MALTA
(Gr., “Melíta”; the current name of Malta is Arabic).
Mediterranean island, southwest of the southernmost tip of Sicily.
In Acts. 28:1 The ship taking Paul to Rome runs aground at Melita, that is, according to tradition, in Malta. Tradition also points to a St. Paul’s Bay in Malta (13 km north-northwest of Valletta).
Even though the inhabitants (Acts 28:2-4: barbarians) were subjects of Rome since 218 B.C. and citizens since Caesar, their own language was Punic (Phoenician), and, therefore, easy for Paul to understand.
A Semitic dialect is still spoken in Malta today. But, as can be deduced from the inscriptions, Latin and Greek were understood on the island. This was governed by a “princeps municipii”, to whom Acts. 28:7 gives the name Publius.