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Marcus Mummius · 12-07-2004, 03:24 PM

Greetings, 
 
does anyone know what the 1st century legionair wore to protect the exposed parts of his legs from cold? Did they use some kind of leggings or legwrappings? What material should they be and how could they be constructed? 
 
Thanks in advance, 
Marcus Mummius

Carlton Bach · 12-08-2004, 10:21 AM

There are toe-and-heel-exposing 'socks' (quite possibly wrappings) on a Roman relief probably showing Praetorians (braindead - it's the famous one the Connolly reconstruction is based on, what's it called?), and we have nalbinding-style socks (with separate big toes) from the East. In most weather, if you have your feet covered the calves are fine. However, in the far north and alpione regions I would suspect cloth wrappings much like those found at St Martre-les-Veyes (don't have my copy of 'Stepping through Time' handy right now, but they're basically squares of wool cloth that are wrapped around the lower legs and secured with long cloth straps knotted around the knee and ankle. They had footcoverings attached, but not all may have had those. 
From Germanic contexts we also know leg wrappings asbout 7-10cm in width, bound around like bandages, though these may have been intended to be worn over trousers for extra warmth. 
I'm also not sure how averse a legionary in Gaul or Britain would have been to trousers on everyday duty in winter.

Uwe Bahr · 12-08-2004, 12:42 PM

Quote:<hr>braindead - it's the famous one the Connolly reconstruction is based on, what's it called?<hr> 
 
Volker, 
 
You surely refer to the Cancelleria Relief. 
 
Uwe

Carlton Bach · 12-08-2004, 02:48 PM

of course it's cancellaria. Thanks

LUCIUS ALFENUS AVITIANUS · 12-10-2004, 06:58 AM

Salve, 
 
Derek Forrest of the Ermine Street Guard have made a reconstrucion of leg wrappings. 
 
At Osprey Books, Roman Military Clothing (1) 100 BCÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“AD 200 
(Men-at-Arms 374), Graham Sumner depicts too that leg wrappings. 
 
Vale

12-13-2004, 08:55 PM

Hello all, 
 
besides the mentioned options I would presume that any piece of cloth was liable to end up as garment. Socks were also found at Vindonissa (Windisch). 
And I think that those guys were intelligent enough to adopt trousers up in the northern regions much earlier than is nowadays stated, beginning from the times since Roman troops had their winter garrisson in Germania. Being a though kid is one thing, freezing your legs off another. 
 
just my 5 pence 
 
regards 
 
Frank

derek forrest · 12-16-2004, 08:20 PM

Yes we have but there are no actual legionary examples. Graham took actual examples from danish bog burials and assumed they would be adopted from the peasantry by the army. I think its a fair assumption particulary in the face of North British weather. 
Last winter I had to a solo event on the wall. It was windy and snow/raining and took place in a heated Marquee. I had to wait outside for half an hour. I wore feminalia ;socks ;caligae and leg wrappings with a paenula on the top. I was warm and dry. The addition of the boots found at Vindolanda all the time would have made a perfect combination.It all was in stark contrast to what was in store inside; a bunch of builders and architects in costume roman gear.

***Praefectusclassis*** · 12-16-2004, 08:42 PM

There's supposed to be a tombstone fragment here in Nijmegen with leg wrappings, but it must be in a depot somewhere. Not in the museum anyways. Greets 
 
Jasper

derek forrest · 12-17-2004, 05:42 PM

It would be interesting to see that one Jasper. Incidentally Graham's third book on Roman military clothing will be out next year.

12-18-2004, 12:49 AM

"There are toe-and-heel-exposing 'socks' (quite possibly wrappings)" 
 
yep, i'd say they were wrappings, having seen a closer copy of the feet the wrappings are even carved with a distinct herringbone weave! (similar woven woollen strips have been found at Mainz...) 
 
Another book by Graham Sumner? Fantastic!!, i am a big fan, the osprey books were written to a high (and objective!) standard, whilst the plates are stunning. What subject area is he tackling next? and who is publishing it?

