Editing Malta (section)

===Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Romans===
{{See also|Magna Graecia|Phoenicia|Cippi of Melqart|Ancient Rome|Sicilia (Roman province)|Byzantine Malta}}
[[File:Justinian555AD.png|thumb|right| The lands which comprise modern-day Malta were a part of the Byzantine Empire (the empire in 555 under [[Justinian the Great]], at its greatest extent since the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]] (its [[vassal state|vassals]] in pink)).]]
[[Phoenicia]]n traders<ref name="ndmh">{{Cite news |date=6 February 2008 |title=Notable dates in Malta's history |publisher=Department of Information&nbsp;– Maltese Government |url=http://www.doi.gov.mt/EN/islands/dates.asp |url-status=live |access-date=6 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091125021207/http://www.doi.gov.mt/EN/islands/dates.asp |archive-date=25 November 2009}}</ref> [[Phoenician colonization|colonised]] the islands under the name Ann ({{lang|phn|𐤀𐤍𐤍‎}}, {{sc|ʾnn}}){{sfnp|Culican|1992}}{{sfnp|Filigheddu|2006}}<ref name=vel/> sometime after {{nowrap|1000 BC}}<ref name="ashby">{{Cite journal |last=Ashby |first=Thomas |year=1915 |title=Roman Malta |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1449693 |journal=Journal of Roman Studies |volume=5 |pages=23–80 |doi=10.2307/296290 |jstor=296290 |s2cid=250349579 |access-date=30 August 2019 |archive-date=27 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210327063440/https://zenodo.org/record/1449693 |url-status=live }}</ref> as a stop on their trade routes from the eastern [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] to [[Cornwall]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Owen |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OhRCAAAAIAAJ |title=The Maltese Islands |publisher=Praeger |year=1969 }}</ref> Their seat of government was apparently at [[Mdina]], which shared the island's name;{{sfnp|Culican|1992}}{{sfnp|Filigheddu|2006}} the primary port was at [[Cospicua]] on the [[Grand Harbour]], which they called Maleth.<ref name=vel/> After the [[Siege of Tyre (332 BC)|fall of Phoenicia]] in 332 BC, the area came under the control of [[Carthage]].<ref name="ashby" /><ref name="maltihist">{{Cite book |last=Terterov |first=Marat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kc7DO3TZEYcC&pg=PA4 |title=Doing Business with Malta |publisher=GMB Publishing Ltd |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-905050-63-5 }}</ref> During this time, the people on Malta mainly cultivated [[olive]]s and [[Ceratonia siliqua|carob]] and produced textiles.<ref name="maltihist" />

[[File:Roman Malta.jpg|thumb|[[Ancient Rome|Roman]] mosaic from the [[Domvs Romana]]]]

During the [[First Punic War]], the island was conquered after harsh fighting by [[Marcus Atilius Regulus]].<ref name="ei">{{Cite web |title=Malta |url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/malta_(Enciclopedia-Italiana)/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101065621/http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/malta_(Enciclopedia-Italiana)/ |archive-date=1 January 2016 |access-date=2 November 2015 |website=Enciclopedia Italiana |language=it}}</ref> After the failure of his expedition, the island fell back in the hands of Carthage, only to be [[Capture of Malta (218 BC)|conquered again]] during the [[Second Punic War]] in {{nowrap|218 BC}} by the [[Roman consul]] [[Tiberius Sempronius Longus (consul 218 BC)|Tiberius Sempronius Longus]].<ref name=ei/> Malta became a {{lang|la|[[Civitas|Foederata Civitas]]}}, a designation that meant it was exempt from paying [[tribute]] or the rule of [[Roman law]], and fell within the jurisdiction of the [[Roman province|province]] of [[Sicilia (Roman province)|Sicily]].<ref name="malticross" /> Its capital at Mdina was renamed [[Melita (ancient city)|Melita]] after the Greek and Roman name for the island. Punic influence, however, remained vibrant on the islands with the famous [[Cippi of Melqart]], pivotal in deciphering the [[Punic language]], dedicated in the second {{nowrap|century BC.}}<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wmRVAAAAcAAJ |title=The Art Journal: The Illustrated Catalogue of the Industry of All Nations|volume= 2 |publisher=Virtue |year=1853 |page=vii}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Volume 16, Issue 1 |url=http://www.patrimonju.org/content.aspx?id=176541&subId=176539  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221102448/http://www.patrimonju.org/content.aspx?id=176541&subId=176539 |archive-date=21 February 2014 |access-date=16 February 2014 |publisher=Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti}}</ref> Local Roman coinage, which ceased in the first {{nowrap|century BC,}}<ref name="cassar56–57">{{harvnb|Cassar|2000|pp=56–57}}</ref> indicates the slow pace of the island's Romanisation: the last locally minted coins still bear inscriptions in [[Ancient Greek]] and Punic motifs, showing the resistance of the Greek and Punic cultures.<ref>{{Cite web |title=218 BC – 395 AD Roman Coinage |url=http://www.centralbankmalta.org/timeline-coins |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150126230408/http://www.centralbankmalta.org/timeline-coins |archive-date=26 January 2015 |access-date=2 November 2015 |publisher=Bank of Malta}}</ref>

