Linking the Pantheon in Rome with ancient Mausoleums

The Pantheon in Rome is recognized as the best-preserved Roman construction in the world. This statement, however, brings me back to Alexander and his Mausoleum in Alexandria, as discussed in my earlier blog, Speaking of the Mausoleum of Alexander. 

I explained how Alexander’s tomb inspired later kings and rulers to build their own Mausoleum. The same circular shape was declined in different ways, as described in said blog. However, the Pantheon in Rome used very distinct raw materials for its construction that were not available in the days of the Ptolemies when Alexander’s tomb was erected.  

The surviving Pantheon still makes a statement today, and its cupola resting on top of a circular supporting wall has puzzled architects and archaeologists for centuries. Today’s thorough analysis has shed new light on this monument. 

A temple-like front counting 16 monolith Corinthian columns gives access to the Pantheon proper with a diameter of 43.3 meters. The inscription on the front of the temple portico reading that Agrippa, the right arm of Augustus, built this Pantheon is misleading. Recent research has established that Augustus himself ordered the construction of the earliest Pantheon in 27 BC, which had a slightly wider façade. It faced his Mausoleum less than one kilometer away, built one year earlier, in 28 BC. It is noteworthy to keep in mind that both monuments stood outside the ancient city. 

This first Pantheon, dedicated to all the gods, was destroyed in the fire of Rome in 80 AD. Domitian rebuilt it soon enough, but it was burnt again in 110 AD. By that time, both Augustus and Agrippa were long dead. No reason – yet - to put Agrippa’s name on the façade. 

About ten years later, Hadrian built a new Pantheon on top of the charred remains of the previous versions. His building was made to last, and it did. The circular wall is six meters thick and robust enough to support the copula, 40 meters above the ground. The oculus, the opening at the center of the cupola, has a diameter of 8.70 meters. This opening, together with the rows of alcoves inside this cupola, helps to reduce its enormous weight. 

Examining the thin bricks covering the inside and outside concrete walls of the rotunda, scholars discovered that most were stamped with the name of Emperor Hadrian. The cement inside this 6-meter-thick wall is of a unique mix, using lava dust and fine lava gravel. This mixture was so strong that it was used henceforward all over the Roman Empire for the aqueducts, bridges, and other monumental buildings. As an extra, this cement was also waterproof and fireproof. Looking at the outside walls, one will notice many arches incorporated in its design, and their role was to reinforce the walls even further. 

This close examination of the Pantheon leads to further investigation of Hadrian's many monuments. The first visit goes to the Villa Hadriana in Tivoli, just outside Rome. The construction of this villa, which covered an area larger than Pompeii, probably started around 120 AD. It counted at least one thousand rooms and had an underground parking space for his chariots. A closer inspection revealed that the circular building on the central island, which is said to be the personal quarters of Hadrian, has the same diameter as the Pantheon. Speaking of megalomania! 

It transpires that Hadrian was not much loved by the Romans, although he was widely venerated elsewhere in the Empire. Trying to impose himself, he used Agrippa as a publicity stunt on the front of the Pantheon. In his days, 126 AD, the rotunda functioned as a court building. We’ll remember that Hadrian started the construction of his Mausoleum, the later Castel Sant’Angelo, in 130 BC (see: Speaking of the Mausoleum of Alexander). 

Stepping inside the Pantheon, any modern visitor will stop staring in awe at the oculus above their heads. Inevitably, the rain would fall onto the colorful marble floor. This floor was slightly tilted to drain the water through small apertures in the marble slabs and washed away in underground canals. By sunny weather, on the other hand, the light beam would illuminate the niches that once held statues and highlight parts of the marble floor. Hadrian had his statue in a prominent place inside the Pantheon. On April 24, the anniversary of the foundation of Rome, the sun would cover Emperor Hadrian with its godly rays. 

In 609 AD, the Pantheon was converted into a Christian Church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and all the Martyr Saints. This saved the precious building for posterity. In later centuries, it served as a model for the Basilica of the Vatican, Italy; the Panthéon in Paris, France; the Rotunda of the University of Virginia, USA; and many other public buildings all over the world. 

