sparta and laconia: from prehistory to pre-modern || laconian shoes with roman senatorial laces

Laconian shoes with Roman senatorial lacesAuthor(s): Nicholas SekundaSource: British School at Athens Studies, Vol. 16, SPARTA AND LACONIA: FROM PREHISTORYTO PRE-MODERN (2009), pp. 253-259Published by: British School at AthensStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40960642 .

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26 Laconian shoes with Roman senatorial laces

Nicholas Sekunda

masculine dress might be used to declare more than regional identity.

THE LITERARY EVIDENCE

It is clear from a number of ancient literary sources that a distinctive type of shoe existed in ancient times, which was called 'Laconikai' or 'Laconian'.

Aristophanes (Vesp. 1157-62) has the comic character Philokleon take off his own shoes and put on a pair of 'Laconikai' instead. He also mentions 'Laconikai' at Thesm. 142. In Eccl. 314 he mentions the comic character Blepyrus looking for his ejißaoac, which are further defined as Aaxcovixàç at 345. The word eußac is derived from the verb ejißaiva) 'to step', and so has a general meaning of 'marching' or 'walking' shoes, which does not, unfortunately give us any idea of their appearance.

A gloss in Suidas, presumably referring to the occurrence of the word in Aristophanes, runs as follows:

A63 AaxtDvixar ávÔQela Ù7roSr||a,aTa Laconikai: footwear for men

Clearly this gloss simply notes the existence of a type of shoe called 'Laconikai'. Suidas, or the source from which he has drawn his information, needs to have done no more than come across the term in Aristophanes (or some other literary source) and noted it.

A second gloss repeated in a number of sources (Etym. Magn. s.v.; see Poll., Onom. 7. 88; see Lex. Seg. p. 205, 30) tells us that 'Lakonikai' were also called 'haplades', or 'singles', presumably because they were single-soled.

'Antátç eT7TOÔr||iaTOç eíôoç Aax©vixoo.'Qvo|¿áo0r| ôè ànò toö ànXôq xal où xeTexvruiévcoç yeyevfj- G0ai. 'AnXói ôè oi Aáxcoveç, xal ou 7T£QÍ£Qyoi ttgqi xàç xccTaaxeoáç. Singles: A type of Laconian footwear. Named so from their being single and uncomplicated. For the Laconians are simple, and do not take needless trouble in manufacture.

INTRODUCTION

In the Archaic and Classical periods, Greek society was marked by significant regional differences. One aspect of these differences was linguistic variation. Modern philological study has made great advances in identifying the characteristics of the different regional dialects of ancient Greece, and the ancient Greeks themselves were certainly able to identify regional dialects.

Another way in which regional variation was expressed in Greece was through dress, and in particular masculine dress. The study of ancient Greek masculine dress is not a developed branch of archaeological study. Little research has yet been conducted aimed at linking up the literary references describing Greek regional dress with the representational evidence. Furthermore the study of regional dress is extremely difficult. We usually possess nothing more than a bare mention of an item of dress with a regional label in the literary sources, but with no description of its appearance which would allow us to link it up with the representational evidence.

Regional footwear was particularly diverse. App- endix 3, 'Classical Greek footwear terms', in Morrow1 lists regional words for footwear from Ambracia, Argos, Kolophon, Laconia, Patara, Rhodes, Sikyon and Thessaly, as well as distinctive types of Ionian and Attic footwear not given regional names, not to mention Babylonian, Persian, Scythian and Tyrrhenian shoes. This does not exhaust the list. Many more types of Greek regional shoe are mentioned in the ancient literary sources. These references sometimes come in the principal authors such as Herodotus (1.195) or Pausanias (9. 39. 8), who both mention a distinctive type of footwear used in Boeotia. More often we have a bare listing in the Léxica, with no description and no indication as to the source. For example in Hesychius (s.v.) we find the following gloss: xteïôcr Ò7roôr||LiaTOç eiÔOÇ. KQT1T8Ç.

This article seeks to identify the appearance of the Laconian shoe. Given the difficulties encountered in this kind of research, which have been outlined above, the argument presented here is perforce speculative. Nevertheless, this article tries to demonstrate that wearing the Laconian shoe was used to express class identity and political affiliation. In the ancient world l Morrow 1985, 175-84.



