When in Roman Sandals

Gladiator sandals have been around for a long time. Ever since, well, the gladiators – that is since Roman times, at the beginning of the first millennium. Undoubtedly sandals were worn long before that of course, for their practicality and comfort in the warm weather.

Roman sandals from the first century AD discovered in LondonAbsolutely no Roman citizen would appear in public with bare feet. This would indicate dire poverty. Roman citizens wore sandals (soleae) – footwear without toe coverings indoors and shoes or boots (calcei or calceus), footwear with toe coverings with straps which covered the ankles, the calf, or up to the knee, outdoors. Sandals are believed to be the first rigid shoes crafted. A stiff sole was attached to the foot by leather cords, straps, or braided thongs. Sandals were generally the most worn type of footwear in warm climates such as the countries surrounding the Mediterranean – the Roman Empire. [Roman Colosseum Info]

Delicate sandals feature in this painting of a slave dressing a young girl’s hair; painting from Herculaneum

Parisian sandals and Grecian style dress in 1798In my tome A History of Costume in the West by François Boucher (Thames & Hudson, 1988), a silver pair from 6th century Switzerland rate a mention. These look a lot like engraved flip-flops – Havaianas for the wealthy. Sandals do not appear again in the book until Regency days, when the Grecian style – brought into fashion by Josephine Bonaparte along with all the tomb-raiding that was going on in that era – was all the rage.

In her book Vintage Shoes (Carlton Books, 2008) that celebrates shoes of the twentieth century, Caroline Cox does not mention gladiator sandals until the very last pages, when they reappear fittingly at the dawn of the second millennium. This current incarnation is most similar to those worn by the original gladiators, and most likely was inspired by the rash of films set in the ancient world.

gladiator sandals … reappear fittingly at the dawn of the second millennium

Gladiator sandals by Urban OutfittersI first remember wearing very simple brown leather Roman sandals (probably similar to the sort Roman slaves wore, for only Patrician Romans were permitted to wear red-dyed shoes) when I was a child in primary school. They were ubiquitous in summer. I owned another pair of white lace ups when I was about 16 – they left horrible tan marks on my feet, I wore them so much. Now I own this flat pair, and also a high-heeled pair in black patent that go up to the knee. Now, a real Gladiator chick wouldn’t be caught dead in those … or maybe she would have been – dead, that is, in those heels. 

See more gladiator sandals at ShopStyle.