Wessex . to have accepted thenot harsh rule of the conquerors. The originaloccupiers of Poundbury, Maiden Castle, and the scoreof other camps spread through the length and breadthof the countryside must have regarded the civilisationof their conquerors with much the same amazement asa Central African would the highest scientific dis-coveries of the present day. Of the lasting benefit ofthis occupation many traces remain, not alone in relicsof the past, but in the books of early national history,whose pages, written mostly in blood, yet record heroicdeeds begot of Roman influence, and evidences
Wessex . to have accepted thenot harsh rule of the conquerors. The originaloccupiers of Poundbury, Maiden Castle, and the scoreof other camps spread through the length and breadthof the countryside must have regarded the civilisationof their conquerors with much the same amazement asa Central African would the highest scientific dis-coveries of the present day. Of the lasting benefit ofthis occupation many traces remain, not alone in relicsof the past, but in the books of early national history,whose pages, written mostly in blood, yet record heroicdeeds begot of Roman influence, and evidences ofmaterial progress in the arts of civilisation. Amongst the benefits derived by the conquered werethe magnificent main roads, the Via Iceniana (IcknieldWay), and subsidiary roads which were cut through theforests and over the downs of the West—the first-mentioned linking up Sorbiodunum (Old Sarum),Durnovaria (Dorchester), and Exeter ; with vicinalways such as the Fosseway to Ischalis (Ilchester) and 4. Relics of Roman Occupation Clavinium (Jordan Hill, near Weymouth) : and whathas not inappropriately been called the spirit of order,which did much, not alone to convert a distracted andchaotic district into a prosperous and peaceful one, butalso to initiate better dwellings and more commodiousand better-planned villages and towns. Sprinkled throughout the countryside were also finevillas of the Roman nobles, serving not only to give asense of security to those dwelling in the immediatevicinity, but exerting an influence towards culture andart. To these beautiful abodes of the Roman colonistscame some of the first missionaries from Gaul, wel-comed by many of the best sons and daughters of Romewho had been left behind to hold the conquered landwhen some of the conquering legions had been with-drawn on service elsewhere. Throughout Wessexremain memorials, in fragments of walls, pavementsand bridges, showing how widespread this occupationwas in both its extent and effect. Near We
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1906
