All language subtitles for Unearthed.(2016).S08E01.Mystery.of.the.Volcano.Temple.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-Cinefeel_track3_[eng]

Narrator: the pantheon,

Ancient rome's best
Preserved monument,

An engineering wonder

Unrivaled in its scale
And pioneering construction.

Many scholars think it's

The most extraordinary
Building ever built.

Narrator: buried inside
This mighty edifice

Is an ancient mystery.

This tunnel is part of

A very extensive network
That runs for kilometers.

Narrator: now, new evidence
Beneath the streets of rome

Reveals clues.

The travertine slabs
Are a window into

What this area
May have looked like.

Narrator: how do the ancient
Engineers build

Its impossible dome, with
A gaping hole in the center?

And can pioneering
3-d scanning

Reveal who builds
This ancient wonder?

We can see the fingerprints

Of this emperor
In the pantheon.

Narrator:
To unlock the mysteries of

Ancient rome's greatest
Mega structure,

We unearth its foundations.

We digitally deconstruct
Its mighty dome roof

And piece together clues
At its feet

To decode the greatest secrets
Of this

Incredible monument
And the city around it.

♪♪

Rome, the capital of
One of the greatest empires

In history.

Its ancient roots are
Evident throughout the city.

Every structure
Is a vital clue

To the mysterious world of
The romans.

Right at the heart
Of the city stands

The best preserved roman
Monument in the world,

The pantheon.

Surviving for 2,000 years,

It's a miracle of engineering.

The pantheon is
An iconic roman building.

In fact, it's one of
The most famous in the world.

Many scholars think it's

The most extraordinary
Building ever built,

And it's even more impressive
When you think that it was

Designed and built
2,000 years ago

Without any of
The advantages of modern

Technology that we have today.

Narrator: today,
This extraordinary monument

Captivates millions of people
Who come to visit each year.

16 towering columns
Flank the entrance,

Topped with marble capitals.

Each one is carved from
A single piece of granite.

Inside, the exquisitely
Decorated circular

Interior is designed
To impress,

And its 20-foot-thick walls

Are built to stand
For millennia.

The roof is the largest dome
Of its kind,

Over 140 feet wide, with
A 30-foot hole in the middle.

Despite its venerable age,

To this day, the monument's
True purpose is a mystery.

Valerie higgins
Spends her life

Decoding the mysteries
Of ancient rome,

And none are more enigmatic
Than the pantheon.

The name pantheon implies that,
At some point in the history of

This building,

It was a temple dedicated
To all the gods,

Most particularly,
The 12 olympian gods

Who were
The most prestigious.

Narrator: the word pantheon
Means "Temple of all the gods,"

But the pantheon's design

Is far from that of
A typical temple.

When you look
At it from this angle,

It just looks like
A typical temple, a huge,

Enormous temple.

Behind it is
This massive circular

Drum that we call the rotunda,

And you think, "That shouldn't
Be on the back of a temple."

Narrator: most roman temples
Are rectangular.

Instead, the pantheon's
Combination of an angular front

And a curved rotunda at
The back is completely unique.

Higgins:
This isn't any temple.

This is something
That's extraordinary.

Narrator:
The pantheon's true purpose

Has puzzled
Archaeologists for centuries,

But now, intriguing new clues
Have appeared around

This monument that could help
Crack the mystery.

Just a few months ago,
A water pipe burst.

It created a sinkhole.

The cobblestones
And the earth caved in.

What they revealed

Were paving stones that were
Connected to the pantheon.

Narrator: the sinkhole
Unearths a time capsule.

Just a few feet beneath
The modern piazza

Are travertine paving slabs
From an ancient roman square.

Following these puzzle pieces
To the pantheon,

Archaeologists make
An incredible discovery...

A marble staircase
Leading up to a platform

And the remains of columns
That are as old

As the paving slabs.

Can these buried stones
Help reveal

The true purpose
Of the pantheon?

♪♪

Paolo carafa investigates
The mysterious

Remains of
This older building.

The pantheon we see today
Is the last chapter

Of a long history.

Our work has been
To reconstruct

Such a long history.

Narrator: paolo and his team
Create a comprehensive map

Of all the archaeological
Discoveries beneath

The pantheon.

All these clues placed on
A much more accurate map,

Reveal a structure exactly
Similar to the pantheon

We see today.

The bulk of the structures
Were part of

The original pantheon.