254 NICHOLAS SEKUNDA

BRASIDAS THE LACONIAN

In the park in front of the Sparta Museum stand the remains of a life-sized statue of the Laconian senator called Tib. Claudius Brasidas, who was active in the second century AD (fig. 26.1-2). Its original location is unknown, though it is executed in the local Laconian grey-blue marble. The statue base houses an inscription {IG v. 1. 496) 'Klaudion Brasidan tonpatera' which makes it clear that the statue was set up by his son Tib. Claudius Pratolaus (II), the statue evidently being one of a family group. Like many other famous inscriptions found in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this inscription was published without any illustration, and the representational evidence yielded by the statue has never previously been analysed.

The evidence for the career of Tib. Claudius Brasidas has been gathered by Spawforth.2 It is quite possible that Brasidas was a descendant of the famous Lacedaimonian of that name, general during the Peloponnesian war. He was of senatorial rank. This is made clear in a passage in the Digest concerning a case at civil law brought to the court of Marcus Aurelius and involving, as plaintiffs or defendants, the two adult sons of one 'Brasidas Lacedaemonius, vir praetorius'

The statue is of a cloaked figure, but is broken off at the lower legs. The shoes Brasidas wears are very distinctive, and are shown in great detail. The shoes cover the back and sides of the foot, but are open- toed. On the top of the boots is a flap, widening towards the toe, and ending in a distinctive frontal edge with three points formed by two scallops in between. A thong runs from this flap between the big toe and the other toes, and is attached at the bottom to the sole. The flap presumably covers some lacing system. Two bows appear at either side of the flap at the top: presumably the two bow ends of a knot securing the shoe in place. The side view of Brasidas' shoes shows them to have a low sole.

Above the shoe itself a thick lace with decorative endings is wrapped around the lower leg above the ankle, tied in a reef knot at the front. Note that there is no structural connection whatsoever between the lace and knot and the rest of the shoe. The knotted lace was the most distinctive feature of the Roman senatorial boot.

ROMAN SENATORIAL BOOTS

In Roman society social status was shown by footwear. This is demonstrated in FIG. 26.3, based on the research of Goette.3 The calceus equester, the boot of an eques, was without decorative laces. The shoe was plain and

2 Spawforth 1985, 226ff. 3 Goette 1988.

This indicates that when the gloss was first written down, perhaps by Pollux who lived during the reign of Commodus (ad 176-192), the author still knew what 'Laconikai' looked like, for the gloss contains information independent of the mere citation of the term in Aristophanes.

At this point, it is perhaps worth emphasising that the connection the lexicographer makes between the simplicity of the shoe and the simplicity of Laconian lifestyle is his construction, and cannot be taken as evidence for there being any connection between the two in Archaic and Classical times. Furthermore, one cannot argue that the emergence of a uniform type of footwear was connected with the uniformity of lifestyle imposed on the Laconians by their distinctive constitution. As we have seen, distinctive regional dress existed in other areas of Greece not subject to such a restrictive lifestyle.

The simple wLaconikai' need to be distinguished from another, more ornate type of Laconian shoe, for the literary texts also mention another type of shoe called 'Amyklai' or 'Amyklaides'. They seem to have been especially worn by women, for Theocritus (10. 35) informs us that Bambuka has new 'Amyklai' . A number of glosses give us some idea of the nature of these shoes.

Hesychius s.v. 'AjiuxXaíôeç* eíôoç U7roÔTÍjiaTOç 7toXut8^ouç Aaxamxou Amyklaides: a type of very expensive Laconian shoe.

Poll., Onom. 7.88 'AnDxMxSeç Sè èXeuGeQicóreQov |ièv Ò7róSr||xa, 5t|Axh Ô6 XXX'G£1 TÒV TO7TOV.

Amyklädes a shoe more fit for a freeman, it shows the place by means of its name.

Suidas s.v. 'A|LiuxA,ar xóajiióv ti Ôtteq év ttogIv eï^sv ' EnTreSox^fjç. ei%e yàç> xqugouv crecía eux xrjç xecpaXfjç xai á|xúxÀ,aç év tóíç 7tooí %aÀ,xaç. Amyklai: a decorous thing which Empedokles had on his feet. For he had a golden wreath on his head and bronze Amyklai on his feet.

