"The largest Roman shoe ever discovered, found in 2025 at the ancient fort of Magna on Hadrian's Wall in northern England, will be going on display at the Vindolanda Trust's Roman Army Museum in Brampton, Cumbria. It will be joined by some of the other large footwear unearthed at Magna Roman Fort at a new exhibition opening February 7th. Magna was a smaller fort about seven miles west of the major fort of Vindolanda just south of Hadrian's Wall."
"Last summer's excavation uncovered 34 shoes in a variety of sizes from children's to adults. Eight of them were much bigger than average size, starting at 11.8 inches long. The largest of them was 12.8 inches long, the equivalent of a US men's size 14. Michael Jordan wears a size 13.5, just to give you an idea of how huge these shoes are. It's a statistically significant proportion of shoes of unusual size."
"Almost 24% of the shoes discovered so far at Magna are extra large. Meanwhile, of the 5,000 shoes unearthed over 55 years of excavations at Vindolanda, only four or five of them are in the extra large category. [Archaeologist Rachel Frame] said that while it was clear the leather shoes belonged to tall people, the mystery over why the individuals were stationed at the fort remained."
Archaeologists uncovered the largest Roman shoe in 2025 at Magna, a small fort near Hadrian's Wall, and will display it at the Roman Army Museum in Brampton. Excavations at Magna, ongoing since 2023, revealed 34 shoes ranging from children's to adult sizes, eight of which are extra large, starting at 11.8 inches. The largest measures 12.8 inches, equivalent to a US men's size 14. Almost 24% of Magna's shoes are extra large, compared with only four or five among 5,000 shoes from Vindolanda. Researchers note the footwear belonged to tall individuals and suggest a specialist, taller-recruited unit; further excavations aim to identify associated legions via inscriptions and altars.
Read at www.thehistoryblog.com
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