Pantheon and Parthenon: Tracing the Evolution of Architecture

This essay provides a comparative analysis of the Pantheon in Rome and the Parthenon in Greece, highlighting the architectural distinctions between Roman and Greek designs. The Parthenon, constructed in 447 BC, showcases Doric temple features and narrates the birth of Athena, while the Pantheon, built in 126 AD, reflects Greek architectural influences and served as a church during the Middle Ages. The essay emphasizes that Romans, inspired by Greek culture, innovated by using new materials like concrete and techniques such as arches and domes, while Greeks favored limestone and post-and-lintel construction. Despite similarities in column styles, Romans leaned towards Corinthian order, and Greeks preferred Ionic and Doric orders. The study concludes that both ancient architectural styles significantly influence modern buildings, particularly in material usage and technology integration. The document is available on Desklib, a platform offering study tools and solved assignments for students.

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The Pantheon and the Parthenon, both of them are ancient temples. Parthenon was constructed in
126AD in Greek and Pantheon was built in 447 BC in Rome for their respective Gods. Ionic
columns built Parthenon Doric temple. The east pediment narrates the birth of Athena. Pantheon
exterior design was adopted by Greek ancient architecture. During the middle-age, both temples
functioned as churches. Pantheon religious links prevent it from being damaged by roots.
Fig.1 The Pantheon
Fig.2 The Parthenon
The differences between Greek and Roman Architecture
Romans adopted the Greek culture for designing the architecture of buildings. They were
interested in Corinthian order building design. Roman used new material, new techniques, and
the best use of the existing technology as shown in The Parthenon construction, hence they are
called ‘great innovators’. To create a unique architectural style, Romans introduced the use of
arches and domes. They continued to use the Ionic, Corinthian, and Doric orders (Ranogajec).
The Doric column is very similar to the Tuscan column, whose column is smaller at the top.
Roman and Greek architecture is similar in design. Greeks preferred lintel and a post-
construction method, and Romans preferred actual architecture construction.(Ranogajec,
n.d.).They have similarities that the Greeks were inspired by the Romans, and dissimilarity is
that the material used for designing of architecture is different. Romans' building structure is
more free-flowing because they used concrete in the building. Greeks used limestone or marbles
in for building design. Both use persistent appearance columns styles in most buildings. Romans
preferred the Corinthian order, and Greeks prefer the use of Ionic and Doric orders.

Fig. 3 Doric order Ionic order Corinthian order
Greek architecture as art was designed to respect their gods, which results that their interior-
design was less decorated with the ornaments. Romans used advanced technology for designing.
Their architecture design was beautiful from external and internal. These buildings still exist.
The central part of Roman culture is ‘the pursuit of pleasure.' It means the inner and outer part
was decorated with mirror. Greek work is known as ‘lintel and post-construction’. Their work is
more equilateral. The most prominent feature of dome and arch credit goes to the Romans, but
not found in the Greeks (Silverman, n.d.).
Conclusion:- Ancient architecture of Roman and Greek influences modern buildings in
numerous ways. Today we adopted their architecture on how to use a different kind of material
with new technology for building design.

References:-
Ranogajec, D. The Pantheon (Rome). Retrieved from https://smarthistory.org/the-pantheon/
Silverman, D. The Parthenon. Retrieved from
https://www.reed.edu/humanities/110Tech/Parthenon.html.