The Roman Footwear from Vindolanda

The assemblage of Roman footwear from Vindolanda is one of the most extraordinary and unique groups of archaeological objects from anywhere in the Roman Empire. Nearly 5,000 shoes have been preserved in the archaeological deposits at Vindolanda, a Roman military fort located on Hadrian’s Wall in northern England. They are more than just objects to marvel at from the ancient world and help us to understand so much more about the people who inhabited this frontier region: their ideas about adornment, their approaches to manufacturing, and how they used space in this Roman settlement. The shoes represent the individuals who occupied this fort from the late first to the fourth century ce.

Elizabeth M. Greene introduces these unique and fascinating finds through some of the best examples of Roman shoes in the collection. This book will appeal to those who marvel at the shoes in the Vindolanda museum, as well as forming a valuable resource for researchers of Roman archaeology and the Roman army.