On locus amoenus, Elysium, the Millennium, and Heaven
Random thoughts after watching a favourite film.
In ancient Rome, the view of the supernatural realm and by extension, the afterlife, is one of complexity in that much of what we know is not drawn from religious texts but rather, mythological literature and philosophical treaties. It is problematic to speak of such matters monolithically, as there are at times, absences and differences regarding specific beliefs and practises and as such, we are often expected to draw from several sources that require interpretation which as classical studies reveal, can be vastly different in their conclusions.[1] In understanding the concept of locus amoenus, it is a
Latin phrase meaning “a pleasant place.” The term is often identified with the physical landscape of the pastoral world, but ancient bucolic poetry is actually rather spare in its description of the environment and focuses more on the subjective reactions of (usually alienated) characters to the pleasance... such special places appeal to the full range of human senses and at the same time hint at the presence of the divine... [s]tereotypical characteristics include cool shade, flowing water, sweet scents, and the audible song of birds, cicadas, or even country folk; caves or other forms of bounded enclosures are common… [t]he locus amoenus sometimes forms a point of contact for the divine, either before or after life…[2]
What is interesting in the film Gladiator (2000), is the transition of Maximus’ locus amoenus.[3] In the beginning of the film, he describes it as follows:
My house is in the hills above Trujillo. A... a very simple place. Pink stones that warm in the sun. A kitchen garden that smells of herbs in the day. Jasmine in the evening. Through the gate is a giant poplar. Figs. Apples. Pears. The soil, Marcus. Black. Black like… like my wife's hair. Grapes on the south slopes, olives on the north. Wild ponies play near my house. They tease my son. He...he wants to be one of them.[4]
Maximus begins to cry as he describes his locus amoenus. Yet, when he returns to it in the aftermath of its destruction, including the murdered remains of his beloved wife and son, his locus amoenus transitions to Elysium. Its inhabitants have moved from a physical location (earth) to a spiritual location (the afterlife). This reality is inferred in Maximus’’ battle speech in Geremnia before his soldiers[5] and later evidenced in the interaction with Juba, when the enslaved general acknowledges his family’s death to him.[6]
Elysium (also known as the Elysian Fields) while often described as a location familiar, even accessible, to those who knew the geography of the ancient world, evolved into a supernatural realm that could only be accessed through a righteous death. It was essential, the afterlife, what Christians would refer to as Heaven. First century Greek historian and philosopher Plutarch, describes it as follows:
These are two in number, separated by a very narrow strait; they are ten thousand furlongs distant from Africa, and are called the Islands of the Blest. They enjoy moderate rains at long intervals, and winds which for the most part are soft and precipitate dews, so that the islands not only have a rich soil which is excellent for plowing and planting, but also produce a natural fruit that is plentiful and wholesome enough to feed, without toil or trouble, a leisured folk. Moreover, an air that is salubrious, owing to the climate and the moderate changes in the seasons, prevails on the islands. For the north and east winds which blow out from our part of the world plunge into fathomless space, and, owing to the distance, dissipate themselves and lose their power before they reach the islands; while the south and west winds that envelope the islands sometimes bring in their train soft and intermittent showers, but for the most part cool them with moist breezes and gently nourish the soil. Therefore a firm belief has made its way, even to the Barbarians, that here is the Elysian Field and the abode of the blessed, of which Homer sang (Life of Sertorius, VIII, 2)
Centuries earlier, fifth century BC Greek poet Pindar, write the following regarding the expectations for those who have lived a righteous life. It is highly likely a general like Maximus would have been familiar with this worldview:
Wealth adorned with excellence brings many opportunities, rousing deep wild ambitions; [55] it is a brilliant star, a man's true light, at least if one has and knows the future, that the reckless souls of those who have died on earth immediately pay the penalty—and for the crimes committed in this realm of Zeus there is a judge below the earth; with hateful [60] compulsion he passes his sentence. But having the sun always in equal nights and equal days, the good receive a life free from toil, not scraping with the strength of their arms the earth, nor the water of the sea, [65] for the sake of a poor sustenance. But in the presence of the honored gods, those who gladly kept their oaths enjoy a life without tears, while the others undergo a toil that is unbearable to look at. Those who have persevered three times, on either side, to keep their souls free from all wrongdoing, [70] follow Zeus' road to the end, to the tower of Cronus, where ocean breezes blow around the island of the blessed, and flowers of gold are blazing, some from splendid trees on land, while water nurtures others. With these wreaths and garlands of flowers they entwine their hands [75] according to the righteous counsels of Rhadamanthys, whom the great father, the husband of Rhea whose throne is above all others, keeps close beside him as his partner. Peleus and Cadmus are counted among them, and Achilles who was brought there by his mother… (Odes 2.50–75)
Elysium was separate to Hades, the supernatural realm in which the unrighteous dwelt. Noteworthy, this was almost identical to (and most likely borrowed from) the ancient Hebrews, the spiritual ancestors of Christianity and authors of the Hebrew Scriptures (OT), being the first half of the Bible completed by the Greek Scriptures (NT). Originally termed Sheol (Genesis 37:35), in the Hebrew Scriptures (OT) both the righteous (Genesis 37:35; Job 14:13; Psalm 6:5; 16:10; 88:3; Isaiah 38:10) and unrighteous (Psalm 9:17; 31:17; 49:14; Isaiah 5:14) existed there (where the righteous resided was later referred to as Abraham’s Bosom: Luke 16:22) but since Messiah Yeshua’s death and resurrection, Sheol now only contains the unrighteous (also known as Hades) according to Christian doctrine. This is best seen and explained in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). When Messiah Yeshua came to earth and died by crucifixion on the cross, after His resurrection, He took all those who were righteous in Sheol directly into Heaven because of His shed blood (Ephesians 4:8-10; 1 Peter 3:18-2). What remains now, are the unrighteous in Sheol, referred to in the Greek Scriptures (NT) as Hades (Matthew 11:23,16:18; Luke 10:15,16:23; Acts 2:27,31; Revelation 1:18, 6:8). Hence, Elysium is not to be equated with Heaven in Christianity, for the righteous part of Sheol no longer exists. All that remains is Hades which will cease to exist at the end of the Millenium (see below) when its unrighteous inhabitants will be cast into Hell for eternity (Revelation 20:13-14).
