Fig. 34.
These generally had broad toes and thick soles, but like the ordinary shoes they had no heels. A common decoration of such boots were broad zigzag lappets of leather, falling down from the upper edge, as in the examples in Fig. [34]. Between sandals and boots we find various forms of low shoes, in which the foot is partly covered with leather and partly with straps. Thus there was a kind of slipper covering the upper part of the foot in front, while the back was covered with straps, and another kind which left the toes quite free and covered the rest of the foot. Probably the crepida, which only originated in the Alexandrine period, but then became very common, belonged to this class, and was a shoe with low leather sides, from which straps passed across the foot. Other kinds of shoes we know only by their antique names. Thus there was an elegant kind worn by guests invited to dinner (βλαυταί); and a coarser kind worn chiefly by peasants (καρβατιναί) made of rough leather, and probably not on a block, but roughly sewn together by the country people themselves. In fact, the number of names for footgear used by the ancient writers is very large, and we may thence conclude that the fashion changed frequently. Thus in Greece there were shoes of the Persian fashion. At Athens they wore Laconian shoes; Amyclaean, Sicyonian, Rhodian shoes, and others which are also mentioned, probably refer more to the shape than to the origin. There were also shoes called after celebrated men, who probably made use of them, such as Alcibiades shoes, Iphicrates shoes, etc.; but we cannot illustrate all these from works of art, in spite of the rich variety supplied by them. They also distinguished between shoes which, like our slippers, could be worn on either foot, and those which were made on particular lasts for the right and left foot. The latter were regarded as more elegant, for they laid great stress on having shoes well-fitting and not too wide. They said of people who wore too comfortable shoes that they “swam about” in them. It was a mark of poverty or avarice to wear patched boots, and heavy nailed shoes were only worn by soldiers or country people, and for others were regarded as a mark of rusticity.
The material used was, as a rule, leather, but occasionally felt. They were mostly black; but we also find coloured shoes mentioned, especially for women, and sometimes see them represented on polychrome vases.
Stockings were unknown to antiquity, but sometimes in extreme cold it was the custom to wrap fur or felt round the legs. Thus, in Homer, old Laertes, when doing rough work in his garden wears gaiters of neat’s leather, and also gloves to protect himself against the thorns. As a rule, the latter were also unknown; only actors wore something of the kind, but their object was, by apparent lengthening of the arms, to harmonise them with the artificial increase in height.
Fig. 35.
As a rule, men went bare-headed, or wore caps in bad weather. Generally speaking, they distinguished, as we do, between hats and caps. The hat, whose distinguishing mark was the brim, bore the name petasos. It originated in Thessaly, but spread to other places, and at Athens was regarded as the characteristic riding hat, and as such was worn with the chlamys by youths. We see many in this dress on the Parthenon frieze. Otherwise the petasos was essentially a part of travelling dress, and, therefore, a usual attribute of Hermes as messenger of the gods. When older men wore the petasos there was generally some distinct reason for it. (Compare Figs. [9] and [9].) The shapes of the petasos on works of art are so various that it is sometimes difficult to tell whether they ought all to be included under the same name.