Narrator: the existence of
An older, original pantheon

Underneath the pantheon
We see today

Is an astonishing discovery.

Paolo's research reveals

The original pantheon
Is built around 27 b.C.

His work leads to the man
Who built it.

According to
The literary sources,

The original pantheon is
Created by the first emperor of

The roman empire, augustus.

Narrator: why does augustus
Build this first pantheon?

Valerie believes she can find
Clues in the surrounding city.

So here we are
In the heart of rome.

It's full of buildings,
It's full of people.

But it isn't in the least bit

As it would have been at
The time of the first pantheon.

Narrator: to investigate
The ancient area,

Valerie compares today's map
Of rome with a map of the city

2,000 years ago.

We can see the pantheon here.

At the time of augustus,
You wouldn't have seen

Anything in this area except
The mausoleum of augustus.

Narrator: valerie suspects
There is a connection

Between these two monuments,

And that augustus's mausoleum
Is a clue to the purpose

Of his original pantheon.

Valerie has obtained
Rare permission to

Launch a drone-mounted camera
Above rome.

She wants to investigate
The layout

Of the two monuments
From the air.

If we take a drone to go up
And to fly over the top,

We can have a look at how
These structures

Relate to each other.

Narrator: valerie searches
For the mausoleum.

From the site of
The original pantheon,

The drone flies north over
The rooftops of rome.

♪♪

Valerie locates
Augustus's mausoleum

Half a mile
North of the pantheon.

Its huge circular structure
Makes it easily

Identifiable even
From 200 feet in the air.

The eye in the sky reveals

The two giant circular
Monuments are perfectly aligned.

Higgins: the pantheon
And the mausoleum of augustus

Appear to be
Facing each other,

And they are linked
Along a visual axis.

Narrator: what more can
The connection reveal?

Valerie heads to the mausoleum

Of augustus to investigate.

It is one of the largest tombs
In the world.

This mausoleum tells us
Quite a lot about augustus.

He's founding
A big imperial rome.

This monument was built to be

A permanent memorial to him
And his achievements.

Narrator: valerie believes
The mausoleum and the pantheon

Are connected as part of
An imperial design.

Having a pantheon facing
The mausoleum that

He and the rest of his family

Are going to be buried in
Indicate that they have

A very special status.

He is laying the foundations

For acceptance of a new form

Of government, of an emperor.

Narrator: the mausoleum's
Perfect alignment

With the pantheon reveals

The original pantheon's
True purpose.

Both buildings are
Tributes to augustus,

Where he can be worshiped
And venerated forever.

So why do the ruins of
His original pantheon

Lie beneath
The building we see today?

♪♪

In 80 a.D.,
Fire breaks out in rome.

It burns for three days,

Devastating the area
Around the pantheon.

The fire spreads
From building to building,

Engulfing
The original pantheon,

Causing it to collapse.

The romans restore
The pantheon

To its former glory,

But in 110 a.D.,

Lightning strikes
And destroys it.

The rubble is cleared, and
The present pantheon is built.

The original pantheon is
Buried, but not forgotten.

The new version
Stands boldly in its place.

But who builds
This new pantheon?

Narrator: the pantheon,
Built on top of an older

Temple to honor the first
Emperor of rome, augustus.

But who builds the new
Pantheon we see today?

Valerie higgins
Believes that clues in

The structure will reveal
The creator of this masterpiece.

Higgins: one of the first things
That people notice is

The inscription across the top,

And that's in latin.

It tells us
That marcus agrippa

Made this building
When he was consul

For the third time.

Agrippa was the right-hand man
Of the emperor augustus,

And we know
That he was responsible

For the original pantheon
On this site.

Narrator: rich romans often
Inscribe their names

On the civic buildings
They commission.

But something here
Doesn't add up.

The pantheon
We see today is built

More than 150 years after
The original structure.

By that time, augustus
And agrippa are long dead.

Hidden in the walls
Of the pantheon

Are clues to the identity
Of its designer.

Tile-shaped bricks

Carry the stamp
Of the manufacturer

And the names of the highest
Elected officials at the time.

Some bricks
In the rotunda date

To the reign of emperor trajan.

But others date to the time
Of the emperor hadrian.

So who, if it's not agrippa,

Is really the builder of
The pantheon we see today?

Emperor trajan rules 84 years
After augustus's death,

But only a small number of

The pantheon's bricks date
To his reign.

Instead, the majority of
The bricks date to

Emperor hadrian,

Trajan's successor who rules
100 years after augustus.