The Rotunda of Galerius in Thessaloniki

Fitting the same list of circular buildings is the Rotunda of Galerius in Thessaloniki, which is still standing. Emperor Galerius built it in 306 AD as his Mausoleum, although it may have served as a Mausoleum for Constantine the Great, who died in 337. Soon after, it became a Christian Church dedicated to the Archangels. After the Ottoman invasion in 1590, Thessaloniki’s church cathedral became a mosque until they were ousted in 1912. This Rotunda is a recognizable copy of the Pantheon in Rome, although smaller. Its height nearly reaches 30 meters to the top of the dome, and the circle measures 24.5 meters in diameter. The dome, which initially had an oculus, is resting on walls that are 6.3 meters thick and built similarly to its example in Rome. The construction is made of bricks that were covered with marble slabs on the outside. However, the interior walls were decorated with early Byzantine mosaics in the 4th-6th century.

Although we have no hard proof that all these Pantheons and Mausoleums arose in the wake of Alexander’s now-lost tomb in Alexandria, the very idea remains very tempting. It is doubtful that Alexander conceived his tomb at any time, neither when he was in Alexandria nor in Babylon. The city of Alexandria was still under construction when the king died, which was why his body was temporarily placed in a tomb in Memphis. Ptolemy I or his son Philadelphus brought Alexander’s golden sarcophagus to his burial site in Alexandria, approximately between 298 and 274 BC. 

Amazingly, no description at all has survived about its exact location. The same mystery surrounds the king’s second grand burial site after Ptolemy IV Philopator had completed the construction of the imposing new Royal Mausoleum. Alexander’s body was moved sometime during his reign, between 221 and 204 BC, and was placed amidst the remains of other members of the Ptolemy dynasty. This necropolis with the Alexander Mausoleum was located somewhere in the middle of the city. Ancient testimonies remain very vague on the subject, and since most of the initial Alexandria lies four or five meters under the modern metropolis, it will not reappear soon.

In any case, the Mausoleum of Alexander existed from the third century BC till after the reign of Emperor Hadrian, who died in 138 AD. Crowds of people paid tribute to Alexander over the centuries and yet his tomb could not be located!

[Picture 1 from Tiqets.com - Picture 2 from Wikimedia - Picture 3 from Wikipedia - Picture 4 is mine - Picture 5 from Tiqets.com]

Heraklea Sintica in southwestern Bulgaria

There are a great number of towns going by the name Heraclea or Herakleia throughout Turkey and Greece. Wikipedia provides an enticing list of places. 

In previous blogs, I developed Herakleia Pontus, a kingdom in Bithynia (see: Time to reconnect with Princess Amastris), Herakleia by Latmos to be found on the banks of Lake Bafa in Western Turkey, Herakleia Lyncestis in Illyria (see: King Philip, one year later – Macedonia forged by Philip II), and Heracleion-Thonis (see: Heracleion, ancient Greek port in Egypt).

This time, I’m focusing on Heraclea Sintica in southwestern Bulgaria. The additive Sintica refers to the Sintians, a Thracian tribe that lived in the Valley of the Struma, the Greek Strymon River that runs past Amphipolis. The Sintian occupation goes back to 1300-1200 BC. Although many sources claim that the city had been founded by Cassander around 300 BC, others state that it was Philip, Alexander’s father who conquered Sintica and added Heraclea to remind the Thracians and the Macedonians that his ancestor was Heracles. The city’s layout appears to be similar to that of Philippi or Philippopolis. 

Heraclea Sintica was a major hub on the North-South traffic and connected the Aegean coast to Macedonia, Thrace, and the Balkan hinterland. In its heyday, its population may have reached 40-50,000 inhabitants! 

The city existed at least until the 6^th century AD since it was mentioned in the Byzantine tax records of Emperor Justinian the Great. 

Although the city's name was known, it took some investigation to find its location. A Latin inscription left by Emperor Galerius revealed that in response to their plea to restore their lost civil rights in 308 AD, he addressed the local citizens as those of Heraclea Sintica. 

Serious and steady excavations in Heraclea Sintica are pretty recent and seem to have started in 2007. 

