Malta 

THE ROMANS

The centre of power in the Phoenician empire shifted from the mainland in present Lebanon to the colony of Carthage in what is nowadays known as Tunisia. Against the Carthaginians, the Romans fought several battles, the so-called Punic Wars. During the second Punic war, in 218 BC, Malta fell into the hands of the Romans. The Romans called the island Melita , probably a corruption of the Phoenician Malat . The present name Malta is derived from it. The capital was also called Melita, and was situated at the hilltop of the present city of Mdina. But Melita was larger than Mdina and included parts of Rabat. In Rabat there are still some traces of the Roman presence in Malta, like the mosaic floors of a Roman house from the 1st century AD. Furthermore, there are some catacombs in Rabat, subterranean burial complexes that were in use during the Roman and early Christian period.