Roman sandal sole found at the El Monastil site (Elda). Elda Archaeological Museum
The Romans wore two types of sandals
(soleae
or
sandal, they
called them): summer and winter.
The former used to have esparto soles, and the latter, leather.
Now, if you were tremendously rich or powerful (for example, Poppea Sabina, Emperor Nero's second wife), you could substitute gold ones, even design ones of the same material for your horses.
The southeast of the Iberian Peninsula (present-day Murcia, Alicante and southern Albacete) was in ancient times a huge espartizal, known to the Greeks as the
spartarion
, which even made the Roman capital of the region, Carthago Nova (Cartagena), called
Spartaria
and its territory the
Spartarius Campus
.
And so much was the esparto that was extracted from the area that it became a huge factory
of sandals, which survived well into the 19th century, with the city of Elda as the emporium for this type of footwear.
In the seventies of the last century, members of the archeology section of the Eldense Excursionist Center found in the archaeological site of El Monastil (Elda) what is considered the oldest Roman esparto sandal in Hispania.
They put it in a glass urn, glued the sole with polyacetate vinyl, a glue that deteriorates the fibers, and put it away.
But now the Archaeological Museum of Elda has restored it and will be exhibiting it.
The analyzes carried out in the United States have dated that it was braided between the 4th and 5th centuries.
The Roman dump that told theatrical stories
Roman sandals, read in the study
Recovering our archaeological heritage.
The Roman esparto sole from Elo (El Monastil), by
the director of the Elda Archaeological Museum, Professor Antonio M. Poveda, “were placed on the feet by means of leather strips that came directly from the sole and that, crossing between the fingers, went up to the ankles.
At the back or on the flanks, these straps were inserted into leather rings, where they were tied to other straps placed horizontally on the ankle ”.
Poveda explains the use made of this footwear: “The fact of wearing the sandal in public was always frowned upon in social life, which was interpreted as a corrupt Greek vice, a true symbol of inadequate informality, since wearing the ankle or neck of the bare foot was typical of slaves ”.
The appropriate thing was to wear the so-called
caligae
or other booty-type footwear
(calceus, calceus patricius
...
),
which covered the foot and part of the ankle.
For this reason, appearing wearing
soleae
generated great criticism, from which famous figures such as General Publio Cornelio Scipio or the triumvir Marco Antonio were not spared, who when seen with this type of sandal, received harsh reproaches.
But, finally, fashion prevailed as evidenced by the sculptures of the emperors Tiberius, Germanicus or Caligula.
There was only one social circumstance where the use of
soleae
was recognized: private banquets.
Before accessing the dining room or
triclinium
, guests, guests and their hosts used slaves to put them on.
There was a third modality, the
crepidae or
crepidulae
, used by women, which had a single shape for both feet and were adorned with narrow straps full of pearls and rhinestones.
“With the arrival of Christianity there is a strong reduction of the superfluous and excessively luxurious decorative element, for this reason it was typical to contemplate the apostles and saints, represented with simple
solae
, thin and unadorned soles: the thick soles that made the those who wore them were reserved for the nobility ”, explains the professor of Ancient History at the University of Alicante.
The esparto plant is the atocha, typical of extremely arid areas, which needs little or no care.
It is a grass of the
stipoid
subfamily
, which is why it was named
Stipa Tenacisima.
It was very valuable for its many uses in the home and in the trades.
Its first and main exploiters and users were the Phoenicians and their Carthaginian heirs, but when Rome learned of its existence and values, it generalized and increased the use of this textile plant.
The Municipal Archaeological Museum of Elda commissioned the analysis of carbon 14 from the charred esparto from the sole found in El Monastil to a laboratory in Miami.
There they concluded that it was made between the 4th and 5th centuries and "whose best parallels can be found in Herculaneum and Pompeii, in Italy."
The esparto textile activity has been of great importance in Elda, because until the end of the 19th century it was one of the most profitable activities for its population, until the current footwear industry emerged.
In fact, Elda in 1876 had 10 mills to treat esparto, "with more than 400 women and children working to make fillet (string)," says the study.
The complex restoration of the sandal has been carried out by Eva Mendiola Tebar, who detached the sole from the glass base, although she was unable to completely remove the adhesive due to the danger of “disintegration”.
Next, he consolidated the esparto "with a mixture of hydroxypropylcellulose and polyethylene glycol" and created a new methacrylate support lined with linen fabric.
On it, he fixed the sole with nylon thread.
In short, the Archaeological Museum of Elda will show what the Romans wore on their feet when it was hot.