Article: Solea

Solea

The solea, or sandal, was the most common indoor shoe of the ancient Romans. It was a very simple shoe, consisting of a flat sole held to the foot with a simple strap across the instep, similar to today's thongs or flip-flops. Most of the solea known to historians were made of leather. Some, however, were made of wood. Special wooden-soled sandals, called sandalium, were worn by women during the Roman Republic (509 27 b.c.e.) and were later worn by both sexes. It appears that simpler wooden-soled solea were also worn by poorer Romans.

A respectable Roman citizen never wore his or her solea outdoors, just as they never wore their outdoor shoes, or calcei, indoors. When ...

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