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Caligae sources
#1
Hi all,

first posting and first request :-O

I am looking for source material on caligae. The reason is that I am about to build some new pairs of these and want to do them as close to the originals as I can - IMHO some 90%+ of those worn today show rather inaccurate cutting patterns and, most of all, (in simple words) too much leather and too little skin. The finds show very narrow leather strips, which is also true for most contemporary depictions (reliefs etc.) that I am aware of.

I currently have the following publications at hand that specifically deal with shoes of the 1st-3rd century AD:

Göpfrich, Jutta. Römische Lederfunde aus Mainz
van Driel-Murray, Carol. Shoes in perspective
van Driel-Murray, Carol. Die römischen Lederfunde. in Das Ostkastell von Welzheim.
Busch, Anna Lisa. Die römerzeitlichen Schuh- und Lederfunde der Kastelle Saalburg, Zugmantel und Kleiner Feldberg

I am aware of other publications by van Driel-Murray or Groenman-van Waateringe, though I have not yet had access to all of them.
If anybody has some sources to share to this end I'd be very grateful!

Thanks for reading,

Martin
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#2
Quote:The finds show very narrow leather strips,

You can think that you are watching a object that have remained 2000 years earthed. Sometimes i have thought that the narrower strips could be explined by a contraction of the leather fibres, or by a partial desintegration of the surfaces.

I have found a roman shoe sole and it have only 3 mm thick. It's ilogicall it was the original thickness. So i explain that by a partial degradation of the surface.

Any comment?

Some bibliography on leatherworking:
http://www.gaulois.org/instrumentum/07A.HTM
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#3
Quote:IMHO some 90%+ of those worn today show rather inaccurate cutting patterns and, most of all, (in simple words) too much leather and too little skin

It is true that when you look at depictions of the caliga on sculpture and on lamps etc, it fits around the foot much more closely than modern reconstructions, which appear to be made to enclose the foot. There is, for instance, a strap that passes between the big toe and the second toe, but many reconstructions fail to make this work effectively. The Mainz boots depicted in Alterthümer unser heidnischen Vorzeit Bd 4 Taf.37 are very graceful. Moreover, the Rhineland tombstones usually depict boots with just the soles and central lacing ridge sculpted, leaving (with one or two heterodox exceptions) the straps to be applied in paint. Just because they look delicate doesn't mean they're weak: much depends upon the quality of the leather used and the efficacy of the pattern used for the upper.

Quote:You can think that you are watching a object that have remained 2000 years earthed. Sometimes i have thought that the narrower strips could be explined by a contraction of the leather fibres, or by a partial desintegration of the surfaces.

Not really true these days as modern techniques of freeze-drying mean that expansion (due to waterlogging) and contraction (due to drying) more or less cancel each other out, where it has been tested. So what you see is what the Romans saw, pretty much. Freeze-dried leather is also as supple as the day it was lost.

Mike Bishop
You know my method. It is founded upon the observance of trifles

Blogging, tweeting, and mapping Hadrian\'s Wall... because it\'s there
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#4
More like these then?
[url:3ijge2r3]http://www2.nethop.net/~buff/romansandals/[/url]
TARBICvS/Jim Bowers
A A A DESEDO DESEDO!
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#5
Quote:More like these then?
http://www2.nethop.net/~buff/romansandals/

Not if they make you stand like that ;-)

Actually, I had always dismissed the line illustrations of fay young men standing around in Couissin's volume as due to an excess of moral turpitude ('o tempora, o mores' etc), but it might be that they just all had bad footwear. Perhaps that's reason no.578 for the Fall of the Roman Empire...

Mike Bishop
You know my method. It is founded upon the observance of trifles

Blogging, tweeting, and mapping Hadrian\'s Wall... because it\'s there
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#6
Hmmmm. I think I'll stick with the ones I've got then.

Caption for Osprey picture: "Oooh, get them with their smartypants feminalia and those TC shoulderpads!"
TARBICvS/Jim Bowers
A A A DESEDO DESEDO!
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#7
Thanks for all the replies so far!

