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An Actual Ancient Gallo-Roman Caliga (plural caligae)

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Copyright © 2006,2009 by Zack Smith.
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The photos

The following are photos that show the genuine Gallo-Roman caliga that is on display at the French National Archaeological Museum. The museum is located just outside Paris, France.

Caligae are a type of sandal worn by Roman soldiers. If you're making your own pair of caligae for Roman legion reenactment or just to wear around town, you might take note of how these are constructed.

The museum

The museum that has this caliga also has a huge and excellent collection of everything Roman, including pottery, glasswear, metal ware, and quite a few statues of the gods. There is even a huge Roman mosaic that is something like 20 feet by 20 feet.

The god Pan, from the museum:

In French, the museum is called le Musée d'antiquité nationale de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and their website is musee-antiquesnationales.fr. Their phone number 01 34 51 65 36. Cost of entry in 2006 was only 4.5 € and this museum is free the first Sunday of each month. The RER train from Paris to Saint Germain en Laye is about 3.50 € each way. I believe you have to take line A.

When you reach Saint Germain en Laye, the museum is right next to the train station. For supplies, there's a large supermarket about 10 minutes walk into the town.

Other sites in Paris (also known as Roman Lutetia)

Two other museums in Paris have substantial collections of Greco-Roman works:

They are the Louvre, of course, which also has a lot of Etruscan artwork and many famous statues of Romans; and the Petit Palais which has a nice and large collection of ancient Greek pottery. The former was about 8 € to enter (in 2006) except on the first Sunday of each month when it is free. The Petit Palais was free, in 2006, every day.

A Greek kylix from Petit Palais:

Also in Paris, of some interest are the Cluny baths, associated with a medieval museum, which are probably better viewed from outside the museum, but the museum is nice to see anyway. And there is the Paris arena, which is tiny compared to arenas in Nimes, Orange, Trier, Verona, Rome, etc etc.

Lutetia was not a major hub because it was too marshy near the Seine.

There is also a museum for Roman artifacts in nearby Chartre quite near the famous cathedral. Chartre was, in Roman times, slightly bigger than Lutetia. To see everything in Chartre you will need 2 days. Don't forget to climb the steeple and check out the crypt. Stay in the youth hostel if you go, it's cheap and has an excellent view of the cathedral from the terrace; it also has a bike shed if you need it.

Do it yourself

Some time ago, I made an attempt at creating a pair of caligae. While I never finished the project, due to a lack of leather and hobnails, I did get pretty far. It's not too hard but does take time. You need a good knife, a good pattern, a leather hole puncher (about $7), and a flat, hard surface that such as plywood.

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