Roman Malta has been the subject of numerous historical and archaeological studies since the seventeenth century. However, the lack of documented excavations and the restricted number of sites – particularly those within the boundaries of the two main Roman towns – meant that numerous grey areas persist in our understanding of the islands under Roman rule, regardless of how many studies have been done so far. This article attempts to provide an overview of past works, studies and a discussion of the known consensus on knowledge of sites, populations and economies. This in an attempt to provide a clear picture of what we know (and what we do not) about Roman Malta. Finally, I will comment on current and new research and projects which are being carried out by various local entities and foreign institutions to enhance our knowledge of this very important historic era for the Maltese islands. This culminates into a proposal for the use of a predictive model that may help us identify new sites and, consequently, provide new data on this phase.

中文翻译：

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过去，现在，未来：罗马马耳他概述

自十七世纪以来，罗马马耳他一直是众多历史和考古学研究的主题。但是，由于缺乏有据可查的发掘工作，而且遗址的数量有限，尤其是在两个主要罗马城镇的边界内的遗址，这意味着无论我们进行了多少研究，我们对罗马统治下的岛屿的理解仍然存在许多灰色地带迄今为止。本文试图提供对过去工作，研究的概述，以及对有关场所，人口和经济知识的已知共识的讨论。这是为了清楚地了解我们对罗马马耳他的了解（以及我们不了解的）。最后，我将评论各种地方实体和外国机构正在开展的当前和新的研究与项目，以增进我们对马耳他群岛这个非常重要的历史时代的了解。最终提出了使用预测模型的建议，该模型可以帮助我们确定新的站点，并因此在此阶段提供新的数据。