Following in the footsteps of exhibitions dedicated to the great civilisations of the past, the exhibition ‘Rome and the Barbarians’ takes a fresh look at the ever-topical issue of confrontation and cultural contamination. Through more than two thousand archaeological treasures from museums around the world, Jean-Jacques Aillagon, curator of the exhibition, wanted to illustrate the mutual influences that, in the first millennium of our era, enriched Roman culture and barbarian identities, giving rise to a new civilisation. The birth of the empire, its defence and decline, the Roman-barbarian kingdoms of the Vandals, Ostrogoths, Visigoths and Franks, Byzantium's ambitions in the West, the settlement of the Lombards in Italy, the restoration of the empire under Charlemagne... these are some of the themes explored in “Rome and the Barbarians”. The exhibition, which takes place on the three floors of Palazzo Grassi, covers the history of the entire European continent. “Rome and the Barbarians” recounts this decisive moment when Roman tradition, barbarian cultures and Christianity merged to create the basis of European culture.