Ancient Roman woman's shoe -- show footwear on coins!

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Roman Collector, Apr 8, 2019.

  1. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Ancient Roman woman's shoe. I like how it has no heel. Sure, in many ways the Romans were cruel and barbaric, but it is good to see there were limits to their cruelty.

    ancient-roman-shoe.jpg

    I probably have a couple hundred Roman coins portraying various goddesses on their reverses, and I thought it would be easy to find one who is clearly wearing shoes. But usually, their feet are not visible under their stola or the feet are rendered as indistinct blobs. But, I found a couple!

    Here's Cybele wearing a shoe:

    Domna MATER DEVM with scepter Denarius.jpg

    And here's Artemis wearing knee-high boots!

    Gordian III Hadrianopolis Artemis.jpg

    Lets see your coins showing footwear! Extra points for women's footwear.
     
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  3. Jay GT4

    Jay GT4 Well-Known Member

    It's not easy! Here's Virtus wearing a pair of calcei...

    Vespasian_Virtus.jpg
    IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG
    Laureate head right

    VIRTVS AVGVST
    Virtus standing right, left foot on prow, with spear and parazonium

    Antioch, 70 AD
    3.24g

    RIC 1542 (R);RPC 1916 (5 spec.)
     
  4. 7Calbrey

    7Calbrey Well-Known Member

    Both Victoria under Maximinus II, and the walking lion under James II of Lusignan are wearing shoes and boots.

    Maximin 2               Victoria.jpg Jacques 1463 Batardsizain.jpg
     
  5. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    I believe most common re soldiers' boots.
    Constantius II AE2 Constantinople
    rx6725bb3047.jpg

    More scarce are Persian kings with feet on flan.
    g71440b00452lg.JPG
     
  6. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Wow, what a beautifully sophisticated shoe. It would not look out of place in an upscale context today.

    I don't think I have many visible shoes on ancient coins. I'll have to look at my archives.
     
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  7. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Update: lots of feet, but most are poorly struck, off the flan, or just otherwise undefined.

    I can't tell if Virtus is barefooted or wearing caligae here, on this Philip I ant.

    [​IMG]
     
  8. Pellinore

    Pellinore Well-Known Member

    GREAT subject! You learn to look at your coins in a very different way. Shoes and, indeed, feet are treated stepmotherly (can one use this word in English?) in ancient coinage. I only have a few examples for show.

    2576 ct.jpg

    On this Aurelian ant, Jupiter (left) wears elastic stockings or laced boots.

    2763 Constantinus ii cosy.jpg

    Here we have two soldiers during a break, with heavy nail-studded shoes.

    2774 FTR ct.jpg
    2774 feet.jpg

    And here, Constantius II is jumping two feet into the air on his laced boots, or is there some coil spring involved?

    2785 Decentius.jpg

    Decentius' angels (thanks, John Anthony!) are wearing heavy sabots.

    2788 Magnentius barbaricus heel.jpg
    And those of his brother Magnentius, though slightly barbaric, have modern block heels.

    The only realistic feet in my collection are on this great Baroque medal of the Papal State (AD 1670). They belong to the Pope in the person of the Apostle Peter.

    7025 gr.jpg
     
  9. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    What an extraordinary shoe! I had no idea that any ancient shoes were so elaborate and sophisticated!

    On this coin, the personification of Alexandria is wearing booties. I hadn't given it any thought before. What are those little dangly things at the top of the boots? Are they just the ends of the ties or are they some other decoration? I wonder if they could have any local meaning, perhaps a style of shoe favored by Egyptian women.

    [​IMG]
    EGYPT, Alexandria. Severus Alexander
    year 12, CE 232/3
    tetradrachm, 23 mm, 13.87 gm
    Obv: AKAIMAAVPCEVAΛEΞANΔPOCEV; Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right
    Rev: Alexandria standing facing, head left, holding vexillum and grain ears; palm frond to left, L IB (date) to right
    Ref: Emmett 3088.12 (R4); Köln 2474 var. (obv. legend); Dattari (Savio) 4264; K&G 62.172 var. (same)

    Next, not a shoe but the thing that goes inside a shoe :D:

    [​IMG]
    EGYPT, Alexandria. Marcus Aurelius
    AE diobol, 22.8 mm, 8.33 gm
    RY 17 (176/7 CE)
    Obv: MAVPHΛIOCANTωNINOC; laureate head right
    Rev: right foot and ankle (of a statue of Serapis?), pointing right; draped bust right of Serapis above, wearing kalathos; LI[Z] in right field
    Ref: Dattari (Savio) 3516; Emmett 2254.17 (this coin illustrated, p. 96); K&G 37.411 (this coin illustrated). Extremely rare. None in CoinArchives.
    Ex WRG Collection
    Ex Kerry K. Wetterstrom Collection (Part II, Classical Numismatic Auctions XIII, 4 December 1990), lot 130.
     
