7 tons.
Before going on , I wish to ask you a question: whinch of the two walls in the picture below, both built essentailly using the same technique, brick binded by concrete, is the older and what differences do you observe? The walls are located few hudreds meters away one from the other, so weather conditions are the same. You can place your answwer in the comments.