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At the end of the First Punic War the Romans acquired Sicily from the Carthaginians, but Malta was conquered only during the second one.įor a long time a villa near Melita (Mdina), the capital of the island, was thought to be the only archaeological evidence of the Roman period, but in recent years remains of other villas and temples have been identified. The same purpose, by their descendants and rivals,Įastern Sicily was colonized by the Greeks whereas the western part of the island, including Malta, was colonized by the Phoenicians who built a maritime empire which had its centre at Carthage. (.) These islands were afterwards occupied, for Isles were inhabited by the Phoenicians, as we find Roman villa at Melita ( Mdina): detail of a mosaic portraying two maenads tormenting a satyr (you might wish to see other impressive Roman mosaics in Sicily and on the coast of today's Libya opposite Malta) Those at Tarxien, near Valletta, are dated 3,000 BC ca and they were decorated with spiral motifs which are not very different from popular patterns of Classical Antiquity.Īlthough the matter is still being debated, it appears that the civilization which developed on the Maltese Islands at one point disappeared leaving the islands almost unpopulated. This explains the number of small figurines portraying fat women, a symbol of fertility, which have been found on the islands.Īrchaeological Museum of Valletta: decorated slabs from the Tarxien Templesĭuring the early XXth century archaeologists found evidence of temples at different locations on Malta and Gozo. Notwithstanding their isolation the settlers developed beliefs similar to those of other ancient people whose economy was based on husbandry. In addition the islands do not have high mountains (the highest elevation reaches 258 meters, less than a thousand feet), so that they are not visible from a great distance.Īrchaeologists believe that the first settlers did not come by sea, but by land during the last glacial period when the islands were part of Sicily, because the level of the Mediterranean was much lower than it is today (the maximum depth of the channel between Sicily and Malta is less than 150 m approximately 490 ft). The Maltese islands (Malta, Gozo and three islets) are located at the centre of the Mediterranean, but too far away from the coasts of Sicily and Africa to be routinely visited by ancient ships which followed a coastal route. 28: After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. Paul's shipwreck on the island in 60 AD is described in Acts. An indirect confirmation of the isolation of Malta can be deduced by the way St. Regarded as a risky journey and the existence itself of the island was not widely known. Richard Colt Hoare - A classical tour through Italy in 1790Ĭicero wrote his oration in 70 BC at that time seafaring in the Mediterranean was pretty common and yet travelling to Malta was Of three months, and his successful propagation (.) Malta hasĪttained celebrity in ecclesiastical history for the To the ancients by the names of Melita and Gaulos,Īnd under those appellations are mentioned byĭifferent classic authors. John Ray - Observations (.) made in a journey through part of (.) Italy in 1663

The highest parts of it, and most remote from the Sharks teeth, vertebres of Thornbacks and otherįish bones petrified found all over the Island even in We consider the multitude of Sea shells of all sorts, Times nothing else but a great Rock, wholly overwhelmed and covered with the Sea especially if Malta seems to have been in the most ancient Yonge (1888).Īrchaeological Museum of Valletta: clay/stone figurines most likely portraying Mother Goddesses

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Fourth Oration of Cicero in the Trial of Gaius Verres. There is an island called Melita, o judges, separated from Sicily by a sufficiently wide and perilous navigation. You may wish to see an introductory page with a map first. Catherine of the Wheel in the parish church of Zejtun)