In this article we shall examine the 'Laconikai', and not the Amyklai, which seem to be a highly ornate type of shoe, to be distinguished from the simpler 'Laconikai'.

The information concerning these 'Laconikai' given by these literary sources is insufficient in detail to give us a clear idea of what they may have looked like. Furthermore, no clear representations of Lacedai- monian males dating from the Archaic to Hellenistic periods have survived showing them wearing shoes to which we could link the literary material. We therefore, at least initially, have to look for later archaeological evidence which may help us to identify the appearance of the Laconian shoe.



LACONIAN SHOES WITH ROMAN SENATORIAL LACES 255

Fig. 26.1 (left). Statue base of Tib. Claudius Brasidas outside Sparta Museum (photo: author).

Fig. 26.2 (above). Details of statue base of Tib. Claudius Brasidas outside Sparta Museum (photo: author).

Fig. 26.3. Three types of Roman boot denoting social rank in the imperial period: left, the calceus patricius, worn only by the patricians; centre, the calceus senatorius, worn only by members of the Senate; right, the calceus equester, restricted to members of the equestrian order (drawing after Goette 1988, 451, fig 35 b).

undecorated at the front, while the lacing system was hidden by some kind of cover at the back of the boot.

The boots of both the senator (calceus senatorius) and of the patrician (calceus patricius) were similar. The plain, closed, frontal shoe was in this case crossed by two broad laces, which were then wrapped round the ankle and lower calf in a sort of gaiter arrangement.

The laces were then tied at the front of this gaiter in a reef knot, and the decorative tasselled ends fell at either side of the knot.4 According to the researches of

4 Goldman 1994, 116-19.




Lacedaimonian political revolution instituted by Agis and Cleomenes, the Achaean League turned against the Spartiate residents in Corinth. They ordered all Lacedamonians out of the city, not just those they knew for certain to be Lacedaimonians 'but those whom they suspected to be so from their hair, their shoes or from their clothes or even their names'.

In Classical Athens many conservative political elements, especially the hippeis and the intellectual circles surrounding Socrates and his followers, showed their political sympathies by adopting Laconian dress either in full or in part. Demosthenes (54. 34) refers to those in Athens who 'Laconise with their tritones and haplai shoes'. Like the Laconian shoe, the Laconian himation was also a garment of distinctive appearance, and was called a tribõnes. In other words these philo- Laconians wore Laconian cloaks and shoes overtly to display their political sympathies.

THE LATERAN STATUE OF SOPHOCLES A famous statue of the Athenian tragedian Sophocles in the Lateran Museum has given its name to the so- called 'Lateran Type' portrait of Sophocles (fig. 26.4). Although the statue, which shows Sophocles standing, is not inscribed, it can be securely attributed thanks to three named portrait busts based on the same original.10 The Lateran statue in particular repeats the facial physiognomy of a small bust in the Vatican. The statue presumably goes back to a fourth-century BC original, although this cannot be proved for certain.

Sophocles wears a himation which could perhaps be identified as a Laconian tribõn. His shoes (FIG. 26.5) are of a design practically identical to those worn by Brasidas, except for the senatorial laces, which are absent from Sophocles' shoes. Another minor di- fference is that the shoes worn by Sophocles are open at either side, while the shoes worn by Brasidas are closed. In every other detail, however, they are identical.

The Athenian tragedian Sophocles has been described as 'a moderate oligarch'.11 He is nowhere specifically mentioned as wearing Laconian dress, nor, indeed, as having philo-Laconian sympathies. His political sympathies can, however, be deduced. He is known to have been an associate of Socrates (Plato, Republic 329b). After the failure of the Athenian expedition to Sicily, he was one of the 10 probouloi appointed to take whatever measures they thought appropriate for the current situation (Thuc. 8. 1. 3),

Goette,5 the boots of a senator were finished off with a single knot in front of the gaiter, while the boots of a patrician had two.

Roman senatorial boots were probably coloured scarlet, and the laces may have been coloured black.6 Other sources mention ivory crescents worn on the boots as a badge of rank, although we have little evidence of this in the representational evidence.7 Note that both senatorial and patrician boots are closed-, not open-toed, with laces crossing over the shoe itself and then tied above the ankle. The most distinctive feature of both is the knotted laces.

