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HISTORY OF MALTA.

“ dassar, having made this vow to our lord Melcrat, the tutelar44 divinity of Tyre; may he bless and guide us in our uncertain44 way! Dionysius and Serapion of the city of Tyre, the sons ofSerapion, to Hercules surnamed Archegetes/’—This inscriptionshews that the Hercules worshipped in Melita bore the surnameof Archegetes during the government of the Carthaginians. (Themeaning of this title is chief or conductor.) He was also calledMelkartos* or Melcrat, which signifies a powerful king.

Though the names in the Greek and Phoenician inscriptionsare different, this only proceeds from a common custom in theEast; where individuals, as well as towns, have not only anEastern, but a Greek name, by which they are distinguished byturns. The same brothers are therefore meant in the recordupon the monuments, though the language is different; thePhoenician inscription indeed adds one more degree to theirgenealogy.

It is thought these brothers who made the vow to Herculeswere sailors, who returned thanks to that god, the protector ofthe commercial city of Tyre, for having conducted them, safelyinto the port of Melita. They likewise invoked him to grantthem in future prosperous voyages.

The possession of Melita was of too great importance to apower which aspired to universal empire over the Mediterra-nean, for the Romans to neglect any possible means to preserveit. They had driven away the Carthaginians, but they wished

* This word in Hebrew signifies king of the earth.