The exhibition “Ave Caesar! Romans, Gauls and Germanic tribes on the banks of the Rhine” (Ave Caesar! Römer, Gallier und Germanen am Rhein) highlights the relationships between the advanced civilisations of the Mediterranean region and the indigenous Gaulish and Germanic tribes on both sides of the River Rhine.
The river is the central theme around which the various fascinating aspects of these contacts have been staged. The exhibition is divided into five parts: The seat of a Celtic ruler, dealing with the Celtic ruling class and their magnificent estates around 500 BC.
The section on the “Celtic settlement” illustrates how the Celts around Basel abandoned their unfortified settlement on the Rhine and constructed a new fortification on the ‘Münsterhügel’.
The “Roman legionary camp”, the third part, shows how the legionaries lived in the region and how their campaigns against the Germanic tribes on the right bank of the Rhine progressed.
The “Roman country estate” is the fourth part and is devoted to the way in which food supplies for the growing population were maintained and shows which Mediterranean foods were newly grown in the Rhine region at that time.
The final part of the exhibition is entitled “Roman colony” and illustrates how Roman culture became established in the conquered territories.
The exhibition is part of the project “Der Rhein/le Rhin. 3 Länder-38 Ausstellungen/ 3 Pays – 38 expositions“.