Rome and the barbarians. The birth of a new world

This impressive exhibition is part of the tradition of exhibitions dedicated to past civilizations organised by the Palazzo Grassi: "The Celts. The first Europe", "The Western Greeks", "The Phoenicians and the Pharaohs" (more than 7000 copies sold in Italian bookshops) which were extremely successful shows with both critics and the general public.
Bringing together a large number of authentic archaeological treasures from the most prestigious museums of Europe, Africa and America, this publication highlights the splendour and artistic knowledge of the Roman Barbarian civilizations, which were at the basis of European culture.
The publication traces almost a millennia of history through fundamental stages in the history of Rome, beginning with the crisis in Hellenistic-Roman culture of the 3rd century AD, to about the 7th century AD: the first conflicts between Romans and Germans, the Sacred Roman Empire of Charlemagne, Alaric's and Geiseric's sack of Rome, Attila's passage, Clovis's conversion. The aim is to illustrate centuries of conflictual co-existence leading to the cultural integration of Barbarian populations into the pre-existing Roman fabric.

This is the first comprehensive work on the difficult and controversial relationship between Roman civilization and Barbarian populations.
It is known that tens of millions of Germans entered the Roman Empire during its existence and that, as early as the reign of Julius Cesar, German mercenaries faithfully served first as auxiliaries and then as legionnaires and came to attain top military positions. Without the contribution of the Germans, the Roman Empire would have lasted so long only with great difficulty. But how did Rome repay the almost total loyalty of the northern Barbarians?

The book is divided into seven main sections: - Rome and the Barbarians: conflict and co-existence - New balances and new relationships: the frontier between Rome and the Barbarians in the 4th century AD.
- The crisis of the 5th century (378-476) - The Roman-Barbarian kingdoms - The new Roman-Barbarian society and the Eastern Empire - Towards the new Europe - Rome and the Barbarians in European culture

The final section contains the most famous representations of the legends of the great invasions, for example, "The defence of the Gauls" by Théodore Chassériau and "Vercingétorige" by Aimé Millet.