Sauron's Mighty Temple at Armenelos

[Valandil]

In "Akallabeth" Sauron works his way to ever-growing influence over Ar-Pharazon. Then, he did this:

... But Sauron caused to be built upon the hill in the midst of the city of the Numenoreans, Armenelos the Golden, a mighty temple; and it was in the form of a circle at the base, and there the walls were fifty feet in thickness, and the width of the base was five hundred feet across the centre, and the walls rose from the ground five hundred feet, and they were crowned with a mighty dome. And that dome was roofed all with silver, and rose glittering in the sun, so that the light of it could be seen afar off; but soon the light was darkened and the silver became black. For there was an altar of fire in the midst of the temple, and in the topmost dome there was a louver, whence there issued a great smoke. And the first fire upon the altar Sauron kindled with the hewn wood of Nimloth, and the crackled and was consumed; but men marvelled at the reek that went up from it, so that the land lay under a cloud for seven days, until slowly it passed into the west.

Sauron goes on from there to begin human sacrifices of the Faithful at this temple, purportedly to grant eternal life to the other Numenoreans.

Anyway - there's much to say on what this shows about how far the Numenoreans had fallen or been led astray - and what they tolerated, and how blasphemous it all was.

But I actually wanted to talk about the architecture.

This dome is just IMMENSE! Really - the description makes me think of an ancient Roman temple called "The Pantheon" (still in existence today), a temple to all the Roman gods - but I think Sauron's was about 3X the size!!

The Pantheon has a spherical dome overhead - and the walls from the ground to the base are exactly the same height as the dome - which is half the width of the dome. In other words, if the spherical form of the dome continued to the lower half, the very bottom of it would only just touch the ground.

Now - one thing I've always wondered about Sauron's Dome: Was the TOP of the Dome at 500 feet above the ground - or was the BASE of the Dome at 500 feet above the ground (making the top at 750 feet - assuming it was perfectly spherical)?

While the latter would be more impressive in height, the former has the same harmonious relationship as the Pantheon.

By taking the words most literally, it sounds like the taller version, but "the walls rose from the ground five hundred feet..." could be taken to mean a continuous rise from the ground, to the base of the dome, and then on up the dome to the very top. I just wonder if Tolkien was inspired by, and thinking of the Parthenon when he wrote this - and trying to describe something similar in form but greater in scale.

Any takers on this theory?