This incredibly preserved Roman legionary’s boot was found at Vindolanda, a fort on Hadrian’s Wall. It fully enclosed the foot and would have had a sturdy sole with hobnails in it. The hobnails protected the boot on long marches and perhaps were also useful in battle for stamping on prone enemies.
July 28, 2026 at 9:20 AM
This incredibly preserved Roman legionary’s boot was found at Vindolanda, a fort on Hadrian’s Wall. It fully enclosed the foot and would have had a sturdy sole with hobnails in it. The hobnails protected the boot on long marches and perhaps were also useful in battle for stamping on prone enemies.
If you’re going to hobnail the shoe, then bloody hobnail the shoe, that’s what I say.
1st/2nd C AD, @vindolandatrust.bsky.social
#FindsFriday
1st/2nd C AD, @vindolandatrust.bsky.social
#FindsFriday
May 29, 2026 at 7:47 AM
If you’re going to hobnail the shoe, then bloody hobnail the shoe, that’s what I say.
1st/2nd C AD, @vindolandatrust.bsky.social
#FindsFriday
1st/2nd C AD, @vindolandatrust.bsky.social
#FindsFriday
Are those real hobnails in your boots or are they just some pale imitation
March 18, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Are those real hobnails in your boots or are they just some pale imitation
New discovery: During excavations at the #Roman fort in Schramberg-Waldmössingen, a Roman workshop for the production of hobnails for the caligae (boots) of Roman soldiers was discovered.
🏺 #archaeology
www.denkmalpflege-bw.de/publikatione...
🏺 #archaeology
www.denkmalpflege-bw.de/publikatione...
September 6, 2025 at 8:14 PM
New discovery: During excavations at the #Roman fort in Schramberg-Waldmössingen, a Roman workshop for the production of hobnails for the caligae (boots) of Roman soldiers was discovered.
🏺 #archaeology
www.denkmalpflege-bw.de/publikatione...
🏺 #archaeology
www.denkmalpflege-bw.de/publikatione...
The roman empire spent a lot of time wearing little skirts and lace-up sandals that also had hobnails, if you need something to think about.
September 15, 2023 at 2:11 AM
The roman empire spent a lot of time wearing little skirts and lace-up sandals that also had hobnails, if you need something to think about.
It's #FindsFriday! Yesterday our curator Andy spotted a Tegula roof tile fragment from Faversham Link Road with cool markings. One (maybe two) booted feet crossed it while it dried in the sun — a direct link to our Romano-British past. #Archaeology #Archives #RomanoBritish #Hobnails #Tilemarks
June 12, 2026 at 8:51 AM
It's #FindsFriday! Yesterday our curator Andy spotted a Tegula roof tile fragment from Faversham Link Road with cool markings. One (maybe two) booted feet crossed it while it dried in the sun — a direct link to our Romano-British past. #Archaeology #Archives #RomanoBritish #Hobnails #Tilemarks
71AD to guard the crossing of the River Aire, the fort yielded these shoes during excavations in the 1970s and 1980s. Found in a waterlogged rubbish pit, the leather survived thanks to oxygen-free clay soils. Their thick leather soles, iron hobnails, and nearby leather
May 15, 2026 at 12:49 PM
71AD to guard the crossing of the River Aire, the fort yielded these shoes during excavations in the 1970s and 1980s. Found in a waterlogged rubbish pit, the leather survived thanks to oxygen-free clay soils. Their thick leather soles, iron hobnails, and nearby leather
The nasty contained in this man must be eating through the soles of his hobnails.
October 31, 2025 at 7:11 AM
The nasty contained in this man must be eating through the soles of his hobnails.
Some colorful Tunisian doors. Intricate designs made with hobnails. 1997; my📸s. @tjmiddleton.bsky.social @lightacandle.bsky.social @riprap007.bsky.social @linda2.bsky.social @robinburcell.bsky.social
November 21, 2024 at 6:33 PM
Some colorful Tunisian doors. Intricate designs made with hobnails. 1997; my📸s. @tjmiddleton.bsky.social @lightacandle.bsky.social @riprap007.bsky.social @linda2.bsky.social @robinburcell.bsky.social
If hobnails are anything like normal nails the sound of these boots in the night will not be that alarming to me
June 23, 2025 at 4:53 PM
If hobnails are anything like normal nails the sound of these boots in the night will not be that alarming to me
HOBNAILS, BABY
December 24, 2024 at 10:57 PM
HOBNAILS, BABY
Cor, been after a pair of these for years…1915 B5 British army boots, made by a company who supplied them for government contracts in the Great War and still use the same pattern. Going to need some breaking in, avoiding wooden floors, or smooth stone or cobbles which are bloody deadly in hobnails…
October 3, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Cor, been after a pair of these for years…1915 B5 British army boots, made by a company who supplied them for government contracts in the Great War and still use the same pattern. Going to need some breaking in, avoiding wooden floors, or smooth stone or cobbles which are bloody deadly in hobnails…
@leeryder.bsky.social and his Wrongicle colleagues must be quaking in their hobnails. The Pope has condemned clickbait. #NUFC
October 10, 2025 at 7:06 AM
@leeryder.bsky.social and his Wrongicle colleagues must be quaking in their hobnails. The Pope has condemned clickbait. #NUFC
i got... A BEATSTICK!!!
