However as with all things roman the design of the caligae was meant to be functional in many ways.
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But despite trampling across the vast roman empire around 2 000 years ago few of their.
The shoe tack turned the humble sandal into militarized hob nailed sandals ideal for protection and traction to optimized grip for the marching soldier and combatant.
Caliga comes from the latin callus meaning hard as hobnails were hammered into hard leather soles before being sewn onto a softer leather lattice.
The shoe maker sutor was a valued craftsman in the days of the roman empire and the romans contributed the entire foot encasing shoe to the mediterranean world.
The roman soldier sandals were fitted with metal spikes on the bottom of the sole.
These spikes helped them maintain their footing.
Often the soldiers would be fighting in slick or muddy terrain.
They were worn by the lower ranks of roman cavalrymen and foot soldiers and possibly by some centurions.
The other thing these sandals provided was traction.
Considering how prized modern italian leather goods are today it is perhaps not too surprising that there was a good deal of variety of the types of ancient roman sandals and shoes.
The roman army was a precise military machine with legions of disciplined soldiers who marched in formation.
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W hen first looking upon the caligae it is difficult to see how such a flimsy piece of footwear could have been so beneficial to the roman soldier.
Caligae singular caliga were heavy duty thick soled openwork boots with hobnailed soles.
Gradually local shoe making crafts were incorporated and jubilant soldiers returned to rome proudly sporting their ethnic shoes as souvenirs from successful campaigns.
The spikes or nails in the bottom of the shoes caused them to dig into the ground so that they would not slip and fall during the fight.
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It does not offer much in the way of protection and does not give the impression of being very sturdy when going over rough terrain.
The spikes allowed them to in the words repeated four times in ephesians 6 10 14 stand firm in the battle.
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