This magnificent cake was made for the Ermine Street Guard Roman re-enactment society by Caerleon Roman Legionary Museum to mark our 40th anniversary in August 2012. It depicts a highly accurate copy of our shields (scuta) — I should know, since it falls to me to paint the designs on them! Over the years we have had an excellent, symbiotic relationship with the Museum, which is one of our supreme display sites. I always get a frisson as we march into their famous amphitheatre with applauding crowds lining the banks just as they might have done almost 2,000 years ago.
Mike Knowles
Cornicularius (Secretary), Ermine Street Guard
This edition of Edible Archaeology appeared in issue 276 of Current Archaeology.