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The Pantheon, the best-preserved monument of ancient Rome, remains the most magnificent symbol of the Empire. Dedicated to all the gods (Pan - theos) it was conceived as much as a secular imperial monument as a shrine. In 609 AD it was converted into a church, the first temple in Rome to be Christianized. The original temple was built of travertine, during the third consulate of Agrippa (27 BC), son-in-law of Augustus, to commemorate the victory at Actium over Antony and Cleopatra. Despite the dedicatory inscription on the pediment: 'M. Agrippa. L. F. Cos. tertium fecit', (Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, third time Consul, made this'), the current structure has been proved to be the work of Hadrian (AD 118-125).
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