Caligae sources

[Martin Moser]

Hi Flavius,

Martin, I don't want to ruin your day, but according to my memory the insole was nailed together with the outer sole and the lower part of the upper layer - not added later. So you have a three layer sandwich held together by the clenched nails. Not very comfortable when sweat and pressure compact the insole and the clenched nails come up (OUTCH!).

Yes, you are right, that seems to have been the standard. I probably didn't make it clear that what I meant was that this can be easily avoided with the reconstructions by only nailing through the first and second layer (from below). Thanks for spotting that error of mine! The layers were not exclusively (but mostly, to judge by the finds) held together by nails, btw (to avoid another wrong impression), it could also be a combination of nailing/glueing/sewing.
Besides, I just checked my caligae and find that with the material I used so far the effect of compression and nails coming through those first 2 layers is negligible - maybe paying the price I did for that leather was worth it after all (just deluding myself ;-) ) )

BTW, my garrison town is only 1-2 hours from Munich, so perhaps we can exchange data one day

Any time :-) ) . We actually might have met in Regensburg 2 years ago, perhaps - 2 or 3 members of your group approached me some time before your march at the Brueckenfest and we talked about equipment and marching experiences (I took part in a 2 week/250-300km march back in 1995).

cheers,

Martin