Caligae soles for reenactment

[Appius Solanius Pertinax]

I'm not exactly happy to open this debate but I hope you'll forgive me. You see, we got into this kind of debate in our group recently, and finally I was told "Go ahead, ask on RAT." So I'm going to.

Could at least some of the folks here please voice their views on what to use for soles on caligae for newbie reenactors, and maybe for experienced ones too? Some people in our group have certain views, other people see this the other way, so I'd like to ask a bigger community for an opinion. Consider the overall picture, please - authenicity, looks, price, functionality, safety, everything. And we're talking about soles here - the uppers would be authentic leather.

Contender A is leather and hobnails. Yep, the way Romans did it, although when you have cobblestones underfoot and it is raining you're not sure *why* they did it. But it has the look of authentic caligae, plus you'll get raw data on what wearing those means.

Contender B is modern rubber (or whatever they're making soles out of these days). Yeah, the kind of soles you're less likely to break a leg in, plus you can wear them indoors and it is OK to walk across that polished wooden floor now.

Or maybe you'd recommend some other material, although I'm not sure what that would be. Leather but no hobnails? Natural rubber? Straw? Felt? Kryptonite? I'd love to know, though.

You might notice that I'm not saying here which option is the one I'm for, I've even made sure I've ordered the contenders in alphabetical order (wasn't that hard, though). You might be able to make a guess but I'd like to ask you not to do so. I'm not asking you to tell me my choice is the better one. OK, I'll be happier if you'll agree with me, but I'll let my group know no matter the result.

I'm asking because I want to learn from experience of those who've been doing this for some time now, and because I'm hoping this might help us create better impressions - provided we learn what the community at large thinks defines a good impression.

Thank you for any votes and/or comments.

[jvrjenivs]

First, I think that good boots are important, anyway, so they will cost you some money. That said, I don't think there would be much difference between a pair with modern rubber or leather sole. I even think that with these new shoes from armamentaria, which I find rather nice, it would be even easier to acuire a pair of leather hobnaild shoes. Also, as one can get authentic boots for about the same price as less authentic ones, why not choose the first.

[Marcus Mummius]

I voted leather and hobnails.

I find it's good training for when it's slippery in winter! :wink:

[Matthew Amt]

NO reenactor should be wearing rubber-soled anything (well I guess World War II or later!). Because the Romans used leather and hobnails, period. I'm not sure if paving stones were as much of a problem, since I have heard that many roads actually had a covering of gravel over the stones.

For indoor surfaces like tile and polished wood, yes, hobnails are "bad"! So you want a pair of something with just plain leather, either a nail-less pair of caligae, or something like carbatinae or sandals or flip-flops. But purpose-made Roman footwear, not modern.

Valete,

Matthew

[Crispvs]

Most of the antipathy towards wearing caligae with hobnails comes from people who are concerned that they will slip over and hurt themselves when walking on smooth or hard surfaces. This is a legitimate concern, but as always you should start with the evidence and work out from there.
We know that Roman soldiers wore hobnailed boots. We also know that they sometimes had smooth or hard paved surfaces to contend with. In fact both of these things were true for soldiers right up until after the Second World war. Therefore, before we decide that hobnails equal injuries, we need to ask ourselves: how did they wear hobnails on hard surfaces without hurting themselves? It cannot have been a major problem for them as hobnails would have been discontinued if they were found to be putting too many men out of action with injuries. We therefore look at the physical evidence which has survived. Luckily, we have both preserved soles and preserved footprints, which gives us a very good idea of how they walked. Surviving hobnailed soles normally show a very even pattern of wear, and footprints preserved in clay tiles also show a very even impression, without the marked depressions at the heel and toe one would expect from a modern footprint. This indicates that the Romans walked in a very flat footed manner and instead of the modern gait we are all used to, to our eyes they would have looked as if they were stamping around. Therefore, if you want to walk safely in caligae on paving stones and the like, you need to try to lay the sole of your foot flat on the ground with every step. I normally advise people to walk as if they are riding a bicycle. This should mean that the forwards motion of the foot in the modern gait which creates the potential for slipping is largely removed.
When I started Roman re-enactment I slipped over quite a lot, but since I worked out how to walk in caligae I have slipped about three times in the last eight years.

Crispvs

[Magnus]

Hold on here folks. If someone has a medical issue with their feet and they REQUIRE a specialized type of sole, then I'm sorry, but simple common sense over-rules any authenticity issues. Safety and the health of the participants must be a priority before anything else. If it's just an issue of "style" then stick with the historical finds, but there are exceptions when it comes to health and safety.

And your feet WILL be sore from period correct soles, try marching and fighting in them for 18 hours a day...

