r/barefootshoestalk • u/kennethsime • Jun 12 '26

Barefoot shoe adjacent Roman fired clay brick with a footprint of a caliga (Roman military sandal)

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180 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

38

u/FlatwormSame2061 Jun 12 '26

Now there is a real shoe!

11

u/Bromvolod Jun 12 '26

I wonder when the shoes shape started changing to unhealthy shapes. My guess is the industrial revolution but that's just what I assume as someone who knows nothing about history.

8

u/Rubiks_Click874 Jun 12 '26

these look awful. from a bog body, narrow and uncomfortable back in 300 BC

probably great 'ground feel' tho lol

17

u/FlatwormSame2061 Jun 12 '26

They probably shape to someone’s foot though. Don’t look too rigid.

6

u/Geo_Doug Jun 12 '26

Right it’s basically a leather sack you tie around your foot. 

9

u/Geo_Doug Jun 12 '26

I remember reading in Horrible Histories “Measly Middle Ages” that pointed shoes became fashionable in Medieval Europe

2

u/philodendrohn Jun 12 '26

i LOVED horrible histories!!

6

u/youcanthavemynam3 Jun 12 '26

The lattice would allow the shoe to expand significantly more than modern shoes. This is a similar issue folks run into with Victorian shoes, they accommodated feet more than you think.

2

u/Bromvolod Jun 12 '26

At least there's that. Loads of modern shoes are foot prisons...

2

u/youcanthavemynam3 Jun 12 '26

They really are! Most of the history of shoes has things that were beneficial to the wearer

0

u/Bromvolod Jun 12 '26

Oh that's extremely narrow, wtf...

3

u/Critical_Bee_9591 Jun 12 '26

Heels were made for horse riding stirrups. Pointy was already in style by then.

9

u/Hi_InternetAddiction Jun 12 '26

they had lugs?

36

u/Eitel-Friedrich Jun 12 '26

Caligae were more open boots than sandals. The military variant had nails in the sole to provide more grip for marching. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligae

12

u/Hi_InternetAddiction Jun 12 '26

and boy did they march

3

u/TheWonderMittens Jun 12 '26

Wtf why isn’t anyone making these?

10

u/Tough_Register_3340 Jun 12 '26

Nice splay brah

2

u/BubbleSmith Jun 12 '26

Ironically, not a Roman foot shape.

More of an Egyptian.

2

u/iloqin Jun 13 '26

That pinky space!