ROMAN VILLAS DISCOVERED IN DORSET. 217 



wont to class all who were outside the Empire, or beyond the 

 pale of Greco-Roman civilisation. 



This spirit is not altogether unloiown amongst us at the 

 present day. There is a strong tendency in the British mind 

 to look down with some contempt upon all " coloured '' 

 persons. Yet many of these, as e.g. our Indian fellow- 

 subjects, are frequently not inferior in intellect to the globe- 

 trotter who too often despises them. 



Amongst those whom we class as uncivilised there are 

 undoubtedly many degrees. So no doubt it was in former 

 years. It is a matter of comparison. Thus, in order to form 

 a true estimate of the influence of Roman civilisation in 

 Britain, we have to consider the state of civilisation to which 

 each of the races now brought into communication with 

 one another had then arrived. 



I. — The Civilisation of Britain, 



It would almost seem as if the words of our own Thomas 

 Hardy, addressed to the Dorset Field Club in 1884, had been 

 in the mind of those who suggested for our study this year, 

 " Roman Villas discovered in Dorset. Their sites and the 

 relics found therein which throw light upon the civil life of 

 their occupants." 



It will not be out of place to quote a most inspiring passage 

 from that address. Mr. Hardy says — 



" It would be a worthy attempt to rehabilitate, on paper, 

 the living Durnovaria of 14 or 1500 years ago as it actually 

 apjoeared to the eyes of the then Dorchester men and women. 



. . . . Standing on the elevated ground near where the 

 South Western Station is at present, or at the top of Slyer's 

 Lane . . we may ask what kind of object did Dorchester 

 then form in the summer landscape as viewed from such a point. 

 Where stood the buildings ? Were they small ? How did the 

 roofs group themselves ? What were the gardens like, if any ? 

 What social character had the streets ? What were the 

 customary noises ? Were the passengers up and down the ways 

 few, or did they ever form a busy throng such as we now see on a 

 market day ? These are merely the curious questions of an 