It is obvious, therefore, that although the boots Brasidas wears are not at all similar to Roman ones in their basic shape: their open toes and flap at the top cannot be typically Roman. Nevertheless, their tasselled, knotted laces are senatorial. It seems, therefore, that the son of Brasidas chose to have his father shown wearing shoes with features which would demonstrate that he was a Roman senator.

But what about the basic, non-Roman, shape of the shoe? I would like to suggest that the shoes Brasidas wears are 'Laconikai'. The side view confirms that they are indeed haplai.

Tib. Claudius Brasidas was an eminent member of Spartan society, holding the patronomate during the years AD 167-77. During the latter half of the second century AD the elite of Laconian society, importantly, delved into its past in order to establish its identity. In the words of Victor Ehrenberg, 'Sparta went through an inner revolution to become a museum of its own past'.8 The search of contemporary Greek society for its Classical origins was one element of the Second Sophistic, which we know best from the evidence dealing with Athens. Nigel Kennell has shown that in the case of Sparta: 'Unlike Athens and the other major cities that possessed a wealth of traditions in arts, philosophy, architecture and the like, which they might draw on to assert their place and uniqueness, an accident of history had endowed the Spartans with only one - their famous way of life.'9

The Laconian shoe was another easily identifiable element of Laconian culture, and a visual one at that. It would only be natural for Tib. Claudius Brasidas to combine Laconian elements with senatorial ones in his chosen shoes. But the Second Sophistic was also a period when the Greeks first began to identify themselves as 'Rhomaioi'. I believe that in the shoes depicted on the statue of Tib. Claudius Brasidas we have archaeological evidence for both these tendencies.

PHILO-LACONISM IN FOOTWEAR

It is clear from a number of literary passages that the wearing of Laconian shoes and other items of Laconian dress constituted a declaration of the wearer's political affiliation. Pausanias (7. 14. 2) tells us that during the political upheavals in the Péloponnèse caused by the

5 Goette 1988. 6 Talbert 1984, 219-20. 7 Although see Sekunda and Hook 1996, 46, with pl. E 2. 8 Ehrenberg 1974, 76. 9 Kennell 1995, 148. io Richter 1984, 206-8. il Vickers, 2005, 38.




Fig. 26.4. The Lateran statue of Sophocles (Photoarchiv, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Rome).

Fig. 26.5. Detail of the Lateran statue of Sophocles showing his shoes (Photoarchiv, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Rome).

and it is known that Sophocles approved of the establishment of the oligarchic régime of the Four Hundred (Arist. Rhet. 3.18).

Given the known political opinions of Sophocles, and given the fact that Brasidas is likely to have chosen to wear Laconian shoes, I would like to suggest that Sophocles also wears Laconian shoes. If this suggestion is correct, the Lateran statue is archaeological confir- mation for the philo-Laconian tendencies of Sophocles.

THE LACONIAN SHOE AS A PHILOSOPHER'S BADGE

During the Classical and early Hellenistic periods 'philo-Laconian' could be understood in two connected senses: that an individual was politically or phil- osophically attracted by the Laconian state. After Lacedaimon ceased to be a significant political power, 'philo-Laconism' came to have a purely philosophical significance: that an individual was conceptually attracted to the Laconian way of life.

According to Athenaeus (5. 215 C), when the Epicurean philosopher Lysias became tyrant of Tarsus he adopted as his dress a crown, a costly cloak, a purple tunic with a central white stripe and white Laconian shoes. The purple tunic with a central white stripe had been the principal item of royal dress of the Persian kings. The white of the shoes is a sign of the priestly nature of Lysias' rule, while the fact that they are

Laconian is presumably a declaration of Lysias' philosophical affiliation.

I would argue, therefore, that when we find shoes of the same type as those worn by Brasidas and Sophocles in statues of the Late Hellenistic and Roman periods, they are generally worn rather as a badge of a philosopher.

