About the Breed

The name Maltese does not signify that the breed originates from the island of Malta, because the adjective « Maltese » comes from the Semitic word « màlat » which means refuge or harbour; this Semitic root comes up again in a whole series of names of maritime places; i.e. in the name Adriatic island of Méléda, the Sicilian town of Melita and also in that of the island Malta. The ancestors of this little dog lived in the ports and maritime cities of central Mediterranean, where they hunted mice and rats that were found in profusion in the harbours’ warehouses and in the hold of ships. In a list of dogs existing at the time of Aristotle (384–322 B.C.) is mentioned a breed of little dogs to which is attributed the Latin name « canes melitenses ». That dog was known in Ancient Rome: favourite companion of the matrons, and praised by Strabon, Latin poet of the first century A.D. Representations of the Maltese by numerous Renaissance painters show this little dog in the salons of the period at the side of beautiful ladies of the time.