From the 6th to the 11th century, the Byzantine Empire controlled all or part of Italy. From one region to another, the Imperial control varied greatly in duration, intensity and modality, resulting in a variegated cultural and political reality aptly summed up in the title of Enrico Zanini’s synthesis Le Italie bizantine. Nonetheless the length of the Byzantine presence and the prestige of the Empire left its mark on Italy and go a long way towards explaining the specificities of its societies during the following centuries. During five years, a research program hosted by the Ecole française de Rome was dedicated to the exploration of this Byzantine legacy in the peninsula. Our event will be dedicated to the exposition of its results and to ongoing new research building on the previous achievements.