In the grounds of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens is one example of a statue depicting a figure wearing shoes of this type, which I came across in the company of Glenn Bugh immediately following the conference at which this paper was delivered. It is a funerary relief (FIG. 26.6), executed in Pentelic marble, an Attic work dating to the mid-second century AD.12 The shoes he wears (fig. 26.7) are very similar indeed to those worn by Sophocles, and I believe we can identify them as 'Laconian'. The inscription (IG ii2 8470) is broken and only part of the patronymic is preserved, which can probably be restored as [Sel]eukos, whereas the ethnic is preserved in full, and informs us that the deceased was a Syrian from Damascus. The Damascene can hardly be wearing his 'Laconikai' as an expression of his nationality, nor, given the date, as an expression of his political sympathies. Rather the deceased presumably wished

12 Heermance 1895, 479-84; Conze 1890-1922, 4.2038, table 442.



Fig. 26.6. Attic relief of the Roman period (courtesy of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens).

Fig. 26. 7. Attic relief of the Roman period, detail of shoes (courtesy of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens).

to declare his adoption of Laconian values, on a philosophical level.

Two further examples come from the Macedonian city of Heracleia Lyncestis. One is a statue to Titus Flavius Orestes dating to the first half of the second century AD (fig. 26.8), and the other an uninscribed broken statue, presumably of a similar date (fig. 26.9). Once again, these shoes are very similar to those worn by Sophocles, which I have sought to identify as 'Laconian', and, if I am correct, they are being worn as a philosopher's badge.

The shoes Brasidas wears are worn to convey a different message: just as the laces declare his status as a Roman and as a senator, the remainder of the shoe declares his status as a Laconian.

THE INFLUENCE OF LACONIAN SHOES ON LATER FASHION

The most distinctive element of the Laconian shoe was its over-folding flap, or tongue, on top. This feature, technically termed a lingula, seems to be an exclusively Laconian feature in the Classical period, although in later periods "the adoption of various forms of lingula sandals became quite widespread.

Morrow emphasised the possibility that the spread in use of lingula sandals during the Late Hellenistic period can be interpreted as 'evidence for the effect of Roman domination in the east, as the sandal form first

Fig. 26.8. Detail of statue of Titus Flavius Orestes from Heracleia Lyncestis (photo: author).





Fig. 26.9. Uninscribed fragment of a statue from Heracleia Lyncestis (photo: author).

appears in Italy',13 citing Italian archaeological evidence from the fourth and third centuries BC. I should like to suggest, however, that the original spread of the use of lingula sandals in the Classical period was in principle due to the adoption and adaptation of Laconian fashion. The adoption of Laconian footwear by important social groups outside Laconia seems to have initially popularised the lingula as a fashion item in footwear.

During the Hellenistic period the significance of regional dress was in decline. Fashion was borrowing and mixing the most popular elements found in Classical dress, but they had lost their original significance. Consequently many sandals shown on

Roman statuary copying Hellenistic originals may have the lingula, but in all other respects are quite distinct from the Laconian shoe.

13 Morrow 1985, 118-20.

REFERENCES

Conze, A., 1 890-1922. Die attischen Grabreliefs. Berlin and Leipzig.

Ehrenberg, V, 1974. Man, State and Deity. Essays in Ancient History. London.

Goette, H. R., 1988. 'Mulleus - Embas - Calceus: Ikonografische Studien zu Römischem Schuwerk', Jdl 103: 401-64.

Goldman, N., 1994. 'Roman footwear', in J. L. Sebasta and L. Bonfante (eds.), The World of Roman Costume. Madison and London: 101-29.

Heermance, T. W., 1895. 'Grave monuments from Athens '''AJA 10:479-85.

Kennell, N. M, 1995. The Gymnasium of Virtue. Education and Culture in Ancient Sparta. Chapel Hill, NC and London.

Morrow, K. D., 1985. Greek Footwear and the Dating of Sculpture. Madison and London.

Richter, G. M. A. (abridged and revised by R. R. R. Smith), 1984. The Portraits of the Greeks. Oxford.

Sekunda, N. and R. Hook, 1996. The Republican Roman Army 200-104 BC. London.

Spawforth, A. J. S., 1985. 'Families at Roman Sparta and Epidaurus: some prosopographical notes', BSA 80: 191-258.

Talbert, R. J. A., 1984. The Senate of Imperial Rome. Princeton.

Vickers, M., 2005. Oedipus and Alcibiades in Sophocles (= Xenia Toruniensia IX). Toruñ.



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