Melite (ancient City)
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Melite (, ) or Melita (
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
) was an ancient city located on the site of present-day
Mdina Mdina ( ; ), also known by its Italian epithets ("Old City") and ("Notable City"), is a fortifications of Mdina, fortified city in the Western Region, Malta, Western Region of Malta which served as the island's former capital, from antiquity ...
and
Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...
,
Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
. It started out as a
Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
settlement, which developed into a city called Ann (, ) under the
Phoenicians Phoenicians were an ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syrian coast. They developed a maritime civi ...
and became the administrative centre of the island. The city
fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of M ...
to the
Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...
in 218 BC, and it remained part of the Roman and later the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
until 870 AD, when it was captured and destroyed by the
Aghlabids The Aghlabid dynasty () was an Arab dynasty centered in Ifriqiya (roughly present-day Tunisia) from 800 to 909 that conquered parts of Sicily, Southern Italy, and possibly Sardinia, nominally as vassals of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Aghlabids ...
. The city was then rebuilt and renamed Medina, giving rise to the present name Mdina. It remained Malta's capital city until 1530. Only a few vestiges of the Punico-Roman city have survived. The most substantial are the ruins of the Domus Romana, in which a number of well-preserved mosaics and statues have been found. Sparse remains of other buildings and parts of the city walls have been excavated, but no visible remains of the city's numerous temples, churches and other public buildings survive.


History


Prehistory

Melite was located on a strategically important plateau on high ground in the western part of the island of Malta. The site had been inhabited since prehistory, and by the
Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
it was a place of refuge since it was naturally defensible.


Phoenician colony

The
Phoenicians Phoenicians were an ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syrian coast. They developed a maritime civi ...
founded the city of Ann soon after they colonized the island, which shared its name, around the 8th century BC. A number of Punic tombs have been found in Rabat, in the area that would have been outside the walls of Ann.


Roman city

Roman rule in Malta was established in the early stages of the
Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of Punic Wars, three wars fought between Ancient Carthage, Carthage and Roman Republic, Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For ...
. In 218 BC, Roman consul Tiberius Sempronius Longus sailed with his fleet from Sicily to Ann, and the Carthaginian commander Hamilcar surrendered without offering much resistance. The Greek and Roman names for the island had been taken from its chief port at Maleth, present-day Cospicua on the Grand Harbor. With the island integrated into the
Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...
of Sicilia, its center of administration became known as Melita as well. The city was regarded as a haven, far from the politics of Rome. During the early Roman occupation, Melita had the status of a like other cities in Sicilia such as Messana (modern
Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...
) and Tauromenium (modern Taormina). Its inhabitants were regarded as
socii The ''socii'' ( ) or ''foederati'' ( ) were confederates of ancient Rome, Rome and formed one of the three legal denominations in Roman Italy (''Italia'') along with the core Roman citizens (''Cives Romani'') and the extended ''Latin Rights, Lat ...
and not as conquered people, so they retained their laws and had the right to mint their own coins. Although the Latin language and Roman religion were introduced, Punic culture and language survived in Malta until at least the 1st century AD. Eventually, Melita was given the status of
municipium In ancient Rome, the Latin term (: ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ('duty holders'), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the privileges ...
, being granted the same rights as other Roman cities. According to the
Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles (, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; ) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of The gospel, its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make u ...
,
Paul the Apostle Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...
was shipwrecked on Malta in greeted by its governor Publius, and miraculously cured the governor's sick father before leaving. Christian legend holds that the population of Malta then converted to
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
, with Publius becoming Bishop of Malta and then Bishop of Athens before being martyred in 112. Little is known about the city's layout since very few remains have survived. It was surrounded by thick walls and a ditch, with a number of cemeteries located outside the walls. According to tradition, the Mdina Cathedral was built on the site of the governor's residence, where Saint Paul cured Publius' father. A theatre was located in the city, and a Temple of Apollo stood nearby. The temple had a tetrastyle portico, and a wall forming part of its podium still exists beneath present-day Villegaignon Street. A Temple of Proserpina stood on the hill of Mtarfa, outside the walls of Melita. Only a fragment of a marble column and parts of a Punic cornice remain from this temple, but its existence is known from the Chrestion inscription, an inscription discovered in 1613 recording that the temple was renovated during the reign of
Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
. A statue of
Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...
now stands on the site of the temple.


