Abstract
From ancient times there are references to its symbolic function of the Pantheon complex. According to Dio Cassius, it resembles the heavens, but cosmological interpretations do not take into consideration the real metrical dimensions of the whole complex nor the relation between its numbers, shapes, forms and proportions. Some scholars take the neo-Pythagorean roots of the Pantheon seriously, interpreting the architecture as an integrated visualization of a mathematically-conceptualized theory of the cosmos, consisting of an amalgamation of cosmological, geodetical and anthropomorphical dimensions. To generate harmony, the laws of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and musical proportions are fused. The Pantheon can be considered an architectural image of the Pythagorean cosmos, a “living organism” with a mathematically-proportioning “soul” and unchanging, “eternal” consonant-symphonic ratios. It “resembles the heavens”, but is a resemblance based on mathematical knowledge, a summary of the ancient quadrivium.
First published as: Gert Sperling, “The “Quadrivium” in the Pantheon of Rome”, pp. 127–142 in Nexus II: Architecture and Mathematics, ed. Kim Williams, Fucecchio (Florence): Edizioni dell’Erba, 1998.
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For a description of the mathematics involved in this system, see Calter (2014).
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- 3.
This value was measured and calculated by Pelletti (1989). Most Imperial buildings are based on a foot of 0.29476 m, the 100th part of Cestius pyramid.
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For a full explanation of the relationship between the Pantheon complex and the quadrivium, see Sperling (1998).
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Sperling, G. (2015). The “Quadrivium” in the Pantheon of Rome. In: Williams, K., Ostwald, M. (eds) Architecture and Mathematics from Antiquity to the Future. Birkhäuser, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00137-1_15
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