ANTIQUITIES. 
Icelandic writers we learn, that such circles 
were called domh-ringr, that is literally 
doom-ring, or circle of judgment, being the 
solemn places where courts were held of all 
kinds and dignities; from the national coun- 
cil down to the baronial court, or that of a 
common proprietor of land, for adjusting 
disputes between his villani and slaves. The 
magnificence of Stonehenge loudly pro- 
nounces that it was the supreme court of the 
nation, equivalent to the Champs de Mars 
et de Mai of the Franks, where the king and 
chiefs assembled in the circle, and the men 
capable of arms in the open plain; nor is it 
improbable that the chiefs ascended the 
transverse stones, and declared their re- 
solves to the surrounding Crowd, who, in the 
description of Tacitus, dissented by loud 
murmurs, or applauded by clashing their 
shields. This idea receives confirmation 
from the circumstance that the Belg®, pecu- 
liarly so called, as being the chief and ruling 
colony of that people, were seated in the 
surrounding province, and Sorbiodunum, 
now Old Sarum, was their capital city. Si- 
milar circles of stone, but far inferior in size, 
are fonnd in many parts of Great Britain 
and Ireland, and several undoubtedly as 
late as the Danish inroads and usurpations, 
the practice being continued by that people 
at least till their conversion to Christianity, 
in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Some 
of the smallest, as we learn from the nor- 
thern antiquaries, were merely places of 
family sepulture. At a later period, the 
circles of judgment, which had been pol- 
luted with human sacrifices and other Pagan 
rites, were abandoned, and the great courts 
were held on what were called moot-hills, or 
hills of meeting, many of which still exist in 
the British dominions and in the Nether- 
lands. They commonly consist of a central 
eminence, on which sat the judge and his 
assistants; beneath was an elevated plat- 
form for the parties, their friends, and con- 
purgators, who sometimes amounted to a 
hundred or more ; and this platform was 
surrounded with a trench, to secure it from 
the access of the mere spectators. Of the 
other monuments of this period a more brief 
consideration must suffice. When a mo- 
narch or distinguished general was buried, a 
barrow or hillock was erected to preserve 
his name and memory to future ages ; the 
size depending on the reputation of the per- 
son; which attracted a smaller or larger num- 
ber of operators. Such monuments are 
very ancient, and even to this day denote 
the sepulchres of some of the heroes of the 
Trojan war. In later times, a large single 
stone erected was esteemed a sufficient me- 
morial: such single stones also sometimes 
appear as monuments of remarkable battles, 
or merely as boundaries. The caves are 
familiar to most nations in an early state of 
society. The Bdgic relics are followed by 
those of the Romans, which are mostly ob- 
jects of mere curiosity, and rarely throw the 
smallest light on the page of history. Am- 
phitheatres are said to be still visible at Sil- 
chester, in Hampshire,' and some other 
places. The Roman castle at Richborough, 
the ancient Rntupise, in Kent, presents con- 
siderable remains of a massy wall cemented 
with surprising firmness. The Roman ruins 
in this country are commonly composed of 
stone or flint, with strata of flat bricks at 
considerable intervals. The Mosaic pave- 
ments, hypocausts, &c. are generally the re- 
mains of the villas of opulent Romans, scat- 
tered over the country. The greatest num- 
ber of Roman inscriptions, altars, &c. has 
been found in the north, along the great 
frontier wall, which extended from the 
western sea to the estuary of Tyne. This 
vast wall is justly esteemed the most impor- 
tant remain of the Roman power in Eng- 
land, as that of Antonius is in Scotland. The 
extent was about 70 miles, and its construc- 
tion, forts, &c. have been illustrated by the 
labour of several antiquaries. Numerous 
are the more minute relics of the Romans in 
England, as coins, gems, weapons, orna- 
ments, and the like ; among which, however, 
the silver dish belonging to the Duke of 
Northumberland deserves especial mention. 
One of the grand causes of the civilization 
introduced by that ruling people into the 
conquered states was the highways, which 
form, indeed, the first germ of national in- 
dustry, and without which neither commerce 
nor society can make any considerable pro- 
gress, Conscious of this truth, the Romans 
seem to have lent particular attention to 
the construction of roads in the distant pro- 
vinces ; and those of England, which may 
still be traced in various ramifications, pre- 
sent a lasting monumenf of the justice of 
their conceptions, the extent of their views, 
and the utility of their powur. A grand 
trunk, as it may be called, passed from the 
south to the north, and another to the west, 
with branches in almost every direction that 
general convenience and expedition could 
require. What is called the Watling-street, 
led from Richborough, in Kent, the ancient 
Rutupise, N.W. through London to Chester. 
The Ermin-street passed from London to 
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