By 2016, an imposing Basilica was unearthed, measuring 22 x 16 meters with walls rising five meters tall, next to other sanctuaries and shops. An older Basilica from the 4th century BC was discovered a year earlier. A striking find happened in 2017 when a Roman gold necklace came to light. It has been dated to the 4^th century AD and may have been made by craftsmen in Rome. 

In 2018, a headless Roman statue from ca. 100 AD was found underneath the stairs of the Forum. The statue represents a magistrate and was apparently carefully buried four meters deep. More recently, a female head was discovered in the eastern corner of the Forum. This head carries traces of ocher paint, indicating that the woman was blond. In ancient times, blond hair symbolized sin. This beautiful marble seems to date to the same time as the headless man. It is too early to draw any conclusion about the reason for these careful burial rites, as the site has not been entirely investigated yet. Intriguingly, both discoveries were made underneath buildings of later periods. Archaeologists suppose that these respectful funerals could have had a ritual meaning in antiquity – and may have been meant as protection from calamities or barbarian attacks. 

More questions remain unsolved, like the bone needle whose end was wrapped in a thin gold sheet. It must have belonged to a woman of some importance who lived in Heraclea Sintica in the 2^nd century AD. 

Undoubtedly, many more buildings and artifacts are still hidden from view, awaiting to be uncovered.

Alexander exhibition at the Louvre, Paris

« Au Royaume d’Alexandre le Grand. La Macédoine Antique. » Quite a mouthful for an exhibition, but definitely one that was worth seeing. Such a pity it ran for so short a period of time (from 13 October 2011 to 16 January 2012), and I wasn’t able to visit the Louvre till near the very end. Consequently, there was no point in sharing my impressions anytime soon.

I found the title of this exhibition rather confusing: was it about Alexander the Great, or was it about Macedonia? Well, in the end, it was about both, of course, but the accent was set around old Macedonia, and it was a well-deserved recommendation. Today, like in antiquity, it seems that Macedonia is some kind of stepchild, not entirely part of Greece or worthy to be part of it. The excavations of the past thirty years or so prove much to the contrary.

The very first excavations date back to 1861, when two French archaeologists (of course, we are referring to France and the French here!), Léon Heuzey and Henri Daumet made their first discoveries under the close watch of the Ottoman rulers. They uncovered the remains of the Royal Palace of Aegae, not knowing that this was Aegae, the old Macedonian capital, in what is called today Vergina. After that, we have to wait till after the First World War, when Konstantinos Rhomaios started new diggings in the area in 1920. He is the one who put Pella on the map, the second capital of Macedonia, about 25 kilometers further inland than expected because of the silting up of the Axios River. He also discovered several tombs in the Vergina area. By far the largest and most sensational discovery happened in 1977 when Manolis Andronicos localized the unspoiled Tomb of King Philip II, Alexander’s father. Huge quantities of precious gifts were found in his burial chamber as well as in the nearby tombs underneath this same tumulus. In the wake of this discovery, other promising diggings were generally started elsewhere.

Strangely enough, new finds show that the art in archaic Macedonia was closely akin to what we have seen in Mycenae, here only one hundred years later. Clear traces of this influence can be found mainly in the area of Pieria, in the westerly region. But meanwhile, it is obvious that the so-called Hellenistic art first and foremost originated here in Aegae and in Pella at the court of the Kings and in the houses of the Macedonian elite. As early as the 5th century, the Macedonian Kings attracted notable artists like Zeuxis of Heraclea, who decorated the Palace of King Archelaus, or Euripides, who wrote his Iphigenia in Aulis, Archelaus, and The Bacchantes here. Later on, we find more famous artists at the Court of Pella, like Lysippos, the official sculptor of Alexander, and Apelles, his official court painter; but also top painters like Aristides of Thebe or Philoxenus of Eretria. Even if the names had come to us, we still had no idea about the quality of their work till the now famous frescos in the Tomb of Persephone were discovered in Vergina; they give a totally unexpected image of their craft, in this case, the skills of Nicomachus of Thebe – a most lively and unique testimony. Wall paintings from the houses in Pella, on the other hand, turn out to be of such high quality and colour that they are considered as the precursors of the Pompeian style, which we meet in Pompeii – yet five centuries later!