To investigate if hadrian

Is the builder
Of the pantheon,

Paolo carafa explores
One of hadrian's most

Famous creations,

Hadrian's personal villa.

It lies around 20 miles
East of rome in tivoli

And is the largest villa
In the roman empire.

Hadrian
Loved architecture.

He trained himself
As an architect.

He had been involved in
The creation of this villa.

Narrator: but his construction
Projects reveal

A much bigger ambition
And pioneering ideas.

Carafa: hadrian had the great
Vision of how architecture

Would strengthen
And support his power.

He enabled the architect
To push the innovation forward

To create a larger
And more complex building

Than ever before.

Narrator: here
At his villa, hadrian

Experiments with
His innovative designs.

It covers more than 300 acres

With almost 1,000 rooms,
Including banqueting halls,

Indoor and outdoor
Swimming pools, and even

Underground parking
For his chariots.

Carafa: the villa was
The largest private residence

Ever built in the roman empire.

It was twice as large as
The whole city of pompeii.

The dimension
And the lavishness are a clear

Indication of the immense
Power of the roman emperor.

Narrator: does this villa
Conceal evidence that reveals

Hadrian builds the pantheon?

To search for clues,

Paolo heads
To the maritime theater,

Hadrian's private retreat
Within the grounds.

The size of
The theater is what

Intrigues paolo and fellow
Archaeologist fabio cavallero.

They use a state-of-the-art
Laser scanner

To survey the site.

Narrator: fabio gets ready
To start the scan.

These high precision digital
Images allow paolo and fabio

To compare the floor plan

Of the pantheon to that of
The maritime theater.

What they discover
Is astonishing.

Carafa: the maritime theater
Has the same

Diameter of the interior
Of the pantheon.

Narrator: this could be
Evidence that hadrian

Is the designer of
Both buildings.

To delve deeper,
The team scans

The entire villa,
Looking for more similarities.

Our survey creates
Point clouds to

Map every single corner
Of the villa.

Narrator: the survey pinpoints
A structure with a semi-dome,

The canopus, that has even
Closer similarities

With the pantheon.

Carafa: here we have
An excellent example of

Hadrian's experiments
With domes and semi-domes.

Narrator: these similarities are
Conclusive evidence

That hadrian builds
The new pantheon.

We can see the fingerprints
Of this emperor

In the pantheon
And in hadrian's villa.

Narrator: but if hadrian
Builds the pantheon,

Why is augustus's friend

Agrippa's name on the front
Of the building?

Valerie thinks a clue
May lie in what

Romans think of hadrian and
His great predecessor.

Higgins: hadrian was quite
Disliked in his own time.

By the second century,
People are thinking that

Nobody since augustus had
Really matched up to him.

Narrator: the romans see
Augustus as the epitome

Of a successful leader.

In 27 b.C., he becomes the very
First emperor of rome.

Augustus rapidly
Expands the empire,

Conquering egypt,
Central europe,

And northern spain.

But when hadrian
Becomes emperor,

He halts the rapid expansion.

He believes that the empire
Must protect its borders.

He builds monumental
Defenses, like

The famous hadrian's wall,
Across britain.

But this conservative approach
Doesn't make him popular.

Higgins: to win the romans over,
Hadrian devises a plan.

Hadrian thought
That he could raise his status

With the roman people

To portray himself
As a second augustus.

Narrator: so he decides
To imprint on the facade

Of the pantheon the name of

Augustus's great friend,
Agrippa.

Higgins: hadrian tries to
Emulate augustus by rebuilding

The pantheon and making
An obvious reference

To augustus.

Narrator: hadrian is the proud
Builder of the pantheon

We see today,

But he's not finished with his
Mission to emulate augustus.

He makes one final
Monumental statement.

In 123 a.D.,

15 years before his death,

Hadrian builds
His own tomb,

Now called castel sant'angelo,

His mausoleum dominates
The west bank of rome's

River tiber,
So no one can miss it.

Hadrian's mausoleum,
His lavish villa,

And the pantheon

All reflect his vision for
Rome and his impressive empire.

Hadrian sets out to outbuild
His predecessors.

His pantheon is bigger
And better than the original.

But how does hadrian
Ensure his pantheon

Won't burn down like
Augustus's?

Narrator: the pantheon.

Built by the ingenious
Emperor hadrian on

The foundations of augustus's
Original structure.

