The ways in which punishments are used have been influenced by the opinions of many societies. Some influences that lead to changes in punishments are religious views and different statuses of people. From the medieval period of Roman Britain to today's society, changing religious views have led to changes in punishments themselves. Societies whose punishments changed over time include Roman Britain and ancient Greece. The death penalty was used frequently during the Middle Ages in Roman Britain to discourage people from committing any type of crime. Criminals were sentenced to death for committing a variety of crimes, the most common of which were theft and murder. They were often put to death using a variety of resources such as hanging or beheading. Criminals were punished so harshly that they deterred people from committing further crimes. Source 1 portrays a woman being beheaded, this could happen because she stole something worth more than two days' pay or committed murder. His crime was deemed serious enough that he should be executed to be portrayed lest others commit the same crime as him or suffer the same fate. Rich people who belong to a higher class and who committed similar or the same crimes would be exiled to another city, unless they attempted to go against the king, in which case they would be executed. Over the years the death penalty has become much less common. Later, in Roman Britain, criminals were given much less harsh punishments, such as prison sentences or mutilation. A criminal is more likely to be punished by mutilation as this would give them the chance to repent of their sins before dying rather than being executed, by... means of paper... except in certain circumstances, only for the most serious crimes of a military nature committed in times of war. This was in relation to the words of their numerous gods and goddesses, who they believed resolved their issues and discrepancies with trials. There are many similarities and differences between medieval Roman Britain and ancient Greece. One similarity would be their passion for the death penalty. Each of them considered the death penalty as a way to express to their people that they did not commit crimes and therefore most crimes were punished in this way. They were different, however, in the way Roman Britains used death as an example to others, while the Greeks believed they purified the earth. As time passed the punishments became less severe as each of them turned to religion, to atone for their sins and to be closer to the gods and goddesses..