The administrative and political set-up of the Maltese islands in Roman times

Abstract

This study is aimed to throw some light on a topic which, up to now, appears to have never been dealt with in depth: the administrative and political set-up of the Maltese islands in Roman times. Furthermore, as Malta and Gozo formed part of the Roman province of Sicily, this study aims to put our case in relation to the Sicilian context which is treated in more detail in chapter 1. The following chapters, then, seek to analyse the three main sources of our study, namely: the classical literature, the coinage, and epigraphy, the last one being the most extensive of all. However, it is to be stressed that chapter 4 does not give all the epigraphic evidence but only those inscriptions which are, in some way or other, related to our topic as stated in the introductory note of the same chapter. Nor is this chapter meant to be a study on epigraphy, but rather to provide the basis for the synthesis given in chapter 5. Finally, in the conclusion, a summary of the whole administrative and political situation in the Maltese islands throughout the Roman period is given, obviously without repeating all the details of the arguments discussed in the previous chapters.