Melita
(Acts 27:28), an island in the Mediterranean, the modern Malta.
Here the ship in which Paul was being conveyed a prisoner to
Rome was wrecked. The bay in which it was wrecked now bears the
name of "St. Paul's Bay", "a certain creek with a shore." It is
about 2 miles deep and 1 broad, and the whole physical condition
of the scene answers the description of the shipwreck given in
Acts 28. It was originally colonized by Phoenicians
("barbarians," 28:2). It came into the possession of the Greeks
(B.C. 736), from whom it was taken by the Carthaginians (B.C.
528). In B.C. 242 it was conquered by the Romans, and was
governed by a Roman propraetor at the time of the shipwreck
(Acts 28:7). Since 1800, when the French garrison surrendered to
the English force, it has been a British dependency. The island
is about 17 miles long and 9 wide, and about 60 in
circumference. After a stay of three months on this island,
during which the "barbarians" showed them no little kindness,
Julius procured for himself and his company a passage in another
Alexandrian corn-ship which had wintered in the island, in which
they proceeded on their voyage to Rome (Acts 28:13, 14).
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