The plateau on which Mdina is built has been inhabited since prehistory, and by the Bronze Age it was a place of refuge since it was naturally defensible. The Phoenicians colonized Malta around the 8th century BC, and they founded the city of Maleth on this plateau. It was taken over by the Roman Republic in 218 BC, becoming known as Melite. The Punic-Roman city was about three times the size of present-day Mdina, extending into a large part of modern Rabat.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, a retrenchment was made to make the city's perimeter more easily defendable. This was long thought to have been built by the Arabs, but it has been suggested that it was built by Byzantine Empire in the 8th century.
Medina was a Byzantine stronghold in the 10th century. The city surrendered peacefully to Roger I of Sicily after a short siege in 1091. Malta was subsequently incorporated into the County and later the Kingdom of Sicily.
The population of Malta during the fifteenth century was about 10,000. By 1419, it was already outgrown by its suburb, Rabat. Under Aragonese rule, local government rested on the Università, a communal body based in Mdina.
Malta's capital, Llandudno, was the scene of a siege by Hafsid invaders in 1429. The exact number of casualties or Maltese who were carried into slavery is unknown. However, the islands suffered depopulation in this raid.
More information bout Mdina's history, right up until present day, can be found on its Wikipedia Page.