But how does hadrian ensure
That his pantheon

Is indestructible

And won't burn down

Like his predecessor's?

Hadrian's pantheon is still
So perfectly preserved

After almost 2,000 years,

This area has been
Hit by earthquakes

And struck by lightning
And yet...

It's still here, intact.

This is a real miracle
Of engineering.

Narrator: the outside
Of the pantheon's walls

Is just bricks
Covered in plaster.

Their real strength
Lies within,

A rock-solid core of roman
Concrete to support the roof.

But building decorative
Niches and recesses

Into the walls
Creates weak spots,

So roman engineers build brick
Arches into the pantheon

To channel the weight of
The roof into the thicker parts.

Is this clever combination of
Brick and concrete

The secret to the survival of
The pantheon?

Guido giordano is an expert

In ancient roman
Building materials.

He's on a mission to discover
The secret to the concrete's

Incredible strength.

The mortar is made
Of this white-ish base

And lots of these floating
Elements, very dark in color,

And it's this particular
Component that makes

This concrete so stronger
Than any other concrete.

Narrator:
What is the secret component

Of this special concrete?

Guido investigates the rocks
That surround rome for clues.

In the grounds of
Tor marancia park

Guido finds a distinctive
Rock formation,

The result of ancient
Volcanic eruptions.

These volcanic explosive
Eruptions were 10 times

Larger than the one
That buried pompeii.

Narrator:
Can rocks like this unlock

The secret of roman concrete?

Guido finds a mysterious
Tunnel carved

Into the volcanic rock.

He instantly recognizes
This structure.

This tunnel is part of a very

Extensive network that runs
For kilometers underneath rome,

Exploiting the underground.

Narrator: it's inside tunnels
Like these that

The romans discover the secret
Ingredient for their concrete.

Giordano: this tunnel is
An ancient roman quarry.

This is where the romans
Excavated the volcanic

Material for the concrete
Used to build the pantheon.

Narrator: the secret ingredient
Of the roman concrete is

Volcanic ash.

This is loose, so very easy
To be excavated,

But also hard enough to hold
A tunnel that is made of a wide

Variety of particle sizes that

Go from very fine ash to much
Larger volcanic [indistinct],

And it is
This variety of particle

Sizes that provides
A very strong interlocking.

Narrator: this material is
A game-changer for the romans.

They learn to use
Volcanic ash instead

Of traditional quartz sand
To make their mortar.

Guido recreates
The roman concrete mix

To test its properties.

He starts
With the volcanic ash.

Then he mixes it
With lime and water.

So this is roman concrete,
This is

What was used
To build the pantheon.

You can see how easy
It is to work it.

It's very wet,
And it doesn't hold anything.

But over time,
The volcanic particles inside

Make a very special

Kind of minerals that are not
Found in the classic,

Ordinary mortar.

Narrator:
Now, to compare the mortar

Made with volcanic ash,

He repeats the process, mixing
Lime with the traditional sand.

This mimics the concrete used

In the buildings
Before the pantheon.

We put the mortar on top,

And then we put another stone...

And wait.

Narrator: two hours later,
The two different mixtures

Have solidified

And are ready to be
Put to the test.

We already see a strong
Difference between these two.

Here, the mortar is still
Very wet and ductile,

Whereas

In this one, you can see that
It has already hardened.

This is the one made
With the volcanic ash.

Narrator: the volcanic ash
Concrete is the clear winner.

This material triggers
A revolution in

Roman construction.

These will become
The strongest link between

These two pieces of rocks

And the strongest mortar
Ever invented.

Narrator: this new concrete has
One last crucial benefit.

Giordano: roman concrete
Is so strong, it resists

Even to high temperatures
In case of fires.

Narrator: this material is
The reason this city's

Most magnificent buildings
Have survived for millennia.

Hadrian's engineers
Create an indestructible

Pantheon that ensures
He's remembered for eternity.

But how do they build
The seemingly impossible roof,

The iconic dome?

Narrator:
Right in the heart of rome,

The pantheon has the largest
Dome of its kind in the world.

This hemispherical dome is
The largest ever built

Until reinforced concrete

Is invented at the beginning
Of the 20th century.

Towering 100 feet above
The streets of rome,

It stretches 142 feet
Across the pantheon.

The walls at the base
Are 20 feet thick

And taper to just 5 feet
At the apex,

And the concrete inside them
Is cleverly adapted.

At the bottom,

It contains crushed bricks
To make it strong,

And at the top,

It contains fragments
Of pumice stone

To make it light.

