The Pantheon, the temple of all the gods, was built in the first century BC by the Roman general Marco Agrippa, whose name is reported in the inscription "Marcus Agrippa, Lucii filius, consul tertium fecit" (Marco Agrippa, son of Lucio, for the third time consul, built) still visible on the pediment of the building. Little or nothing remains of the temple of Agrippa, as it was almost destroyed by fire and rebuilt in completely different forms in the 2nd century AD.

The reconstruction of the Pantheon was promoted by Emperor Hadrian, the temple was finished between 125 and 128 AD, probably based on a project by the Syrian-Roman architect Apollodorus of Damascus.In 609, after the fall of the Roman Empire, the temple of all the gods was converted into a Christian church with the name of Santa Maria dei Martiri. This presumably saved the building from being destroyed or used as a quarry for building material during the Middle Ages, as was the case with many other ancient buildings in Rome.