This brooch is in the shape of a Roman shoe. The dots represent the iron
nails that held the shoe sole together. A small loop at the heel end would
originally have had a chain hanging from it. The brooch was found in the
south-eastern part of the City of London near Monument.
Who wore it?
Both men and women wore brooches in the Roman period. Brooches were used
to fasten clothing and as decoration. This type of brooch was popular in
the northern provinces of the Roman Empire in the 2nd century ad, and is
sometimes found in the 3rd century too.
Roman footwear
Roman shoes had soles made of layers of leather held together with either
iron hobnails or leather thongs. The patterns of the nails often formed a
design on the sole. The brooch shows only the sole of the sandal with the
hinged pin on the reverse.
