This horrible cruelty was
sanctioned by law, in those days, in case of the murder of a husband by
his wife; and the Rings were used as a place of execution until the year
1767.
There was a fine view of the country from the top of the amphitheatre,
and we could see both the Poundbury Camp and the Mai-Dun, or "Hill of
Strength," commonly called the Maiden Hill, a name also applied to other
hills we had seen in the country. The Maiden Hill we could now see was
supposed to be one of the most stupendous British earthworks in
existence, quite as large as Old Sarum, and covering an area of 120
acres. It was supposed to be the Dunium of which Ptolemy made mention,
and was pre-Roman without a doubt. At Dorchester the Romans appear to
have had a residential city, laid out in avenues in the direction of
Maumbury Camp, with houses on either side; but the avenues we saw were
of trees--elm, beech, and sycamore.
The burial-places of the Romans were excavated in the chalk, and this
being naturally dry, their remains were preserved much longer there than
if they had been buried in damp soil. Many graves of Roman soldiers had
been unearthed from time to time, and it was discovered that the chalk
had been scooped out in an oblong form to just the exact size of the
corpse.
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