526 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



that they got into debt, mortgaged the cot- 

 tages which had been secured for them by a 

 Miss Wood, a convert, and finally lost their 

 property in 1878, when, as a community, they 

 passed out of existence. 



Pantheon of Rome, a famous temple 

 of circular form, built by M. Agrippa, son-in- 

 law of Augustus, in his third consulship, about 

 27 B.C. The edifice was called the Pantheon, 

 not, as is commonly supposed, from its having 

 been sacred to all the gods, but from its ma- 

 jestic dome, which represented, as it were, the 

 " all-divine" firmament. It was dedicated to 

 Jupiter Ultor. Beside the statue of this god, 

 however, there were in six other niches as 

 many colossal statues of other deities, among 

 which were those of Mars and Venus, the 

 founders of the Julian line, and that of Julius 

 Cresar. The Pantheon is by far the Largest 

 structure of ancient times, the external diam- 

 eter being 188 feet, and the height to the sum- 

 mit of the upper cornice 102 feet, exclusive of 

 the flat dome or calotte, which makes the entire 

 height about 148 feet. It has a portico, in 

 the style of the Corinthian architecture, 110 

 feet in length and 44 feet in depth, made up of 

 16 granite columns, with marble capitals and 

 bases, placed in three rows, each column being 

 5 feet in diameter and 4G feet high. These 

 columns supported a pediment with a roof of 

 bronze. The Pantheon stands near the ancient 

 Campus Martins, and, after the lapse of 1900 

 years, is still the best preserved of the old 

 Roman buildings. It was given to Boniface 

 IV. by the Emperor Phocas in 609, and was 

 dedicated as a Christian church to the Virgin 

 and the Holy Martyrs, a quantity of whose 

 relics was placed under the great altar. In 

 830, Gregory IV. dedicated it to all the saints. 

 It is now known as the Church of Santa Maria 

 Rotunda. This consecration of the edifice, 

 however, seems to have afforded it no defense 

 against the subsequent spoliations, both of 

 emperors and popes. The plates of gilded 

 bronze that covered the roof, the bronze bassi- 

 relievi of the pediment, and the silver that 

 adorned the interior of the dome, were carried off 

 by Constans IT., A. D. 655, who destined them 

 for his imperial palace at Constantinople ; but, 

 being murdered at Syracuse when on his return 

 with them, they were taken by their next pro- 

 prietors to Alexandria. Urban VIII. carried 

 off all that was left to purloin - the bronze 

 beams of the portico, which amounted in 

 weight to more than 45,000,000 pounds. Dur- j 

 ing eight centuries it has suffered from 

 the dilapidations of time and the cupidity of ! 

 barbarians. The seven steps which elevated it 

 above the level of ancient Rome are buried 

 >eneath the modern pavement. Its rotunda of 



brick is blackened and decayed ; the marble 

 statues, the bassi-relievi, the brazen columns, 

 have disappeared ; its ornaments have van- 

 ished, its granite columns* have lost their luster, 

 and its marble capitals their purity. Yet, 

 under every disadvantage, it is still' pre- 

 eminently beautiful. No eye can rest on the 

 noble simplicity of the matchless portico with- 

 out admiration. Its beauty is of that sort 

 which, while the fabric stands, time has no 

 power to destroy. 



Oracles dated from the highest antiquity, 

 | and flourished in the most remote ages. The 

 word signifies the response delivered by a 

 j deity or supernatural being to a worshiper or 

 inquirer, and also the place where the response 

 was delivered. These responses were sup- 

 posed to be given by a certain divine afflatus. 

 either through means of mankind, as in the 

 orgasms of the Pythia, and the dreams of the 

 worshiper in the temples ; or by its effect on 

 certain objects, as the tinkling of the caldrons 

 at Dodona, the rustling of the sacred oak, the 

 murmuring of the streams ; or by the action of 

 sacred animals, as exemplified in the Apis or 

 sacred bull of Memphis, and -the feeding of 

 holy chickens of the Romans. These responses, 

 however, had always to be interpreted to the 

 ! inquirer by the priesthood. It is probable that 

 j all the Egyptian temples wereoracular, although 

 only a few are mentioned by Herodotus, as 

 the oracles of Latona in the city of Buto ; 

 | those of Hercules, Mars, Thebes, and Meroe. 

 Oracles were also used by the Hebrews. The 

 Grecian oracles enjoyed the highest reputation 

 for truthfulness, and the most renowned of 

 all was the Delphic Oracle. Sacrifices wore 

 offered by the inquirers, who walked with 

 laurel crowns on their heads, and delivered 

 sealed questions ; the response was deemed 

 infallible, and was usually dictated by justice, 

 sound sense* and reason, till the growing po- 

 litical importance of the shrine rendered the 

 guardians of it fearful to offend, when they 

 framed answers in ambiguous terms, or al- 

 lowed the influence of gold and presents to 

 corrupt the inspirations. There were numer- 

 ous other oracles in Greece and in Asia Mi- 

 nor, and written ones existed of the prophecies 

 1 of celebrated seers. Those of the Sibyls or 

 prophetic women enjoyed great popularity. 



Holy Grail. The Holy Grail was one of 

 the leading themes of mediaeval romance, 

 fabled to have been the cup or chalice used by 

 j Christ in the Last Supper, and in which he 

 changed the wine into blood. This chalice, 

 preserved by Joseph of Arimathea, had also 

 received the blood which flowed from the side 

 of Christ on the cross. This is what the 

 apocryphal gospel of Nicodemus say's, but no 



