Alb(i)um Intimilium/Albintimilium (modern Ventimiglia) was the main settlement of the Ligurian tribe of the Intemelii. In the 2nd century BC it came under control of the Roman Republic. Albintimilium became a municipium in 89 BC in the tribus Falerna. In the same period the city walls were built, with several towers. The city flourished in the early Imperial period, with baths, an acqueduct and a theater. In the 6th and early 7th century it was a Byzantine kastron, coming under control of the Longobards in 641. During the 7th and 8th century the Roman city was slowly abandoned in favour of a smaller hilltop settlement focused around the Cathedral.