Stanwick Camp

I this week drove near Stanwick in North Yorkshire and was amazed at the geographical size of some of the earthworks there. There is around six miles of defensive ditches and ramparts. Surely this was a city rather than a fort. It is likely to have been the capital of the Brigantes tribe, the Celtic folk who lives in northern England in the first century AD. Their queen, Cartimandua, handed over the famous king Caractacus to the Romans. In 69AD, her estranged husband Venutius, rebelled against Rome. She appealed for Roman help, but little came. At this point, she disappears from the record, having presumably been murdered. This was around the time of the Judaean Revolt and the epistles of Jude and Hebrews being composed. 

 

At its most northerly and eastern frontiers, subject peoples were rebelling against Roman rule. It was oppressive and unjust. But its time had not yet come. As the prophet Daniel said, 

 

Now even Roman buildings are ruinous; all earthly kingdoms' days are numbered.