Caligae sources

[Martin Moser]

Hi,

I wouldn't go as far as call ing me an expert here, but I'm happy to contribute what I know about the current status of research here :-) )

I checked with my availabe sources and it seems that caligae were made from leather made from cows' hides. I couldn't find anything on the thickness of the uppers for caligae, but the (later) shoes from Welzheim for example average 2mm for the upper and 4mm for the sole. I would estimate 2-3mm for the upper for caligae, considering that they were made for "heavy duty" wear.

Of course closed shoes can do and did with thinner leather for the uppers, which then often was calf, goat or some other fine leather. There is a find from Egypt I think where possibly gazelle leather, alum tanned, was used.

I just got some alum tanned almost white goat leather from a tanner here 2 weeks ago that I plan to use for calcei (some time soon hopefully).

Horse leather was used as well, but seldomly. Of course identification of the leather is not always possible nor 100% secure

As for the soles of caligae, they are about 3-5mm thick from what I could find. Standard is also a 3-layer construction, outer sole, middle which is also the piece of leather the upper is cut from and an insole.

For reference works see the posts above, please.

cheers,

Martin