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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by Akademie Verlag December 1, 2013

Wunschorte und Wunschzeiten der Antike. Utopie in Griechenland und Rom

  • Christian Reitzenstein-Ronning EMAIL logo
From the journal Das Mittelalter

Abstract

Roman culture apparently did not produce utopian literature in the strict sense. Even in the political and moral crisis of the period of civil wars, authors like Livy primarily focused on the Roman past to redress the catastrophic present. But around 40 B. C. Vergil and Horace can be seen adapting Greek utopian motifs to reflect upon the plight of the Roman people and their imminent future. Whereas Horace seems to look for a imaginative “Isle of the Blessed” in sharp contrast to actual Roman politics, Vergil innovatively sketches a renewed Golden Age to take place precisely in Italy. But unlike Greek utopian writers he does not claim to offer a structural alternative to the present state of affairs. In the ‘Aeneid’, Augustus is said to bring back an implicitly utopian reign of justice and peace. This is not a simple piece of propaganda, but a sophisticated yardstick to assess the new political system that came to life by brute force and uncanny mastery of Roman politics.

Online erschienen: 2013-12
Erschienen im Druck: 2013-12

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