 The Italian name derives from Latin "Monte Crucis" ("mountain of the cross"), a denotation of the pass in mediæval times.The valley of the Gail River had been a settlement area since the Neolithic era, and a bridle path probably existed already in the Bronze Age.Roman forces under General Tiberius rebuilt the path as a road after the incorporation of the Noricum province in 15 BC, in order to reach the newly conquered lands north of the Carnic Alps from Italy.