This interdisciplinary study contributes to the understanding of the use of raw materials and pottery production techniques in Late Punic–Late Republican Malta, focusing on the Tas-Silġ sanctuary and the Żejtun Villa. Plates, bowls and cooking vessels were described typologically, and their fabrics were characterised using polarised light microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence. The aims were to classify these vessels into integrated and coherent fabric groups based on all analyses, to better understand the local production of vessels and to assess a possible local provenance.

Four integrated fabric groups were identified and represent local productions using distinct raw materials or production techniques. These groups can be distinguished typologically, macroscopically, petrographically and chemically. Multivariate techniques, including the chemical analysis of Maltese clays, were produced to enhance the fabric classification and discuss their raw materials. The raw materials identified are consistent with what is known in Maltese geology. One group is distinctive, and the results suggest the possible use of a previously unidentified raw material, Terra Rossa, found over the Upper Coralline Limestone. This new classification provides the basis for further studies of Late Punic–Roman sites in the Maltese islands and the future identification of imports and exports from the Maltese islands.

Although Greek was the dominant epigraphic language in Cyrenaica throughout the Classical period, Latin was introduced by Roman merchants and administrators at the time of the formation of the province of Crete and Cyrene c. 67 BC, and remained in use, albeit by a constant minority, until at least the fourth century AD, with the last well-dated Latin inscription dating from the Valentinian dynasty. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of Latin inscriptions in the region, based on the IR Cyrenaica 2020 corpus, which brings together hitherto scattered documents and also includes many texts published for the first time. After a general overview of the corpus in terms of geographical, typological and chronological distribution, we will look at the linguistic landscape of ancient Cyrenaica, focusing on the multilingualism of the region, the literacy of the populations, the borrowings from one language to another (Latinisms), and the influences of the western provinces on the Latin of the region, among other topics. Lastly, a series of Latin funerary inscriptions allow us to examine the multiple identities claimed by the populations, as well as the cultural influences between Greek-, Latin- and Libyan-speaking populations.

We know plenty of personal names from Cyrenaica and most of them are known to us through inscriptions. Although the bulk of them are Greek, with some local dialectal features, we also find already in the Classical period some Libyan names. Later on, two new influxes become clear in local onomastics: Jewish and Roman names which appear in great number. In 1987 (LGPN 1), these names were collected, with the main emphasis on Greek, and were studied both from a linguistic and a sociohistorical point of view. The publication of digital corpora in 2017 and 2020 and other digital resources now make it possible to update the corpus and to search it much more easily. Some new results are presented here with the stress on Libyan and Jewish names.

A mixed Romano-Punic tomb discovered on private property to the west of Msallata contains many small stone chests containing cremated human remains. Some of these chests carry the name of the deceased written in the Latin or neo-Punic alphabet. Besides the stone chests, there are pottery jars containing animal remains. Figurative relief and religious symbols suggest the practice of rituals associated with the Tophet (sanctuary-necropolis) of Carthage. In addition to the stone chests and pottery urns there are many other objects that are typical of the grave goods usually buried with the Phoenician dead: oil lamps, tableware, coins, medals.

The arch of Gordian III at Mustis (Al Karib, Tunisia) has been the subject of scholarly work since the eighteenth century, and its dedicatory inscription has drawn the attention of antiquarians and archaeologists since the early nineteenth century. The transcription and reconstruction of its text were proposed by the editors of the eighth volume of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum in numbers 1577 and 15572. This version has prevailed in scientific literature ever since, even though Beschaouch announced in a short note in 1969 the discovery of a fourth block that substantially alters the information it contains. However, a comprehensive study of the complete inscription was never published due to the lack of graphic material. Thanks to the drawing by J. Vérité, the architect in charge of the monument's restoration, we can analyse the inscription as a whole. We conclude that the proposal by the CIL editors is incorrect, we provide the complete transcription of the epigraph, and we propose a new date for the dedication of the arch, in 240 AD.

The Roman town of Mustis (municipium Iulium Aurelium Mustitanum) is near present-day Mest Henshir (Tunisia). Its epigraphic corpus has around 200 inscriptions mainly published at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, when the French archaeological campaigns took place. However, a group of Latin inscriptions discovered during the 1960s remained unpublished. In the reorganisation of the archives of the Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art (Paris) the original photographs, negatives, slides and documents revealed new data. In this article I present five new inscriptions (three votive texts, a quadruple funerary epitaph and a new boundary stone) and new data and photographs of three already known inscriptions published by G. Wilmanns in the CIL. All these texts reveal new data about the territory of the res publica Mustitana, the sacred life of the city (including the confirmation of a Capitol) and new onomastic information about its inhabitants.