In the second century, Emperor [[Hadrian]] (r. 117–38) upgraded the status of Malta to a {{nowrap|[[municipium]]}} or free town: the island's local affairs were administered by four {{lang|la|[[duumviri|quattuorviri iuri dicundo]]}} and a municipal senate, while a Roman [[procurator (Roman)|procurator]] living in [[Mdina]] represented the [[proconsul]] of Sicily.<ref name=ei/> In {{nowrap|AD 58,}} [[Paul the Apostle]] and [[Luke the Evangelist]] were shipwrecked on the islands.<ref name=ei/> Paul remained for three months, preaching the [[Early Christianity|Christian faith]].<ref name=ei/> The island is mentioned at the [[Acts of the Apostles]] as Melitene ({{langx|grc|Μελιτήνη}}).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0031.tlg005.perseus-grc1:28.1|title=Acts, chapter 28, verse 1|website=Perseus.tufts.edu|access-date=20 February 2021|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414123234/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0031.tlg005.perseus-grc1:28.1|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 395, when the [[Division of the Roman Empire|Roman Empire was divided for the last time]] at the death of [[Theodosius I]], Malta, following Sicily, fell under the control of the [[Western Roman Empire]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1991 |title=Malta |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium |publisher=Oxford University Press |last=Brown |first=Thomas S. |editor-last=Kazhdan |editor-first=Alexander |page=1277 |isbn=978-0-19-504652-6}}</ref> During the [[Migration Period]] as the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire|Western Roman Empire declined]], Malta was conquered or occupied a number of times.<ref name="cassar56–57" /> From 454 to 464 the islands were subdued by the [[Vandals]], and after 464 by the [[Ostrogoths]].<ref name=ei/> In 533, [[Belisarius]], on his way to conquer the [[Vandal Kingdom]] in North Africa, reunited the islands under Imperial ([[Byzantine Empire|Eastern]]) rule.<ref name=ei/> Little is known about the [[Byzantine Malta|Byzantine rule in Malta]]: the island depended on the [[Sicily (theme)|theme of Sicily]] and had Greek governors and a small Greek garrison.<ref name=ei/> While the bulk of population continued to be constituted by the old, [[Latin Church|Latinized]] dwellers, during this period its religious allegiance oscillated between the Pope and the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople|Patriarch of Constantinople]].<ref name=ei/> The Byzantine rule introduced [[Greeks|Greek]] families to the Maltese collective.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Edwards |first1=I. E. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n1TmVvMwmo4C&pg=RA1-PA723 |title=The Cambridge Ancient History |last2=Gadd |first2=C. J.|author2-link=C. J. Gadd |last3=Hammond |first3=N. G. L.|author3-link=N. G. L. Hammond |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1975 |isbn=978-0-521-08691-2 |author-link=I. E. S. Edwards}}</ref> Malta remained under the [[Byzantine Empire]] until 870, when it was conquered by the [[Arabs]].<ref name=ei/><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Troll, Christian W. |title=Christian Lives Given to the Study of Islam |last2=Hewer, C.T.R. |date=12 September 2012 |publisher=Fordham University Press |isbn=978-0-8232-4319-8 |page=258 |chapter=Journeying toward God}}</ref>