[Marcus Mummius]

Hold on here folks. If someone has a medical issue with their feet and they REQUIRE a specialized type of sole, then I'm sorry, but simple common sense over-rules any authenticity issues. Safety and the health of the participants must be a priority before anything else. If it's just an issue of "style" then stick with the historical finds, but there are exceptions when it comes to health and safety.

And your feet WILL be sore from period correct soles, try marching and fighting in them for 18 hours a day...

That's a very difficult discussion. If you have a back problem wearing heavy metal armour might be unhealthy too, so should it be okay to wear rubber armour?

Vale,

[Matthew Amt]

Hold on here folks. If someone has a medical issue with their feet and they REQUIRE a specialized type of sole, then I'm sorry, but simple common sense over-rules any authenticity issues. Safety and the health of the participants must be a priority before anything else. If it's just an issue of "style" then stick with the historical finds, but there are exceptions when it comes to health and safety.

And your feet WILL be sore from period correct soles, try marching and fighting in them for 18 hours a day...

Sure, medical requirements are always a possible exception--I should have thought of that and qualified my statement. There are a couple folks in my group that need orthotic insoles, so we chose footwear which conceals those. Not sure just what sort of condition would require rubber soles rather than leather, but I guess we'll burn that bridge if we come to it, as it were.

Heck, 18 hours of ANYthing would leave my feet tired and sore, even in the best modern shoes I've ever owned! If you're getting that intense about your reenactment activities, maybe spending more time wearing your caligae around the house or whatever would help accustom your feet to it.

Oh, I also discovered yesterday (Greek Independence Day parade in Baltimore) that a simple layer of blanket wool made my sandals MUCH more comfortable for tromping around on pavement in armor.

Valete,

Matthew

[Magnus]

Hold on here folks. If someone has a medical issue with their feet and they REQUIRE a specialized type of sole, then I'm sorry, but simple common sense over-rules any authenticity issues. Safety and the health of the participants must be a priority before anything else. If it's just an issue of "style" then stick with the historical finds, but there are exceptions when it comes to health and safety.

And your feet WILL be sore from period correct soles, try marching and fighting in them for 18 hours a day...

That's a very difficult discussion. If you have a back problem wearing heavy metal armour might be unhealthy too, so should it be okay to wear rubber armour?

Vale,

Are you suggesting that the sole of a sandal/boot has as much surface area as body armour, and therefore as noticeable? I would think Jef, that common sense would of course play a factor, and silly suggestions such as rubber body armour would of course be ruled out.

[M. Demetrius]

that a simple layer of blanket wool

An insole made from shearling sheepskin makes a decent pad, too, and is a good help against the cold, if that's an issue.

[Marcus Mummius]

Hold on here folks. If someone has a medical issue with their feet and they REQUIRE a specialized type of sole, then I'm sorry, but simple common sense over-rules any authenticity issues. Safety and the health of the participants must be a priority before anything else. If it's just an issue of "style" then stick with the historical finds, but there are exceptions when it comes to health and safety.

And your feet WILL be sore from period correct soles, try marching and fighting in them for 18 hours a day...

That's a very difficult discussion. If you have a back problem wearing heavy metal armour might be unhealthy too, so should it be okay to wear rubber armour?

Vale,

Are you suggesting that the sole of a sandal/boot has as much surface area as body armour, and therefore as noticeable? I would think Jef, that common sense would of course play a factor, and silly suggestions such as rubber body armour would of course be ruled out.

Hi Matt,

The we'll have to disagree. I think you do not understand my point.
If you really have problems wearing regular caligae, I'm sure it will not be solved by exchanging the leather soles by rubber ones. Just wear some authentic calcei and put a modern orthopedic insole into them. Nobody is going to complain about this.

If you can not wear caligae, don't wear them and wear calcei, they are just as authentic and allow more possibilities for modern adjustments. The armour example is in principle the same thing. If you can't wear metal armour, wear no armour, or some kind of lighter fabric armour (we have some evidence for this).

Surface isn't that important in my humble opinion. A wrong pugio is as unauthentic and disturbing as a wrong gladius, even though the gladius is longer :wink:

[Magnus]

Yes, we'll have to disagree. If someone required a softer sole to lessen the impact due to feet issues, that orthotics wouldn't help with, as a group leader I would of course allow it. But then, I'm not striving to be within 1% accuracy when it comes to my historical impression. Though it all depends I find if you're a reenactor or a display piece for the public.

[Marcus Mummius]

Yes, we'll have to disagree. If someone required a softer sole to lessen the impact due to feet issues, that orthotics wouldn't help with, as a group leader I would of course allow it. But then, I'm not striving to be within 1% accuracy when it comes to my historical impression. Though it all depends I find if you're a reenactor or a display piece for the public.

There is no need for insults frater. It's perfectly allright to have different opinions.

Vale,