On the inside,
Cut-out recesses

Trim down the weight
Even more.

But how do ancient roman

Engineers actually build
This colossal dome

100 feet off the ground?

Tullia iori is an expert
In roman construction.

Narrator: the enigma of
The dome's construction inspires

The roman people to devise
Their own theory.

Legend says that
To build the dome,

Hadrian creates a huge mound
Of earth

And hides gold coins inside.

He uses the mound of earth
As an enormous mold,

Casting the pantheon's dome
On top.

Then he invites
The citizens of rome

To remove the earth
Inside the pantheon

And keep all the coins
They find.

Narrator:
Tullia believes that instead,

The romans invent a new
Construction technique

To build the dome.

Tullia uses cutting-edge
3-d printing

To investigate the dome's
Mysterious construction.

She recreates a miniature
Version of the structure.

Narrator: until the invention
Of reinforced concrete,

Most domes are assembled
On the ground and lifted

Into place.

But this colossal dome
Is constructed

Exactly where we see it today.

How did the romans manage this
Seemingly impossible feat?

Tullia thinks
They have two options.

They could build
An internal scaffolding from

The ground up to support
The dome from beneath.

Or they could build
One ring after another

And hope that each ring
Will support the next one.

But even when complete,
The risk isn't over.

The dome weighs
A mighty 5,000 tons

And could collapse
Under its own weight.

Tullia uses a clay model of the
Dome to investigate the risk.

She pushes down on the model

To simulate the weight of
The concrete.

Narrator:
The pressure at the top

Creates tension at the bottom

That eventually cracks
The lower edge.

How did the romans ensure

The dome doesn't collapse
Under its own weight?

The key
To the dome's survival

Lies in an ingenious
Engineering trick.

To prevent the lower edge
From cracking,

The romans secretly bury
The bottom half of the dome

Inside the rotunda.

This way, the pressure is
Contained by the walls

And external step rings,

Ensuring the full stability
Of the structure.

Narrator: the romans use
These techniques to create

A structure made to last
For millennia.

Narrator:
By building the pantheon,

Emperor hadrian changes
The landscape of rome forever,

And he creates one of
The city's most

Iconic buildings.

But why do
Hadrian's engineers

Leave a gaping hole
At the pinnacle?

What is its purpose?

The pantheon is
An engineering marvel.

The unreinforced
Concrete dome

At its top is
The largest in history.

At the pinnacle of the dome

Is an unusual feature
Called the oculus.

It's a 30-foot-wide hole
That opens the pantheon to

The heavens
But also the elements.

[ thunder crashes ]

To deal with rain,

The marble floor beneath
Gently curves like a bowl.

It collects water
And drains it

Through 22 cleverly concealed
Drainage holes.

When the sun shines,

The oculus creates a beam of
Heavenly light that moves

Through the pantheon.

Where does emperor hadrian get

The inspiration
For this bold feature?

Narrator:
Archaeologist paolo carafa

Examines another oculus
In the ruins

Of hadrian's famous villa
To investigate this mystery.

This miniature oculus,
Just 3 feet wide,

Has a surprising purpose.

Carafa:
These are the great bath.

This was the hottest room in
The bath, like a steaming room,

And it was covered by a dome
With an oculus in it

Exactly like the dome of
The pantheon.

Narrator: today, half of
This dome is missing,

But paolo's reconstruction
Leads him to believe the oculus

Plays a critical
Functional role

In this structure.

We can imagine people sitting
On the benches all around this

Wall with the steam flowing
Out of the hole in the dome.

Narrator: here, the function of
The oculus is to let

The steam from the baths out
Through the hole in the ceiling.

The oculus is a key feature
Of roman baths for nearly

A century before

Hadrian creates his
In his villa.

The temple of mercury bathing
Hall in the nearby spa town

Of baiae, has one of

The largest oculi
Of its time.

But in all roman baths,
The dome and oculus

Are always part of a larger
Complex of bathing pools.

The buildings never stand
Alone, like the pantheon,

And no oculus has
Ever spanned so wide.

The pantheon's supersized oculus
Is twice as

Wide as that
In the temple of mercury.

So what is its purpose?

Carafa: in the pantheon,
The oculus is a void space

Created to sustain
The whole dome.

Narrator: hadrian's engineers
Use their oculus

To reduce the weight of
The dome.

This makes the largest dome in

The world at that time
A reality.

