A panoptic visualization document navigation system includes a navigation engine and request interface, and is configured effect navigation of components of a document collection in a layout, panoptically arranged in a manner that reflects logical relationships between their content, which may in turn reflect relationships between the subjects or their objects depicted by the content. These logical relationships may be established by links between document components, which may be identified by information provided in associated metadata for the document components. Navigation options for navigating the layout may likewise be selected according to the associated metadata. This type of arrangement and its navigation may enable a user to see the content in a single view, and in an arrangement that facilitates a better understanding of the relationships between the content and their subjects or objects, which may be otherwise difficult to comprehend.