Archaeological museums often came into existence from private collections of curiosities. When official museums were created in the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, the question of which cultures belonged to the ‘ancient world’ (and which not) was hotly debated, as the example of the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden shows us. In addition, the role of an archaeological collection in society could be regarded in various ways. In the 19th century the ‘purest examples from antiquity’ were used as models for architects, artists and artisans. Nowadays antiquity seems to inspire many aspects of our culture, but much can be argued against the feeling that the classical spirit is enlightening our lives. An important role can be played by archaeological museums and their curators in a world in which the humanities are severely at risk.