Most of the lands of the region were once part of a Roman province called Raetia, which was established in 15 BC. The current capital of Graubünden, [[Chur]], was known as Curia in Roman times. The area was later part of the [[Bishop of Chur|diocese of Chur]]. A [[Roman Empire|Roman]] road crossed Liechtenstein from south to north, traversing the Alps by the [[Splügen Pass]] and following the right bank of the [[Rhine]] at the edge of the floodplain, for long uninhabited because of periodic flooding. Some Roman villas have been excavated in [[Schaanwald]] and [[Nendeln]]. Nearly 2000 years later, some of the population of [[Graubünden]] still speak [[Romansh language|Romansh]] which has descended from [[Vulgar Latin]].