ANCIENT EMPIRES OF ROME AND CHINA CONQUER MILAN IN NEW SHOW

(ANSA) - Milan, June 30 - The Roman and Chinese empires of 2,000 years ago, which at their peak controlled half the world's population, are the subject of a major exhibition in Milan.

Palazzo Reale is hosting the show, which boasts over 450 masterpieces from the Qin and Han Dynasties and the Roman Empire.

Spanning a period between the 2nd century BC and the 4th century AD, the exhibition draws out the similarities and differences between the two sprawling empires.

Both were of a similar size, directly controlling around four million square kilometers of land and around 50-60 million inhabitants.

Both had massive armies and similar bureaucratic structures, divided into similar administrative bodies.

Both also considered themselves to be the centre of the universe, the Orbis Terrarum or the Tianxia (meaning "Everything that is under the Sky"), but were eventually invaded by peoples they viewed as barbarians.

As well as considering key moments in the rise and fall of both empires, the exhibition focuses on their vastly different experiences of everyday life, including society, communications, religion and the economy.

The items on show include masterpieces from 50 collections around the world, with marble statuary groups, frescoes, silver utensils, mosaics and funerary altars representing the Roman section.

Among the Chinese artefacts are soldiers from the Terracotta Army, a jade funerary garment, a lacquered sarcophagus with jade inlay, a rare banner of painted silk, frescoes from the Han era and everyday bronze and gold utensils.

"Creating dialogue between two cultures that personify and symbolize East and West means opening up to the history of peoples, customs, habits, laws, economies, ideas and arts," said Milan Culture Councillor Finazzer Flory at the exhibition's inauguration.

"This is a journey through archaeology and anthropology to discover, with some surprise, that there are actually many crossover points between two civilizations that at first appear so distant".

The exhibition arrived in Milan after a hugely successful run at the Beijing World Art Museum, during celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, followed by a stint at the Luoyang Museum in the western city of Luoyang.

It is on show at Palazzo Reale until September 5, after which it travels to Rome.