Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/337

 MELITA. bitual use there, as well as in the neighbouring island of Sicily ; and one of these, which is bi- hnoual, shows that Greek and Punic must have been both prevalent at the same period. (Boeckh, Corpus Inscr. Gr. 5752 — 5754.) The former was probably the language of the more cultivated classes, in the same manner as Italian is at the present day. Diodorus justly extols the excellence of the ports of Melita, to wliii.h that island has always been in- debted for its importance. (Diod. v. 12.) The an- cient geographers all mention a city of the same name with the island, but its precise site is nowhere indicated; there is, however, good reason to believe that it was the same with that of the old capital of the island, now called Medina (i. e. " the city"), or Civita Vecchia, situated almost in the centre of the island ; the modern town of La Valletta, which is the present capital, was not founded till 1566. Cicero speaks of a celebrated temple of Juno " on a promontory not far from the town" (Cic. Verr. iv. 46) ; but the expression is too vague to prove that the latter was situated close to the sea, like the modern Valletta. Ptolemy also notices the same temple, as well as one of Hercules, evidently the Phoenician deity Melkart. (Ptol. iv. 3. § .37.) The ruins of both these templesare described by Quin- tino, who wrote in 1536, as existing in his time; but the grounds of identification are not given. The only considerable ruins now existing in the island are those on the S. coast, near a place called Casal Crendi, which are described in detail by Barth. (Arch. Zeitimg, 1848, Xos. 22, 23.) These are evidently of Phoenician origin, and constructed of massive stones, in a very rude style of architecture, bearing much resemblance to the remains called the Toive dei Giganti, in the neighbouring island of Gozo. [Gaulos.] Some slight vestiges of build- ings near the port called Marsa Scirocco may per- haps be those of the temple of Hercules; while, ac- cording to Fazello and Quintino, those of the temple of Juno were situated in the neighbourhood of the Castle of S. Angela, opposite to the modern city of Valletta. (Quintiui Descript. Iiis. Melitae. p. 110, in Burmann's Thes. vol. xv. ; Fazell. de Reb. Sic. i. 1. p. 16.) COIN OF MELITA. Ovid terms Melita a fertile island {Fast. iii. 567); an expression which is certainly ill applied, for though it was, in ancient as well as modern times, populous and flourishing, and probably, therefore, always well cultivated, the soil is naturally stony and barren, and the great want of water precludes all natural fertility. Cotton, which at the present day is extensively cultivated there, was doubtless the material of the fine stuffs manufactured in the ishmd ; and the excellence of its soft stone as a building material accounts for the splendour of the hniises, extolled by Diodorus (v. 12). Another pe- culiar production of the island was a breed of small dogs, noticed by Strabo and other authors, though VOL. II, MELITENE. 30 1 some writers derived these from the Melila in the Adriatic. The breed still exists in Malta. (Strab. vi. p. 277; Athen. xii. p. 518; Plin. iii. 26. s. 30.) The freedom from venomous reptiles which Malta enjoys, in common with many other secluded islands, is ascribed by the inhabitants to the mira- culous intervention of St. Paul. (Quintino, I. c. p. 117.) [E. H. B.] ME'LITACMfAirr;, Scyl. p. 8 ; Steph. B. : Agathem. i. 5 ; Plin. iii. 30 ; Itin. Anton. ; Pent. Tab.; MeAi- T7ji'7), Ptol. ii. 16. * 14; Me'A.6Ta, Const. Porph. de Adm. Imp. 36 ; M.ilata, Geogr. Eav.), one of the Libumian group of islands. It was so called like its namesake Melita or Malta, from the excel- lence of its honey ; and some erroneously have claimed for it the honour of being the island on which St. Paul was wrecked. (See preceding article.) It is the same as the long narrow and hilly i.'^land of Meleda, lying about half-way between Curzola and Ragusa, remarkable in modern times for the singular phenomenon of subterranean noi.ses called '■ Detonazioni di Jleleda," the cause of which has been attributed to the region of volcanic activity which is supposed to underlie the whole of this coast. (Comp. Daubeny, On Volcanoes, p. 333.) The site of a palace which was built by Agesilaus of Cilici.a, the father of Oppianus, the author of the " Halieutica," when banished to the island in the time of Septimius Severus, is still shown. (Wilkinson, Dalmatia and Monte-Negro, vol. i. p. 265.) [E. B. J.] MELITAEA, or MELITEIA (MeA.Tai'a, Strab, Plin., Steph. B. ; MeAtVeia, Polyb. ; MeAiTfa, Thuc. : Eth. MeAiTaieus, MgAireus), an ancient town of Phthiotis in Thessaly, situated near the river Eni- peus, at the distance of 10 stadia from the town Hellas. (Strab. ix. p. 432.) The inhabitants of Melitaea affirmed that their town was anciently called Pyrrha, and they showed in the market-place the tomb of Hellen, the son of Deucalion and Pynha, (Strab. I. c.) When Brasidas was marching through Thessaly to Macedonia, his Thessalian friends met him at Melitaea in order to escort him (Thuc. iv. 78); and we learn from this narrative that the town was one day's march from Pharsalus, whither Brasidas proceeded on leaving the former place. In the Lamiac war the allies left their baggage at Me- litaea, when they proceeded to attack Leonnatus. (Diod. xviii. 15.) Subsequently Melitaea was in the hands of the Aetolians. Philip attempted to take it, but he did not succeed, in consequence uf his scaling-ladders being too short. (Polyb. v. 97, ix. 18.) Melitaea is also mentioned by Scylax, p. 24; Ephor. ap Steph. B. s. v.; Dicaearch. p. 21; Plin. iv. 9. s. 16: Ptol. iii. 13. § 46, who erro- neously calls it MeAirapa. Leake identifies it with the ruins of an ancient fortress situated upon a lofty hill on the left bank of the Enipeus, at the foot of which stands the small village of Keuzldr. {Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 469, seq.) ME'LITE (McAiVr)). 1. A lake of Acarnania. [ACAKXAMA, p. 9, b.] 2. A deuius in the city of Athens. [Athenae, p. 301, 1>.] MELlTE'xXE (7; n^Xn-nH, PtoL vi. 3. § 3), the name given by Ptolemy to that part of Susianii which lay along the banks of the Tigris. [V.] MELITE'NK (MeAiTrji/i): Kth. M(itt]u6s), a city in the eastenunost part of Cappadocia, and the capital of the district called Mclitene. It appears that iu tlifi time of Strabo (xii. p. 537) neither