Later history

The Maltese Islands were incorporated into the
Byzantine province Subdivisions of the Byzantine Empire were administrative units of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire (330–1453). The Empire had a developed administrative system, which can be divided into three major periods: the late Roman/early Byzantine, ...
of
Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
by 535. Melite remained the administrative center of the island, but little is known about Byzantine period in the city. They might have built a retrenchment which reduced Melite to the size of present-day Mdina, one-third of the size of the Punico-Roman city. The retrenchment was probably built in around the 8th century to counter the increasing Muslim threat, although it might have been built later on in around the 11th century by the Arabs. Regardless when the retrenchment was built, the new walls were most likely built out of stones taken from demolished buildings of the ancient city. Melite was captured and destroyed by the
Aghlabids The Aghlabid dynasty () was an Arab dynasty centered in Ifriqiya (roughly present-day Tunisia) from 800 to 909 that conquered parts of Sicily, Southern Italy, and possibly Sardinia, nominally as vassals of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Aghlabids ...
in 870. According to Al-Himyarī, at the time the city was ruled by the Byzantine governor Amros (probably Ambrosios). The duration of the siege is not known, but it must have lasted for a couple of weeks or possibly some months. The Aghlabid force was led by an engineer Halaf al-Hādim, who lost his life in the fighting. A new
wali The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John ...
, Sawāda Ibn Muḥammad, was then sent from Sicily to continue the siege. After some time, Melite fell to the invaders, and the inhabitants were massacred, the city was destroyed and its churches were looted. Marble from Melite's churches was used to build the castle of
Sousse Sousse, Sūsah , or Soussa (, ), is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which ...
in modern-day
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
. According to Al-Himyarī's account, the island remained almost uninhabited until it was resettled in around 1048 or 1049 by a Muslim community and their slaves, who built a settlement called Medina on the site of Melite, making it "a finer place than it was before." The Byzantines attempted to retake the city in around 1053–54, but were repelled by the defenders. However, archaeological evidence suggests that the city was already a thriving Muslim settlement by the beginning of the 11th century, so Al-Himyarī's account might be unreliable in this aspect. The city of Medina, later called
Mdina Mdina ( ; ), also known by its Italian epithets ("Old City") and ("Notable City"), is a fortifications of Mdina, fortified city in the Western Region, Malta, Western Region of Malta which served as the island's former capital, from antiquity ...
in Maltese, remained the capital city of Malta throughout the medieval period until 1530, when the Order of St. John established their seat in
Birgu Birgu ( , ), also known by its title Città Vittoriosa ('Victorious City'), is an old Fortifications of Birgu, fortified city on the south side of the Grand Harbour in the Port Region, Malta, Port Region of Malta. The city occupies a promontory ...
. The city was subsequently known as ''Città Vecchia'' (Old City) or ''Città Notabile'' (Noble City). It was extensively rebuilt over the centuries, with the last major building project occurring in 1720s, when its fortifications were upgraded and many public buildings were built.


Remains

According to Giovanni Francesco Abela, many architectural fragments from Melite were still visible in Mdina in the mid-17th century. From the late 17th to the 19th centuries, some marble columns and other remains from the temples of Apollo and Proserpina, and other buildings from Melite, were taken and sculpted into decorative elements for various houses and churches, including St. Paul's Cathedral in Mdina, St. Paul's Grotto in Rabat and the
Franciscan Church of St Mary of Jesus The Franciscan Church of St Mary of Jesus (Convent of the Minori Osservanti) is a church in Valletta, Malta, which is dedicated to St Mary of Jesus and is cared for by the religious order of Friars Minor. It came to be popularly known by the Malt ...
, the Church of the Holy Souls, Auberge d'Italie and the Castellania in Valletta. Very few remains of Melite still exist today, and no significant ruins of the city's temples, basilicas or triumphal arches have survived. The most substantial remnant is the Domus Romana, a townhouse dating back to the 1st century BC and which was abandoned in the 2nd century AD. An Islamic cemetery was established on its ruins in the 11th century, and the site was discovered accidentally in 1881. Subsequent excavations revealed the foundations of the house, including well-preserved mosaics and statues. The remains of the domus are now open to the public as a museum run by
Heritage Malta Heritage Malta () is the Maltese national agency for museums, conservation practice and cultural heritage. Created by the Cultural Heritage Act, enacted in 2002, the national agency (along with the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage) replaced ...
. The remains of a city gate or tower within the walls of Melite were discovered in Saqqajja in modern Rabat, about below the current street level. Parts of the city's -long ditch have survived under present-day St. Rita Street and the Church of St. Paul. The lower foundations of some Punico-Roman ramparts, consisting of rusticated
ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...
blocks three courses high still ''in situ'', were unearthed in 2010 in excavations near the Magazine Curtain in the western part of Mdina. The only other remains of the ancient walls are Punico-Roman masonry blocks which were reused in the medieval period. These include a wall around Greeks Gate, and some stones which were discovered in excavations at Inguanez Street and the Xara Palace. Sections of a Roman road, cisterns, canals and other archaeological remains were discovered beneath Palazzo Castelletti in Rabat. Some inscriptions, column capitals and other architectural remains from ancient Melite have also been found, and these are now preserved at the Domus Romana museum and the Cathedral Museum in Mdina, or in private collections. Parts of the podium of the Temple of Apollo were discovered in 2002. The remains of other ancient buildings, as well as pottery, coins or other artifacts from the Bronze Age or Punico-Roman period, are still occasionally discovered in excavations or during construction projects in Mdina or Rabat. A small statue of the Egyptian goddess
Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
and an elaborate cornice were also found in Rabat. Many
catacombs Catacombs are man-made underground passages primarily used for religious purposes, particularly for burial. Any chamber used as a burial place is considered a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etym ...
, together with a number of both Punic and Roman tombs, are found in Rabat. These were originally located just outside the walls of Melite. The catacombs of the period also include those of a Jewish community.


Legacy

The city of Melite shared its name with the main island of Malta and subsequently the entire country.


Further reading


A Decorative Marble Slab Discovered Lately at NotabileMalta in Classical TimesA Greek Inscription found in Malta

Many ancient remains lie underneath old Roman parts of Rabat

The four curiosities of Rabat

The mosaic pavements in the Museum of Roman Antiquities at Rabat, Malta

Traces of Bronze Age settlement unearthed in RabatMedieval period remains of walls and a round towerRoman wall and Arab period remains at Santa Margerita CemeteryRoman wall and ditch discovered; melite was about 1.5 kilometres squaredByzantine aqueduct


References


Citations


Bibliography

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