In 1793 and 1794 the Revolution reached its peak of fury, under the Convention led by Robespierre and Saint-Just. The two leaders of the Terror were arrested and executed on 28 July 1794, and a new government, the Directory took power. On 23 September 1795 a new Constitution was adopted, which called for a parliament with two chambers, the Council of Five Hundred, the future National Assembly, and the Council of the Ancients. The Council of Five Hundred was given the Palais Bourbon as its future meeting place. The new government commissioned the architects Jacques-Pierre Gisors and Emmanuel-Cherubin Leconte to turn the apartments of the Palace along the Seine into a suitable meeting chamber. The chamber they designed was in the shape of a hemicycle, similar to a Roman theater. it was covered with a cupola modeled after that of the amphitheater of the Academy of Surgery, located not far away in Saint-Germain-des-Pres, which had been built between 1769 and 1774. The first session of the Council took place on 21 January 1798. It was quickly discovered that the acoustics of the new chamber were poor. A few other changes were made to the Palace; a vestibule and rotunda was added on the courtyard, and a wooden gallery was constructed to connect the Palace with the Hotel de Lassay.