Crispvs · 12-20-2004, 03:01 AM

These days when the weather turns cold I wear socks cut from woolen fabric and made to one of the patterns from Matt Amt's site and leg wrappings made from pieces cut from a blanket measuring one foot by a foot and a half. I have attached two long strings to one of the narrow ends of each which are wound around the upper calf and ankle once the wrapping has been wrapped around the leg. I find that the addition of these items, along with my paenula can keep me warm in quite cold conditions. The other evening two of us were helping out at a nativity re-enactment, taking the census prior the nativity play iself. While we were there ice formed on cars standing nearby but both of us were wearing paenulae, socks and leg wrappings and neither of us felt cold apart from on our finger tips. Neither of us was wearing femenalia. I don't have a good photo but I can be seen in the centre of a photo at the bottom of the 'Events' section of the RMRS websitewww.romanarmy.net (incidentally, M. Ulpio Peronis, who also posts occasionally on RAT, can be seen as an auxiliary at the right of the picture). 
Regarding the need for trousers, in past I have spent a good deal of time above the snowline in the mountains in New Zealand and have spent hours at a time trudging through knee deep snow wearing shorts, boots and snow gaiters (which cover the same portion of the leg as leg wrappings do). I can say from this experience that as long as you are warmly dressed on the torso and arms and wear a hat, the legs will not suffer severly from the cold as long as the lower leg is covered and the person is used to the conditions. Bearing in mind that the Roman army which invaded Britain in AD43 was mostly drawn from the Rhine garrison, most of the soldiers would already have been aclimatised to colder weather conditions before they arrived in Britain and would probably not have needed to adopt any new clothing to protect them from cold. Let us not forget also, that in these days of motor transport, labour saving devices and centrally heated houses, people today are a lot softer than people were in the ancient world. Just because someone who works in an office, travels by car and lives in a centrally heated home feels cold when his knees are exposed to the air, it does not follow that the Roman soldier felt the same way. Sorry if this may have strayed a little OT. 
 
Crispvs Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=crispvs>Crispvs</A> at: 12/20/04 4:28 am

Marcus Germanicus Ferox · 12-20-2004, 09:44 AM

Is it likely or is there any evidence of legionaries using animal skins for leg wrappings in the colder climates? An Optio chum of mine has suggested that there was evidence of this found in Denmark.

Crispvs · 01-01-2005, 11:38 PM

Skins seem like a reasonable assumption but to the best of my knowledge no evidence for their use as leg wrappings has yet been found. Shame really, but anyway I find no problem with woollen cloth. 
 
Crispvs

01-02-2005, 10:33 PM

Having just completed the December woodland combat weekend in kit and suffered from ripped legs again (sometimes you have to reverse into the brambles when run down by the Britons) but hardly the cold. 
 
We use the calf length trousers for both briton and Roman (it's the only ones we can find pics of in both contexts), which doesn;t protect the lower legs from the fierce undergrowth. 
 
The trouble is that there are a few later cultures (dark age Welsh, Irish and later Scots) whcih don't appear to protect the lower legs from the local vegetation either so they must have suffered as well. I wonder what happens when you get scratched heavily be poisonous plants in teh days before antibiotics ??? 
 
Personally, I don't think leg wraps will protect against the cold. Crispus is right, your lower legs don't seem to suffer. Nice pair of warm calf legth trousers and you're fine. 
It's the undergrowth that the leggings are really good for....... 
 
Spend a couple of days marching and fighting in adverse terrain and you'll see what I mean ...........

01-03-2005, 01:26 AM

I've found in my time reenacting World War I that legwraps (called puttees in the 20th century) do a good job at keeping my legs warm as well as keeping dirt out of my boots. However, when in comes to protecting from undergrowth and in our case barbed wire they tend to be a hinderance rather than a help. They get stuck easily in undergrowth and a large thorn will get through them without much trouble.

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