The goalposts haven’t moved far in footwear

ONE is an ancient treasure, the other is used by footballers the world over.

Now a French museum has clinched a loan deal for a Roman shoe from Northumberland which is in a league of its own.

The shoe, which was unearthed at the Vindolanda fort on Hadrian’s Wall two years ago, bears a striking resemblance to the modern Adidas Predator football boot.

Now a museum in Arles in the South of France has signed up the shoe to feature in its new exhibition opening this week, titled Roman Army: Power and Glory.

Annual excavations at Vindolanda have unearthed more than 6,000 Roman shoes – more than any other place from the Roman Empire.

Arles in Provence was a Roman provincial capital and has a well-preserved amphitheatre at its centre.

Vindolanda is lending a total of six shoes, including a pair of children’s ones, for the exhibition at the Musée de l’Arles Antiqaue.

“The child’s pair is very rare, in that they are a pair,” said Vindolanda’s Sonya Galloway. “We have more than 6,000 shoes from Vindolanda but only three clearly identifiable pairs.”

The shoe which has become known as the Predator boot is an indoor carbatina, or slipper-style shoe, and compares to a UK size 1.

“What our shoes add to this exhibition is the wider social aspect of the Roman Army the women and children, who are often forgotten about, but the evidence from Vindolanda shows they were very much part of the military community,” said Sonya.

“Once these shoes return from France at the end of April they will go on permanent public display in the new leather evidence room at Vindolanda.

“The Vindolanda shoe collection is worldrenowned. It gives us such a personal insight into the men, women and children who lived at Vindolanda almost 2,000 years ago.”

The Predator shoe was found by volunteers in the annual excavations at Vindolanda, who unearthed an astonishing 421 shoes from a ditch.

“The Roman shoe was meant to be worn indoors so that you did not bring the mud from outside inside,” said Vindolanda director of excavations Dr Andrew Birley.

“It offered comfort and flexibility and its similarity to the Predator shows that good design stands the test of time.”

The ditch was part of the heavily defended early 3rd Century fort at a time of warfare with the northern British tribes.

“It was a time of extreme conflict and the shoes, ranging across the board from babies and young people to men and women, show that the garrison and their families were living inside the fort,” said Andrew.

What has been uncovered is thought to represent more than one shoe for every person based at Vindolanda at that time.

The remains of dogs and cats were also found in the ditch which indicates that when the garrison was withdrawn, they were restricted to taking only items which could be carried on the march, leaving pets and surplus shoes to be dumped in the ditch.

Andrew said: “In the ditch we had the full range of shoes from fashion and ladies’ slippers to marching boots, baby shoes, sandals, indoor and outdoor footwear and bath clogs.

“The shoes are beautifully preserved and represent the whole population of the fort.”

Meanwhile, another Vindolanda find has struck a decidedly festive note – a piece of pottery that features what looks like a Christmas reindeer.

“If only the pottery had also included Santa and more reindeer. But it does look particularly festive,” said Sonya.

Pottery is found in great quantities at Vindolanda during each excavation season – usually into the tens of thousands of sherds per year.

Around December 25 the Romans celebrated Saturnalia, which originated as a farmers’ festival to mark the end of the autumn planting season.

Reporter