Searching for Paradise: Landscape, Utopia, and Rome

Abstract

This paper is an investigation of utopian landscapes in Roman art and texts. It argues for "utopia" as an historically contingent idea, which is not dependant upon the construction of a total system (such as Thomas More's). The idyllic locations associated with the regeneration of the phoenix are politically exploited by Augustus and successive emperors to suggest both eternity and tradition. Successful uses of paradisal landscapes combine Golden Age hyperfertility with the control of time and nature; the ultimate expositions of utopian ambiguity are found in the Altar of Augustan Peace, colonnaded gardens, and landscapes in Roman wall painting.

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