Through the steps of history: a report from the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR) (June 16-19, 2010 - Rome, Italy).

Rome is an open book to human history, and traveling from the city center to the Nuova Fiera da Roma, as most of this year's attendees to EULAR had to do to reach the congress site, is a voyage from the remains of the Roman Empire throughout the middle ages and across most of human history to the modern architecture that characterizes the new exposition facilities next to the airport of Fiumicino. EULAR offers a yearly development on therapies for diseases with a clear, direct negative impact on physical functioning of the sufferers, and this report will review most of the therapeutic novelties discussed this year.