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.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
For a description of the mathematics involved in this system, see Calter (2014).
- 2.
- 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.
- 4.
For a full explanation of the relationship between the Pantheon complex and the quadrivium, see Sperling (1998).
References
Alvegård, L. 1987. The Pantheon Metrological System. Billdal.
Andreae, B. 1973. Römische Kunst. Freiburg.
Brunés, Tons. 1967. The Secrets of Ancient Geometry and Its Uses. Vol. 2. Copenhagen: Rhodos International Science Publishers.
Buchner, E. 1982. Die Sonnenuhr des Augustus, Sonderdruck aus RM 1976 und 1980 und Nachwort iiber die Ausgrabung 1980–81. Mainz.
Calter, Paul. 2014. Façade Measurement by Trigonometry. Chap. 18, pp. 261–269 in this present volume.
Capella, Martianus. 1977. The Marriage of Philology and Mercury. Vol. II. William Harris Stahl and Richard Johnson with E.L. Burge, trans. New York: Columbia University Press.
Davies, P., D. Hemsoll and M.W. Jones. 1987. The Pantheon: Triumph of Rome or Triumph of Compromise? Art History (June 1987).
De Fine Licht, Kjeld. 1966. The Rotunda in Rome. A study of Hadrian’s Pantheon. Jutland Archaeological Society Series, viii. Copenhagen: Gyldenalske Goghandel, Norkisk Forlag.
Geertman, Herman. 1980. AEDIFICIUM CELEBERRIMUM: Studio Sulla Geometria del Pantheon. Bulletin Antieke Beschaving 55 (1980): 203–229.
Haselberger, L. 1995a. Deciphering a Roman Blueprint. Scientific American (June 1995).
———. 1995b. Romische Mitteilungen: Ein Grundriß der Vorhalle des Pantheon – Die Werkrisse vor dem Augustus-Mausoleum. Mainz: des Dt. Arch. Instituts.
Heilmeyer, W. 1975. Apollodorus von Damaskus, der Architekt des Pantheon. Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 90 (1975).
Jacobson, D.M. 1986. Hadrianic Architecture and Geometry. American Journal of Archeology 90 (1986).
Martines, Giangiacomo. 1989. Argomenti di Geometria Antica a Proposito della Cupola del Pantheon. Quaderni dell’Istituto di Storia dell’Architettura 13 (1989).
Munxelhaus, B. 1976. Pythagoras Musicus: Zur Rezeption der Pythagoreischen Musiktheorie als Quadrivialer Wissenschaft im Lateinischen Mittelalter. Bonn-Bad: Godesberg.
Nicomachus of Gerasa. 1926. Introduction to Arithmetic. Martin Luther D’Ooge, trans. (with studies in Greek arithmetic by F.E.Robbins and L.C. Karpinski). New York, London: Macmillan.
Pelletti, Marco. 1989. Note al Rilievo del Pantheon. Quaderni dell’Istituto di Storia dell’Architettura 13 (1989): 10–18.
Sperling, Gert. 1998. Abbild und Maβ des Kosmos. Munich: Ars Una Verlag.
Stahl, William Harris. 1971. The Quadrivium of Martianus Capella: Latin Traditions in the Mathematical Sciences 50 B.C.–A.D. 1250. Martianus Capella and the Seven Liberal Arts Vol. I. New York: Columbia University Press.
Van Der Waerden, B.L. 1988. Die Astronomie der Griechen, Eine Einführung. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
Vitruvius. 1991. De Architectura Libri Decem. Curt Fensterbusch ed. Darmstadt: IX, 439–445.
Williams, Kim. 1997a. Italian Pavements: Patterns in Space. Houston: Anchorage Press.
———. 1997b. II Pantheon e la Creazione dell’Universo. Lettera Matematica Pristem 24 (June 1997): 4–9.
Zaminer, F. 1984. Hypate, Mese und Nete im frühgriechischen Denken: Ein altes musikterminologisches Problem in neuem Licht. Archiv für Musikwissenschaft XLI, 1 (1984).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
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
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00137-1_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-00136-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-00137-1
eBook Packages: Mathematics and StatisticsMathematics and Statistics (R0)