ABSTRACT

This edited volume groups research on the significance of ancient feet and footwear, much of which was presented, discussed and reviewed at the conference: Shoes, Slippers and Sandals: Feet and Footwear in Antiquity, held at Newcastle University and the Great North Museum from 29 June–1 July 2015.

Ancient dress and adornment have received significant consideration in recent scholarship, though, strikingly, feet and footwear have featured relatively little in this discussion. This volume aims to rectify this imbalance through its fifteen chapters covering a wide range of aspects associated with feet and footwear in classical antiquity. Contributions are grouped under four headings: ‘Envisaging footwear’, ‘Following footprints’, ‘One from a pair’ and ‘Between representation and reality’, reflecting the broad range and interdisciplinary nature of the approaches undertaken.

chapter |14 pages

Introduction

Surveying shoes, slippers and sandals

part 1|2 pages

Envisaging footwear

chapter 1|75 pages

Sandals on the wall

16The symbolism of footwear on Athenian painted pottery *

chapter 2|15 pages

At the symposium

Why take off our boots? The significance of boots placed underneath the kline on Attic red-figure vase painting (c.500–440 bc)

chapter 3|13 pages

Donning footwear

The invention and diffusion of an iconographic motif in archaic Athens

chapter 4|13 pages

Pantāi krēpides

Shoe-talk from Homer to Herodas

part 2|2 pages

Following footprints

chapter 5|12 pages

Simon the Athenian

133Archaeological, sociological and philosophical remarks on a philosopher shoemaker

chapter 6|31 pages

Stepping onto the stage

Aeschylus’ Oresteia and tragic footwear *

part 3|2 pages

One from a pair

chapter 9|13 pages

One shoe off and one shoe on

The motif of monosandalism in Classical Greece *

chapter 10|18 pages

A slip and a slap

Aphrodite and her footwear

chapter 11|14 pages

Achilles’ discovery on Skyros

Status and representation of the monosandalos in Roman art

part 4|2 pages

Between representation and reality

chapter 12|22 pages

Sandals for the living, sandals for the dead

262Roman children and their footwear

chapter 15|15 pages

Metal fittings on the Vindolanda shoes

Footwear and evidence for podiatric knowledge in the Roman world

chapter |4 pages

Glossary