It is interesting that in Christianity though, there is a type of locus amoenus prior to a permanent afterlife. In the Hebrew Scriptures (OT), there is a prophetical vision documented by the prophet Isaiah of when the world will be restored to a pre-Eden environment prior to the restoration of the heavens and earth. Referred to as the “Millenium,” it is a millennial reign of Yeshua the Messiah, reminiscent of the locus amoenus in Gladiator, described in numerous verses throughout the Scriptures (e.g. Isaiah 9:3-7, 11:1-10, 32:1,17–18, 35:8, 40:1-2, 65:16, 61:7,10; Micah 4:2–4; Habakkuk 2:14; Zechariah 8:3; Revelation 20:2-7).[7] It is worth quoting two passages from the book of Isaiah so establish what is envisioned as an environment of peace (though still marred by sin) prior to perfect eternal state:
Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;
But with righteousness He will judge the poor,
And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth;
And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.
Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins,
And faithfulness the belt about His waist.
And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little boy will lead them.
Also the cow and the bear will graze,
Their young will lie down together,
And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.
Then in that day
The nations will resort to the root of Jesse,
Who will stand as a signal for the peoples;
And His resting place will be glorious. (Isaiah 11:1-10)
Later,
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.
“But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing
And her people for gladness.
“I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people;
And there will no longer be heard in her
The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
“No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days,
Or an old man who does not live out his days;
For the youth will die at the age of one hundred
And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred
Will be thought accursed.
“They will build houses and inhabit them;
They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
“They will not build and another inhabit,
They will not plant and another eat;
For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people,
And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.
“They will not labor in vain,
Or bear children for calamity;
For they are the offspring of those blessed by the Lord,
And their descendants with them.
It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,” says the Lord. (Isaiah 65:17-25)
As noted earlier, the events described in the book of Isaiah however, are not that of the new heavens and earth in their entirety, that is to say, as a completed reality; it is rather, the first step towards this, for while near perfect and picturesque, their remains the presence of sin (e.g. as inferred by the need for sin offerings in Ezekiel 45:17, 23-24[8] and evidenced in the sinful disobedience in Zechariah 14:18-19). Hence, it is important to note that in Christian doctrine, the Millennium is not to be equated with the end of the age, the restoration of all things, in which the heavens and the earth will fully be recreated for eternity. This moment is recorded through the vision of the apostle John on Patmos (Revelation 21:1-27).
[1] Consider the insightful Rachel L. Carazo, “Roman Religious Figurines that “hear you[…] in the afterlife”: Maximus’ Lares, His Vilica, and the Pomerium of Elysium in Gladiator” in “A Hero Will Endure”: Essays at the Twentieth Anniversary of Gladiator ed. Rachel L. Carazo (Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press, 2024), 277-314.
[2] Thomas Hubbard, “Locus Amoenus” in The Classical Tradition ed. Anthony Grafton, Glenn W. Most, and Salvatore Settis (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press), 538.
[3] Gladiator II (a terrible film) is devoid of this notion, offering a confusing survey of the afterlife. In the aftermath of the battle by the Roman soldiers that destroy Numidia and take the life of his beloved wife Arishat, Lucius Verus Aurelius (son of Maximus) undergoes a near-death experience in which he witnesses his wife being ushered unto a ferry by two hooded individuals. While this would seem an allusion to Charon on the river Styx, the second hooded figure confuses the viewer as to whether this is the Roman after life or another. While it is possible that the second figure is Hermes or Mors, both proposals seem unlikely, rendering the potentially powerful moment as inconsistent with Roman mythology and views of the afterlife.
[4] Gladiator.
[5] Stefano Rizzoni, “What We Do in Life, Echoes in Eternity”: An Ecocritical Reading of the Scenery and Landscapes in Gladiator” in “A Hero Will Endure”: Essays at the Twentieth Anniversary of Gladiator ed. Rachel L. Carazo (Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press, 2024), 62-66.
[6] Ashley Weaver, ““… But Not Yet”: Reflections on Juba, the Spirit Guide and “Eternal Echo” of Gladiator” in “A Hero Will Endure”: Essays at the Twentieth Anniversary of Gladiator ed. Rachel L. Carazo (Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press, 2024), 224-225.
[7] For a comprehensive list of verses and commentary on this eschatological event, see: Matthew Bryce Ervin, One Thousand Years with Jesus: The Coming Messianic Kingdom (Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, 2017).
[8] Ralph H. Alexander, Ezekiel (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017), 285.