previously a perfectly good rolling pin that was being thrown out. carved out the handle part with a knife. its got a light finish with just some beeswax
couldnt decide what else to put on. hobnails. wrist strap. hand wrap. so decided to just leave it 100% wood
previously a perfectly good rolling pin that was being thrown out. carved out the handle part with a knife. its got a light finish with just some beeswax
couldnt decide what else to put on. hobnails. wrist strap. hand wrap. so decided to just leave it 100% wood
May 5, 2026 at 11:00 AM
i got... A BEATSTICK!!!
previously a perfectly good rolling pin that was being thrown out. carved out the handle part with a knife. its got a light finish with just some beeswax
couldnt decide what else to put on. hobnails. wrist strap. hand wrap. so decided to just leave it 100% wood
previously a perfectly good rolling pin that was being thrown out. carved out the handle part with a knife. its got a light finish with just some beeswax
couldnt decide what else to put on. hobnails. wrist strap. hand wrap. so decided to just leave it 100% wood
Hobnails are so good, they're underrepresented!!!!
June 29, 2026 at 3:22 PM
Hobnails are so good, they're underrepresented!!!!
the epic fail army came in the night. shivering beneath our thin covers we heard the hobnails of their boots clicking on the fog shrouded cobblestones
November 9, 2023 at 7:05 PM
the epic fail army came in the night. shivering beneath our thin covers we heard the hobnails of their boots clicking on the fog shrouded cobblestones
echoes of hobnails
through marble halls
rumble of tanks—
the hen house open
to finish what was started
#tanka #NaTankaMo
#TankaPoem #5lines #maytanka
through marble halls
rumble of tanks—
the hen house open
to finish what was started
#tanka #NaTankaMo
#TankaPoem #5lines #maytanka
May 10, 2026 at 3:48 PM
echoes of hobnails
through marble halls
rumble of tanks—
the hen house open
to finish what was started
#tanka #NaTankaMo
#TankaPoem #5lines #maytanka
through marble halls
rumble of tanks—
the hen house open
to finish what was started
#tanka #NaTankaMo
#TankaPoem #5lines #maytanka
Today is the feast of Saint Alban, Britain's protomartyr, who is dear to me for many reasons. I grew up on Mount Saint Alban (DC), and in the 1980s I dug with the Biddles at St. Albans (Herts), where I learned to tell rusted Roman hobnails from the earth that turned red with the martyr's blood. 🕯️🧵
June 22, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Today is the feast of Saint Alban, Britain's protomartyr, who is dear to me for many reasons. I grew up on Mount Saint Alban (DC), and in the 1980s I dug with the Biddles at St. Albans (Herts), where I learned to tell rusted Roman hobnails from the earth that turned red with the martyr's blood. 🕯️🧵
Hobnails and hockey tape....
and a carving knife.
and a carving knife.
August 22, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Hobnails and hockey tape....
and a carving knife.
and a carving knife.
It's difficult not to think of a Roman army in the field as marking their progress by shedding hobnails wherever they went. www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
1,700-year-old Roman marching camps discovered in Germany — along with a multitude of artifacts like coins and the remnants of shoes
Archaeologists in Germany have discovered four Roman marching camps and around 1,500 artifacts, including coins and shoe nails, dating to the third century.
www.livescience.com
January 21, 2026 at 2:51 AM
It's difficult not to think of a Roman army in the field as marking their progress by shedding hobnails wherever they went. www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
#fabulamurina (mouse story) 364
Minimus et Minima filiolo novos calceos fecerunt (Minimus and Minima have made new boots for their little son). clavi Silvio placent; nunc similis tatae est! (Silvius likes the hobnails; now he is like Daddy!)
Minimus et Minima filiolo novos calceos fecerunt (Minimus and Minima have made new boots for their little son). clavi Silvio placent; nunc similis tatae est! (Silvius likes the hobnails; now he is like Daddy!)
December 26, 2024 at 5:32 PM
#fabulamurina (mouse story) 364
Minimus et Minima filiolo novos calceos fecerunt (Minimus and Minima have made new boots for their little son). clavi Silvio placent; nunc similis tatae est! (Silvius likes the hobnails; now he is like Daddy!)
Minimus et Minima filiolo novos calceos fecerunt (Minimus and Minima have made new boots for their little son). clavi Silvio placent; nunc similis tatae est! (Silvius likes the hobnails; now he is like Daddy!)
A well-preserved example of a caliga – a Roman soldiers' leather shoe with hobnails hammered into the leather sole, providing a good traction both in dirt and on rough surfaces. However, on smooth surfaces such as pavement, they were quite slippery.
Photo: Musée d'Archéologie Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Photo: Musée d'Archéologie Saint-Germain-en-Laye
August 23, 2023 at 7:13 AM
A well-preserved example of a caliga – a Roman soldiers' leather shoe with hobnails hammered into the leather sole, providing a good traction both in dirt and on rough surfaces. However, on smooth surfaces such as pavement, they were quite slippery.
Photo: Musée d'Archéologie Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Photo: Musée d'Archéologie Saint-Germain-en-Laye