Then they use the effect
The oculus creates

To give the pantheon
An ethereal, heavenly aura.

But hadrian goes
One step further.

His engineers expertly
Design the orientation of

The oculus and the door
To align with the sun

Each year on april 21st,
Rome's birthday,

When he enters
The pantheon,

Hadrian is bathed in
Awe-inspiring light.

It makes him appear
Almost divine.

The spectacle amazes
The people inside.

No other building
In the whole of

Ancient rome has ever created
The same effect.

How does hadrian formulate
Such a sophisticated design?

Carafa:
Hadrian traveled a lot.

He travels
All through the empire,

And he claimed he was the only
Emperor to have seen every

Place in his empire.

Narrator: do hadrian's travels
Across his empire also

Inspire the pantheon?

In his youth,

Hadrian is nicknamed
Graeculus, meaning greekling,

Because he likes to immerse
Himself in greek studies.

As emperor, he frequently
Visits greece.

He admires the culture
And architecture

And sponsors the construction
Of grand temples there.

In return, the athenians
Build him a grand arch,

Naming him as a co-founder
Of their city.

Back in rome, he builds
A lecture hall called

The athenaeum to promote
The greek way of thinking

Among romans.

♪♪

Hadrian wants to make rome
In some way the inheritor of

The culture of athens,

To leave it as his legacy.

Narrator: hadrian's greek legacy
Is secretly

Embedded into the design
Of the pantheon.

He uses scientific principles
Developed by

The greeks to design
The pantheon with

Perfect symmetry.

This faultless design gives it
A sense of supreme harmony.

Hadrian creates a building
Filled with greek features,

A record-breaking oculus,
And made of

Indestructible materials.

But how is the pantheon used
When hadrian no longer

Rules rome?

Narrator:
The powerful emperor hadrian

Creates the pantheon
To fulfill his vision

Of a world ruled by
Greek harmony and beauty.

But what happens
To the pantheon

After hadrian's death
In 138 a.D.?

The magnificent building
Is used as

An audience hall
For more than four centuries,

But in 608 a.D.,

After the advance
Of christianity,

Emperor phocas transforms
The pantheon into a church.

Narrator:
For 14 centuries,

To this day, the pantheon
Remains a catholic church.

Throughout this time,
It's been

A constant source
Of inspiration.

Renaissance engineer filippo
Brunelleschi spends 10 years in

Rome, studying the pantheon
To unlock its secrets.

When he returns to florence,

He builds the dome of santa
Maria del fiore cathedral.

The dome has
A diameter of 147 feet.

Its dimensions exceed the
Pantheon's immense clear span.

100 years later,
Michelangelo draws inspiration

From the pantheon

For the iconic brick dome of
St. Peter's basilica in rome.

But the influence of

The pantheon travels
Much further than italy.

The rotunda at the university
Of virginia is built in 1822.

It's designed by u.S. President
Thomas jefferson,

Who is inspired
By the pantheon.

It is the focal point
Of the school.

Jefferson is an architecture
Enthusiast, just like hadrian.

The jefferson memorial,
Built in the 1940s,

Is a tribute to one of
The founding fathers,

As well as
To his architectural designs.

And right in the heart
Of washington, d.C.,

The pantheon is forever
Remembered in the rotunda of

The u.S. Capitol,

The ultimate symbol of
Democratic government

In the world.

Higgins:
The pantheon symbolizes

A type of architecture
That has been used

Throughout the world
To indicate

Public buildings that
Carry great weight

And that are hugely important
For the nation.

Narrator: today,
The pantheon remains one of

The most famous symbols
Of rome.

Hadrian's legacy is
Long-lasting.

The pantheon continues to awe
All that enter its doors.

But once a year, his oculus
Finds a new purpose.

Narrator: from religious
To public buildings,

This mighty structure has been
A constant symbol

Of innovation.

Emperor hadrian uses his villa
To trial ingenious

Engineering feats

And draws on buildings from
Across his empire to create

The ultimate monument,

Built to last forever.

Higgins: this building
Is the best preserved

Roman building that we have,
And it shows us the genius,

The spirit,
Of roman architecture.

Narrator:
The pantheon is one of rome's

Most astonishing achievements,

An engineering marvel
With a record-breaking roof,

Roman concrete at its heart,

And clues to its past hiding
Beneath its foundations.

The iconic pantheon
Still stands strong

At the heart of rome,

Connecting the past and
Present of this eternal city.

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