Roman Soldier Sandals Spike

Martens men s geraldo gladiator sandal.

Roman soldier sandals spike.

Often the soldiers would be fighting in slick or muddy terrain. Caltrops were known to the romans as tribulus or sometimes as murex ferreus the latter meaning jagged iron literally iron jagged thing. 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. Gradually local shoe making crafts were incorporated and jubilant soldiers returned to rome proudly sporting their ethnic shoes as souvenirs from successful campaigns.

The roman battle sandals were the best in the world for protecting the feet of the soldier. He distinctive footwear most identfied with the roman soldier was the sandal called the caligae but there were other types also. Free shipping by amazon. These spikes helped them maintain their footing.

In ancient greek the word tribalos meant three spikes. 3 8 out of 5 stars 12. 4 5 out of 5 stars 126. Caligae singular caliga were heavy duty thick soled openwork boots with hobnailed soles.

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 other thing these sandals provided was traction. Thorinstruments with device roman soldier legionnaire centurion gladiator brown leather men roman sandals. 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.

They were also used in the battle of carrhae in 53 bc.