Researchers Examine Centuries-Old Flip-Flop Sandals on an Ancient Roman Mosaic

Researchers Examine Centuries-Old Flip-Flop Sandals on an Ancient Roman Mosaic

 

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The Villa Romana del Casale, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Sicily, is known for having numerous well-preserved ancient Roman mosaics extracted from its ruins. Originally believed to be an imperial complex, the Villa is now thought to have been the remote home of a member of the Roman elite, used for business and political deals.

The villa boasts many intriguing mosaics, including an infamous scene of “bikini girls,” which features various women participating in athletic challenges. Now, researchers are analyzing another one of the villa’s cryptic mosaics: a pair of Roman flip flops, rendered in high-contrast colors.

The surprising mosaic was first discovered 10 years ago, but it was further analyzed this summer by students and researchers of the ARCHLabs, a program led by the University of Bologna’s Isabella Baldini. The group's research included the flip-flop mosaic, which was decorated as part of the villa’s large bath complex called the frigidarium. Frigidariums featured cold pools and were typically the last room in Roman bath houses.

According to Baldini in an article on Artnet, “Flip-flops are a recurring motif in Late Roman baths, also attested in Spain, Cyrenaica, Cyprus, Jordan, and Asia Minor…the depiction of such a subject serves to characterize the building in question within its aristocratic and international dimension.” The ARCHLabs’ research not only confirms this pattern of observation but also contributes to sitewide efforts in mapping out the Villa Romana del Casale’s large and complex ruins.

While flip flops have a long lineage in world history, they actually varied in design and function in ancient Rome. Roman soldiers wore heavy-duty, even hobnailed sandals called caligae. In contrast, civilians wore soleae, a lighter sandal designed from leather or woven materials that attached to the foot with a thong or a strap. Given the Villa Romana del Casale’s associations with Roman elites, it’s likely that the mosaic’s flip-flops were an iteration of the soleae.

The flip-flop mosaic at the Villa Romana del Casale may seem like a trivial image, but it is a symbol of Roman craftsmanship and visual culture. By transforming an everyday object into a motif, Roman artists embedded status symbols and social markers into spaces of leisure and prestige. What visual markers would do the same for us today?

Researchers analyzed a mosaic depicting a pair of ancient Roman flip flops at the Villa Romana del Casale, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Sicily.

Photo: Carole Raddato via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The villa belonged to a member of the Roman elite and featured numerous mosaics, including the infamous “bikini girls.”

Photo: José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The flip-flop mosaic is believed to serve as a visual motif for the frigidarium room in the villa's large bath complex.

Photo: bepsimage /Depositphotos

This motif was used in Late Roman baths throughout the Roman Empire, indicating a shared vocabulary for status that transcended borders.

Photo: José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sources: Archaeologists Are Investigating an Ancient Mosaic Depicting Sandals That Look Strangely Like Modern Flip-Flops; Archaeologists Look into Flip-Flops Mosaic at Ancient Roman Villa

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