By JONATHAN BROWN [Independent] – It appears that the Romans made a hitherto secret contribution to global civilisation by pioneering the wearing of socks with sandals.

It is a look which in recent years has become popularised – if that is the right word – by off-duty geography teachers and embarrassing dads, yet new archaeological evidence suggests that the Romans’ famous Italian stylishness may have been ditched to help the colonists cope with the chilly British climate.

Excavations carried out as part of the upgrading of the A1 between Dishforth and Leeming in North Yorkshire have found that rust on the nail in a Roman shoe appeared to bear the impressions of fibres, enough to convince archaeologists that the invaders sported sock-like garments…

Letters have been recovered from a garrison at Hadrian’s Wall have revealed officers and their men begging family back home to send them extra subuclae (vests) and abollae (heavy cloaks).

Another soldier urged his loved ones to send him “Paria udonum ab Sattua solearum duo et subligariorum duo” which translates as “socks, two pairs of sandals and two pairs of underpants”.

Continued at The Independent | More Chronicle & Notices.