What do we know about socks?

[Anonymous]

How would a roman sock differ from a modern sock? What materials would of been used? What are the likely colors? We know that socks were worn from the Vindolanda tablets. <p></p><i></i>

[Uwe Bahr]

The color was surely red - or white !?! <p></p><i></i>

[mcbishop]

Socks on the Cancelleria relief have no toes and no heels and are carved with a zig-zag pattern suggesting woven or knitted material.<br>
<br>
Mike Bishop <p></p><i></i>

[Matthew Amt]

There's also the sock that was found at Vindolanda:<br>
<br>
vindolanda.csad.ox.ac.uk:...shtml#sock<br>
<br>
Seems to be cut from wool and sewn together, though I haven't seen a pattern for it anywhere.<br>
<br>
The troops might have made them out of old tunics. Some reenactors prefer just wrapping the foot with wool, and that seems to work fine, too.<br>
<br>
Valete,<br>
<br>
Matthew/Quintus <p></p><i></i>

[Robert Vermaat]

<em>red or white?</em><br>
<br>
I would say a zigzag pattern, maybe red-white-green. After all, the Romans were from Italy.. <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

sock parts also on display in york <p><img src="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mark.martin/forum/mark.gif
" width="100" height="100" align="right">
</p><i></i>

[Luca]

I have read in the past somewhere about the red color of roman socks in the Historia Langobardorum.<br>
<br>
I have reported it here:<br>
www.romanhideout.com/Docu...rum_EN.asp<br>
<br>
sorry for the poor latin-english translation. Any correction is welcome. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=luca@romanarmytalk>Luca</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://www.romanhideout.com/legiov/Images/lucamain.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 8/5/04 9:34 pm<br></i>

[Anonymous]

Luca, there's an English translation of the Historia Langobardorum on the web at www.northvegr.org/lore/la.../index.php which takes a different approach:<br>
<br>
"Their shoes, indeed, were open almost up to the tip of the great toe, and were held on by shoe latchets interlacing alternately. But later they began to wear trousers, [2] over which they put leggings of shaggy woolen cloth [3] when they rode. But they had taken that from a custom of the Romans."<br>
<br>
with the following note -<br>
<br>
"[3] 'Tubrugos birreos'. Hodgkin considers (V, 154, 155) that the explanation quoted in Waitz's note "Byrrus vestis est amphimallus villosus" (having the nap on both sides), according to which the 'birrus' was a sort of waterproof cape thrown over other garments when it rained, seems to throw most light on this passage. (See DuCange)."<br>
<br>
Lewis & Short (via Perseus) has:<br>
<br>
"burrus , a, um [purros] , an old word, = rufus, rubens, red, Paul. ex Fest. p. 31 Müll.; cf. id. p. 36.--Collat. form byrrus , a, um, Prob. ad Juv. 3, 283."<br>
<br>
but also:<br>
<br>
"birrus , i, m. (birrum , i, n., Aug. Serm. Divers. 49), = purros (of yellow color), a cloak to keep off rain (made of silk or wool), Edict. Diocl. p. 20; cf. Salmas. Vop. Carin. 20; Burm. Anth. Lat. 2, p. 408; Cod. Th. 14, 10, 1, § 1; Schol. Juv. 8, 145; Sulp. Sev. Dial. 1, 21, 4; Claud. Epigr. 42." <p></p><i></i>

[aitor iriarte]

I know that it is totally anachronistic, because they were worn two centuries earlier, but that description of the Longobards' shoes reminds me strikingly of the Roman fourth century campagi (i.e. 'open almost to the tip of the big toe' 'shoe latchets interlacing alternately')<br>
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tribunus/campagi2copia.jpg" style="border:0;"/><br>
<br>
Aitor <p></p><i></i>

[Luca]

Cool link Duncan!<br>
<br>
I have simply translated it from an italian academic article. I did a bad job. I will report this translation much better.<br>
<br>
Anyway what is important is the colour "red" (burrus) as you correctly mentioned. The italian article emphatized a lot this detail and the other possibility of "yellow" (birrus) has not been considered.<br>
<br>
<br>
Aitor: very good pic!<br>
<br>
About socks we must not forget the image on Roman Military Clothing 1 of the egyptian socks found similar to many others. It looks very coloured! <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=luca@romanarmytalk>Luca</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://www.romanhideout.com/legiov/Images/lucamain.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 8/6/04 5:42 pm<br></i>

[Andrew Brozyna]

We know mommies liked to send socks in care packages to their soldier-sons.<br>
-As read in one of the Vindolanda letters. <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

I'm thinking about wearing wool socks with my caligae. There particularly needed when marching in a parade on paved roads or when on campaign. I have Junkelmann's book on his Reconstruction of an Augustan march across the alps, and I find it interesting that they start out sockless, but the later pictures show them all wearing socks. Human feet haven't changed much in 2000 years, since it appears that our knowledge of roman socks is so fragmentary, a modern wool sock may be ok. The only issue may be the choice of color. <p></p><i></i>

[Q Rutilius]

Can we deduce that the Roman army wore red socks because only dorks would wear white socks? <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Actually I was thinking that cream socks would go nice with my brown caligae, but then again I don't claim to have much of a fashion sense. <p></p><i></i>

[Lucius Aurelius Metellus]

Do you really think that soldiers would have been that fashion-conscious to worry about the color? I think that when they were getting them as supplies, either acquired on campaign, or sent from home, they would not necessarily have had the liberty to choose colors, I think they would have utilized whatever they could obtain at the time they needed them. <p>Lucius Aurelius Metellus, miles gregarius, Secunda Brittanica</p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=luciusaureliusmetellus@romanarmytalk>Lucius Aurelius Metellus</A> <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://photobucket.com/albums/v384/Lucius68/?action=view&current=EarlyImperial.jpg" BORDER=0> at: 8/7/04 9:40 pm<br></i>