The Towns of Roman BritainBevan, J. O. (James Oliver)
History
The Towns of Roman Britain
Bevan, J. O. (James Oliver)
Cities and towns -- Great Britain; Great Britain -- Antiquities, Roman
The Wall now bears the name of Hadrian, Emperor from 117 to 138, but
other names associated with it are Agricola (37-93), Severus
(193-211), Theodosius (346-395) and Stilicho (_d._ 408).
To complete, or, rather round off, our account, a few words ought to
be added as to the Northern Wall. The Wall of Antoninus, or Graham's
Dyke (perhaps from C. _greim_--a place of strength, and that which is
_dug_--a rampart) extends across the island from the Firth of Clyde
to the Firth of Forth--a distance of about 36 miles. It consisted of
an immense ditch, behind which was raised a rampart of intermingled
stone and earth, surmounted by a parapet, behind which ran a level
platform for the accommodation of the defenders. South of the whole
ran the military way--a regular causeway about 20 feet wide.
Commencing in the west on a height called Chapel Hill, near the
village of Old Kilpatrick, in Dumbartonshire, it ran eastwards,
passing in succession Kirkintilloch, Crory, Castlecary, and Falkirk,
terminating at Bridgeness, a rocky promontory that projects into the
Firth of Forth, south of Borrowstonness in Linlithgowshire. A writer
of the life of the Emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161) states that
Lollius Urbicus, a legate of that sovereign, erected, after several
victories over the Britons, "another rampart of turf" to check their
incursions, but what has been said with reference to the builders of
Hadrian's Wall may be repeated with reference to that of Antonine.[1]
[Footnote 1: Appendix C.]
DORCHESTER (Dorsetshire).--130 miles S.W. from London. On the right
bank of the Frome. Dorcestre (Dwr--a portion of the name of the
Durotriges, or dwellers upon the _dwr_ or water).
Dorchester was a Romano-British town of considerable size, probably
successor to the British tribal centre of the Durotriges. The walls
can be traced in part, and many mosaics and other remains of houses
have been found. Near Dorchester may be seen at Maumbury Rings
remains of an amphitheatre. Maiden Castle, 2 miles S.W. of the town,
is a vast earthwork, considered to have been a stronghold of the
Durotriges.[2] Many other such remains are traceable in the vicinity.
[Footnote 2: Mai-den = _Mai Dun_ = the stronghold of the plain. It is
clearly originally the work of men of the latest Stone Age--men who
lived their lives in round barrows, and who raised this entrenchment
with merely their primitive picks or "celts" as tools, for a defence
against their finally successful invaders, the Durotriges. In their
turn, the latter used the forts against the Romans--unless, as is
more probable, they submitted without fighting.]
DORCHESTER (Oxfordshire).--Situated at the junction of the Thames and
the Thame.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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