  10. maridvnvm

    maridvnvm Well-Known Member

    Will these do?

    L Papius Denarius Serratus

    Obv:– Head of Juno Sospita right, wearing goat skin tied under chin. Behind head, Shoe.
    Rev:– Gryphon running right; in ex., L. PAPI.; in field, Sandal
    Minted in Rome from . B.C. 79.
    Reference(s) – RSC Papia 1. RRC 384/1. RCTV 311.
    Symbol variety – RRC -. Babelon -. BMCRR -.
    3.78g. 19.71 mm. 180 degrees.

    An unpublished symbol pair with five examples currently known. This is likely the best of the five examples. (Richard Schaefer)
    [​IMG]

    L Papius Denarius Serratus

    Obv:– Head of Juno Sospita right, wearing goat skin tied under chin. Behind head, sandal.
    Rev:– Gryphon running right; in ex., L. PAPI.; in field, sandal
    Minted in Rome from . B.C. 79.
    Reference(s) – RSC Papia 1. RRC 384/1. RCTV 311.
    Symbol variety – RRC 84. Babelon 17. BMCRR 84. CNR 1/041

    [​IMG]
     
  11. Cucumbor

    Cucumbor Well-Known Member

  12. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Wow! Those -- especially the bottom one -- are the clearest depiction of Roman footwear imaginable!
     
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  13. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Marsyas seems to be wearing something similar in this depiction of the statue of Marsyas in the Roman forum on this coin from Alexandria Troas:

    Alexandria Troas Marsyas.jpg
     
  14. Ocatarinetabellatchitchix

    Ocatarinetabellatchitchix Well-Known Member

    Warning : Rated “R”: naked but the boots
    C3A30FAD-39D3-4567-8210-4ADED754E06B.jpeg
     
  15. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Wow, the surfaces on that look great. Let's have the flipside, pretty please.
     
  16. tenbobbit

    tenbobbit Well-Known Member

    Hermes with his winged boots
    211556.l[1].jpg
     
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  17. octavius

    octavius Well-Known Member

    Beautiful shoe. Is that genuine Italian leather?

    This is my version of a Roman Dr. Scholls commercial... Aes Grave from Hatria. Rx572TsMWA7yw4ZKCbm8iF9D65GdH3.jpg
     
  18. Volodya

    Volodya Junior Member

    That's absolutely incredible. It takes a lot to, so to speak, knock my socks off.

    Phil Davis
     
  19. PeteB

    PeteB Well-Known Member

    Alexander III, the Great; 336-323 B.C. AR tetradrachm (16.8 gm). Erythrae mint. Struck? Obv: Hd. of Herakles r. wearing lion’s skin headdress. Rev: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ to r., Zeus seated l. on throne holding eagle in r. hand & scepter in his l. To left, bow in bow case and club; monogram below club and under throne. Like Price 1905, but monograms in switched positions. An expert on Alexander III coinage says "An interesting note [on this coin] is that Zeus appears to be wearing shoes in the shape of a stylized animal head. A boar or lion is possible, but the design is closer to a wolf's head."
    AlexIIIErythraeP.__a.jpg
     
  20. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    1fb461a100d9bdea6c834f9b113eb525 (1).jpg 539ea2538bb1d68c4b9b84a5ba02e738.jpg AV Dinara ND Peshawar Mint
    Kanisahka I 127-146AD
    Both King and God wearing footware
     
  21. Nathan401

    Nathan401 Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

    Phillip I with Annona wearing some pretty lady shoes E0FF1E02-68FE-40BC-AC71-66802B192D75.jpeg 3AE3BE68-8F46-4BB1-9E23-130423A110C3.jpeg
     
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