and statue, occupies a space of twenty-nine feet deep at the western
end and considerably raised above the floor of the nave. Such were the
arrangements of this vast magnificent edifice.

It may be well to mention here another building although not so old
nor large, but we wish to speak of it because it is so remarkable in
withstanding time.

[Illustration: RUINS OF BAALBEC.]

We are speaking of the Pantheon, the splendid building erected by M.
Agrippa, the friend of Augustus, in immediate connection with the
Thermae, built and dedicated to Jupiter Ultor by him. This building,
which embodied, as it were, the highest aspirations of Roman national
pride and power, was completed, according to the original inscription
preserved on it, B.C. 25, in which year Agrippa was consul for the
third time. According to the statement of Pliny ("His. Nat.," 36, 24,
I), which however, has been disputed, it was originally dedicated to
Jupiter Ultor, whose statue, therefore, undoubtedly stood in the chief
niche opposite the entrance. The other six niches contained the
statues of as many gods; those of the chief deities of the Julian
family, Mars and Venus, and of the greatest son of that family, the
divine Caesar, being the only ones amongst the number of which we have
certain knowledge. Was it that the statues of Mars and Venus showed
the attributes of the other principal gods, or that the statues of the
latter stood in the small chapels (_aediculae_) between the niches, or
that the unequaled enormous cupola was supposed to represent heaven,
that is, the house of all the gods? Certain it is that, together with
the old appellation the new name of the Pantheon, _i.e._, temple of
all the gods, was soon applied to the building. The latter name has
been unanimously adopted by posterity, and has even originated the
Christian destination of the edifice as church of all the martyrs (S.
Maria ad Martyres). Without entering into the consecutive changes the
building has undergone in the course of time, we will now attempt a
description of its principal features. The temple consists of two
parts, the round edifice and the portico. The former was 132 feet in
diameter, exclusive of the thickness of the wall, which amounts to 19
feet. The wall is perfectly circular, and contains eight apertures,
one of which serves as entrance, while the others form, in a certain
order, either semicircular or quadrangular niches; the former are
covered by semi-c