Incidentally, there is a (small) school of modern architectural thought that attributes the longevity and elegance of Roman architects' work to their tendency t

Incidentally, there is a (small) school of modern architectural thought that attributes the longevity and elegance of Roman architects' work to their tendency to design far below the yield stresses of their materials. That approach is very different from contemporary architecture, which often builds far closer to material limits and relies on the very high strength of structural steel. FWIW I find this argument very persuasive; John Ochsendorf and Christopher Alexander are two guys who are known for taking this position, and they are both huge fans of the Pantheon. See [0] among many others for more. [0] http://nautil.us/issue/24/error/ingenious-john-ochsendorf http://nautil.us/issue/24/error/ingenious-john-ochsendorf