Researchers at the University of Oxford first traced the military bases on Google Earth.

They are now suggesting the camps could serve as evidence of a Roman campaign across southeast Jordan into Saudi Arabia during the second century.

The preservation of the fortifications could mean they were constructed during the Roman takeover of the Jordanian Nabataean Kingdom in 106 AD, the researchers said.

Dr Michael Fradley, who first identified the camps, said: "We are almost certain they were built by the Roman army, given the typical playing card shape of the enclosures with opposing entrances along each side."

It is thought the camps were built as defended barracks as the Romans set off on their Arabian conquest, used only for a "matter of days or week" according to Dr Fradley.

Professor Andrew Wilson, who co-wrote the report in the journal, Antiquity, believes the fact that most western camp is much bigger than the others gives clues to the nature of the military campaign.

Professor Wilson said: "Why does the western camp have twice the capacity of the other two? Did the force split, and if so, where did the other half go?

"Was it half wiped out in a battle, or did they remain in the western camp to resupply the other camps with water?"

The team believes the camps were the foundations of a surprise attack on the Nabataeans following the death of their last king, Rabbel II Soter.

Read more:
Roman burial site unearthed in 'truly extraordinary' excavation of hidden Leeds cemetery
4,500-year-old chamber discovered inside Great Pyramid in Egypt

Dr Fradley added: "It is amazing that we can see this moment in time played out at a landscape scale."

Roman military expert, Dr Mike Bishop, said: "These camps are a spectacular new find and an important new insight into Roman campaigning in Arabia.

"Roman forts and fortresses show how Rome held a province, but temporary camps reveal how they acquired it in the first place."