specific tribe or confederation of tribes, or was a broader term for the inhabitants of the area. They made wine barrels (an idea which the Romans took from them), and had their own alphabet. Roman times In 15 BC, Tyrol was conquered by Roman forces commanded by Drusus and Tiberius. The Romans established Raetia and Noricum as provinces of the Roman Empire. Raetia included Vinschgau, Burggrafenamt, Eisacktal, Wipptal, Oberinntal and parts of the Unterinntal. Noricum included Pustertal, Defereggen and parts of the Unterinntal to the right of the Ziller and the Inn. Bolzano and the extreme south of Tyrol belonged to the province of Venetia et Histria. The inhabitants adopted the Latin Language called vulgar Latin or the everyday spoken version vs. the standardized written formal form, and combined it with their own languages. The result was Romansh, which is still spoken today and is one of the official languages of Switzerland. The Romans constructed metaled roads guarded by forts through Tyrol to connect the Italian peninsula and the lands beyond; notably the Via Claudia Augusta and the . The Romans did not seem to find Tyrol an attractive area in which to build new towns, because there are few of them. One town they did build was Aguntum, near modern Lienz. In late antiquity (from AD 476), Tyrol belonged to the Ostrogoths, and it was included in the Ostrogothic Kingdom. In 534, the Ostrogoths lost Merrano, Val Venosta and Passer to the Franks. The Ostrogothic Kingdom collapsed in 553, after being overrun by Bajuvarians from the north and Lombards from the south. The Lombards established the Duchy of Tridentum (or, Trent; roughly corresponding to modern Trentino) in south Tyrol. Slavic peoples, who had recently taken Carinthia from the Bajuvarians, settled in east Tyrol. Middle Ages Most of Tyrol came under the control of the Duchy of Bavaria (created ). The southern parts, including Bolzano, Salorno, and the right bank of the Adige (including Eppan and Kaltern) remained under the Lombards. Tyrol was Christianized through the bishoprics of Brixen and Triento. The frontier remained the same though Carolingian and Ottonian times. The area was subject to Stammensgerechte (Ancient Germanic laws), such as Lex Romana Curiensis, Lex Alamannorum, Lex Baiuvariorum and Leges Langobardorum. In 1027, Emperor Conrad II, in order to secure the important route through the Brenner Pass, allotted the left bank of the Adige (from Lana to Mezzocorona) to