In this paper I explore the symbolism of nature and city as two opposing domains in the worldview of Italian Fascism. Nature was construed as a disordered and hostile realm destined to be conquered by man. Farmwork and projects of land reclamation were represented by means of metaphors of violent attack and war; agriculture came to symbolise the Fascist struggle for a radical transformation of Italian society. The city, understood as the epitome for civilisation, constituted an already domesticated and therefore ambiguous realm. As an ideal city, Rome represented the glorious era of the Ancient Roman Empire, which the Fascists wished to resurrect in a futuristic form. Rome of that time was, however, understood as corrupted by centuries of cultural decadence. Extensive modifications of the urban landscape were therefore made so as to represent in city space the Fascist claim to be a continuation of the antique past into a glorious new millenarian era. A comparison between Italian Fascism and German Nazism reveals that these movements had antithetic views on nature and cities.
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