On the thickness of the surviving caligae's straps/soles I can only second what Mike Bishop says, you can read it up in detail in Jutta Göpfrich (see above), IIRC. The soles I am using are only about 5mm thick and there is no problem at all with the material.
Besides, stone reliefs and similar depictions don't shrink over time ... ;-) )

The ones at
http://www2.nethop.net/~buff/romansandals/
are not bad IMHO, except for the front part.
They look close to the last pair I did, where the straps might be a little thinner. I'll try and get a picture of those and post it, some time soon I hope (made those for a friend so can't make a picture right away). No material problems so far on those, anyway.

I'll try and check the
Alterthümer unser heidnischen Vorzeit Bd 4 Taf.37
for more pics on the Mainz boots, thanks for that. Unfortunately the State Library here in Munich does not seem to have it ...

Thanks again,

Martin
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#8
for a copy of "Stepping through Time". Hic liber is mostly medieval, but the last chapter is all about roman footwear. There's a grest section on caligae and roman stitches.

For modern methods of construction, check out Robert Norton's guide to making caligae, found in the files section of the Legio XXX Yahoo group:
[url:3a8zkx25]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/legio30cohort2/[/url]

And, of course, (I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this), there's Matt Amt's site in his legionaire's handbook on caligae:
[url:3a8zkx25]http://www.larp.com/legioxx/caligae.html[/url]
Titus Licinius Neuraleanus
aka Lee Holeva
Conscribe te militem in legionibus, vide mundum, inveni terras externas, cognosce miros peregrinos, eviscera eos.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.legiotricesima.org">http://www.legiotricesima.org
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#9
Quote:For modern methods of construction, check out Robert Norton's guide to making caligae, found in the files section of the Legio XXX Yahoo group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/legio30cohort2/

It's close to non-members of that group.
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#10
Neuraleanus\\n[quote]for a copy of "Stepping through Time". Hic liber is mostly medieval, but the last chapter is all about roman footwear. There's a grest section on caligae and roman stitches.

Ah, yes, forgot about this one, the article about roman shoes is from Carol van Driel-Murray again. (she one of the first to look out for when it comes to leather finds of any kind) - actually I am just borrowing it from a friend :-P P
I certainly is a good read/buy on the subject, even though only about 20% of the book are about roman stuff! FWIW, the last chapter is about neolithic finds, if anybody is interested ...

Martin
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#11
Salve,Martin.

Personally, I like the look of the caligae shown in that picture.
I know what you mean about (actually,I believe Deepeeka) caligae being more leather than skin. A few problems with those.
One of the best pictures I've seen is the cover of
Markus Junkelmann's "Die Legionen des Augustus".
(See my question answered by my friend Tarbicus with that picture
in Re-enactments and Reconstruction -caligae lacing.)
Sorry,I don't know how to move the picture myself. :oops:
Andy Booker

Gaivs Antonivs Satvrninvs

Andronikos of Athens
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#12
Here you go Andy:
[Image: 3805308868.03.LZZZZZZZ.jpg]

Firefox
Right-click with the mouse on an image and click 'Copy image link location'.
In your reply click the <Img> button above your reply.
Paste (Ctrl-V) into the message, and click the <Img> button again.

Internet Explorer
Right-click with the mouse on an image and click Properties.
Highlight the images URL and right-click and Copy.
In your reply click the <Img> button above your reply.
Paste (Ctrl-V) into the message, and click the <Img> button again.
TARBICvS/Jim Bowers
A A A DESEDO DESEDO!
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#13
Thanks,Tarbicvs.
This is a great picture.(I bought the book,too).
good detail.
They look like they could be Stephenson's.
Andy Booker

Gaivs Antonivs Satvrninvs

Andronikos of Athens
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#14
Hi Andy,

those shown on the cover of the Junkelmann book were certainly good ot the time they were made, which was 20 years ago (actually he does not use that cut anymore now, his newest ones are a lot more like the Mainz find and probably the best ones I have seen lately). Still the straps are just too thick there as well compared to the Mainz find:

[Image: 03.htm]

(or http://www.ledermuseum.de/DLM/vollbild/seiten/03.htm if the above doesn't work as I think it should)

I'll add a picture of my last pair later today ...
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#15
Hi,

finally got the pics of the last pair of caligae made. They are modelled after the Mainz find, although the front part is not quite according to the original. Outer sole thickness is 3-4mm (one layer of sole leather), w/o the nails. The tabs still need to be cut down a bit, I always leave them a little longer to be able to adjust the straps after wearing the caligae for a while.

cheers,

Martin
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