Genova originated as a meeting point of Ligurian people, a population of Mediterranean origins, with Phoenicians and Greeks. After the Roman period Genova was in the orbit of Byzantines, Longobards and Franks, suffering by naval raids of the Saracens.
From the turn of the Millennium Genova became a great naval power, which progressively extended domain over the Liguria and Corsica, and was one of the main ports of the Mediterranean, with commercial relations from the Atlantic Ocean as far as China.