The Louvre has done a thorough job with this exhibition, and they have not limited themselves to collecting a random number of objects from the Greek Museums. It all starts right at the entrance with a splendid copy of the pebble mosaic showing a lion hunt with Alexander on the left and Craterus to the right. A great welcome from the homeland, Macedonia!

I recently traveled through Macedonia myself, visiting many of the museums, and seeing all these objects over here was like meeting old friends again. Purely from memory, the following is what I remember having seen again in Paris (the Louvre didn’t allow any pictures!)

• From the Museum in Aiani (Pieria), clay figures and vases;
• From Vergina, silver jars, a bronze lamp, gold crowns with delicate leaves and flowers, or tied with Heracles’ knot;
• From Amphipolis, a multicolored vase, a dashing terracotta dancer, and a true-to-life painted head of a terracotta woman;
• From Polygoros, one of the arrows engraved with “Philippou”, i.e., with the compliments of Philip (used during the siege of Olynthus);
• From Veroia, the intriguing bust of Olganos of Kopanos, which reminded me of Alexander;
• From Pella, molds for terracotta statues and finished clay statuettes, pots, jars found around the Agora, earthenware roof decorations, and pieces of burial furniture in wood, bone, and ivory;
• From Dion, a striking relief of Demeter;
• From Thessaloniki where evidently most of the objects came from, with gold masks in the style of Agamemnon; bronze helmets with or without a gold trimming; an earthenware pyxis painted with a garland of flowers on a black background; gold jewelry like bracelets, necklaces, earrings, fibulae, etc; gold, silver and bronze coins; a lovely bronze medallion of Athena in high relief; the painted inside walls of a tomb; etc.
• From the Louvre, a small bronze Alexander with a spear (not very resembling); a drum and capitals of columns from Aegae (brought back by Heuzey and Daumet but apparently never exhibited), which are now placed in the frame of a life-size drawing of the colonnades surrounding the central square of the Palace of Aegae. It’s as if you are truly walking inside. In the very center, I find the head of Young Alexander from the Museum of Pella.

Also, a showcase filled with Greek vases, bowls, drinking vessels, pots, and jars, all beautifully decorated, of course. And all around this on the walls, I recognize pictures of the frescos from different tombs in and around Vergina, Pella, and Lefkadia.

The Louvre has unveiled more hidden treasures from its catacombs, i.e., remains from the Palace of the Roman Emperor Galerius (305-311 AD), who promoted Thessaloniki to the capital of his tetrarchy. These are tall square marble pillars, approximately two meters high, with on the front and back a relief of a recognizable figure, like a Menead, Victory, Dionysos, Aura, Ariane, one of the Dioscuri, Leda with the Swan, and Ganymedes. The building to which the pillars belonged is called “Incantada” and once stood at the northern entrance to the Agora of Thessaloniki. This is all new to me and very revealing.

At this stage, I wonder why Alexander the Great is supposed to be the central personage of this exhibition, since, besides the head from Pella and the scanty bronze statue with the lost lance, I haven’t seen him. He turns out to be the surprise, probably meant to be the very climax … not very successful, if you ask me! When I’m about ready to leave, I discover a rather narrow window in a black box where Alexander is waiting for me. Gee, why cramp him behind this one window? They could have put him in a full-size showcase entirely made of glass, no? Anyway, this is where I find the true treasures of the entire exhibition (in my eyes, that is, of course), Alexander in person! For a start, there is the most striking Azara Hermes from the Louvre – after all, this is a copy of an original made by nobody less than Lysippos! Also, Alexander as Pan from the Museum in Pella, the Guimet Alexander from the Louvre, a torso that is being attributed to him, and an inscription from Thessaloniki, of which I remember nothing. And finally, at the very corner of this same dark showcase, a long, narrow glass étagère with the gold medallions of his Royal parents, King Philip II of Macedonia and Queen Olympias – precious pieces pushed aside in an almost forgotten corner. True sacrilege, I would say!