Thecarbatina (pl.carbatinae) was a kind ofshoe common among the rural poor ofancient Greece andRome fromremote antiquity to around the 3rd century, consisting of a piece ofrawhide pulled around the foot and then tied down to hold it in place. Having noupper or separatesole, the carbatina is among the simplest forms offootwear in the world and is sometimes used as a general name for similar footwear in other cultures.
Latincarbatina was a transcription ofGreekkarbatínē (καρβατίνη), probably cognate withkárphō (κἁρφω) and originally meaning something like "made ofdried skin" or "hide".[2] Rather than referring to allleather shoes, however, use seems to be entirely restricted to simple forms of shoes worn by the rural poor or to footwear hastily assembled from limited materials.[2][3] It is used inAristotle for a similarly basic covering used to protect the feet ofcamels[4] and inPhilo for a thick leather tarp used as protection by attackers duringsieges.[5][6]
The usual Greek carbatina was a single piece ofrawhide[2] with the outer edge cut into thongs or having holes for thongs to be inserted. It was worn by stepping onto the open hide, pulling the sides up over the foot, and tying the thongs together to secure it.[7] Carbatinae are sometimes mistakenly said to resemble modernballet shoes ormoccasins,[8][9] but this is only true in the sense of having a simple and mostly unpaddedsole. Because of the simple sole, by the medieval period carbatina-style shoes were typically worn with some form offootwrap,sock, or other padding. Simple, cheap, and requiring frequent replacement, carbatinae were seldom decorated, although one studded withopenwork was recovered atPraetorium Agrippinae in the modernNetherlands[10] and the thongs themselves could sometimes be created and interlaced in intricate ways similar toopenwork.
Some authors include with carbatinae any proper leather forms or slightly more complex designs where the rawhide is raised and stitched together along one side to create a heel and provide a better fit[10] or where the hide over the toes is stitched to strengthen it for longer use.[8]
Carbatinae were worn in antiquity by the people of theMiddle East,Greece, andRoman Italy. Easily made without special tools or training, they were the emergency footwear used by theTen Thousandmercenaries during their retreat back to Greece after the execution of their leaders by thesatrapTissaphernes.[2] By the time of theRoman Empire, use was generally restricted to the rural poor[1] although they remained a step up from goingbarefoot, which by then was a mark of extreme poverty orslavery.[9] Carbatinae were seldom used even by poor Romans by the 3rd century,[11] by then having been replaced byshoes,slippers,boots, and other footwear. However, equivalent shoes continued to be worn by theancient Germans, by the subjects oftheir successor states, and by the rural poor generally into theMiddle Ages andEarly Modern Period.
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