1st century Solea from Mainz

[Martin Moser]

Hi,

my daughter needed a new pair of shoes so I thought I'd try a pair of soleae for a change. I found a 1st century piece from Mainz I quite liked (in Göpfrich, Jutta: Römische Lederfunde aus Mainz. Offenbach: 1991). What I thought really touching was that my daughters feet measures 21.5 cm in length, exactly the same as the original, meaning that almost 2000 years ago that solea probably belonged to a girl about the same size and age!

Here is the original, note how the sole and the upper strings are cut from the same piece of leather. There also was an insole, though missing now.



And here my "approach" (the sole actually would need to be cut a bit narrower, but I wanted them to be comfortable to wear for her)

[Primvs Pavlvs]

Martin how did you attach it here? (RED ARROW)

[Martin Moser]

Martin how did you attach it here? (RED ARROW)

the bit of leather you see to the right of the arrow actually is the end of the two upper thongs, thinned out. I.e. it goes in through the first hole and comes out again through the second. Bit of glue under the sole does the rest. Note that due to the missing insole it is not exactly clear how it was done with the original. Later pieces employ the same method, but often have the endings of the thongs cut wider inorder to prevent them from slipping backwards. Come to think of it, I should have tried that out :-P P . With the nex pair then ...

[Carlton Bach]

Martin how did you attach it here? (RED ARROW)

the bit of leather you see to the right of the arrow actually is the end of the two upper thongs, thinned out. I.e. it goes in through the first hole and comes out again through the second. Bit of glue under the sole does the rest. Note that due to the missing insole it is not exactly clear how it was done with the original. Later pieces employ the same method, but often have the endings of the thongs cut wider inorder to prevent them from slipping backwards. Come to think of it, I should have tried that out :-P P . With the nex pair then ...

The Masada and En Gedi soleae have a knot there. I've made something similar (not using leather thongs to hold the soles in place) and the knot is not uncomfortable at all in that position. Might that have been it?