Smithsonian Magazine has an article about the discovery of unexpectedly large shoes.  The shoes were excavated from the Roman fort called Magna in northern England. The footware dates to the time of Hadrian's Wall. More than 30 shoes of varying sizes have been found at the fort and about 25% of them are "oversized".  The largest of the old leather shoes measures more than 12.8 inches, about size 14 in the US.  Thousands of shoes have been found at the nearby fort of Vindolanda with just 16 of 3,704 shoes measuring more than 11.8 inches long.  Archaelogists are not sure why some of the shoes are so large… a few theories are they were worn by soldiers with swollen feet or other injuries that required them to wear medical dressings.

There might be other possible explanations, according to Tim Penn, an archaeologist at the University of Reading who is not involved with the project. Maybe the massive shoes were worn by soldiers with swollen feet or other injuries that required them to wear medical dressings, Penn writes in the Conversation.

Alternatively, perhaps the shoes were winter boots that were meant to be worn with several pairs of socks or some kind of insulation. This theory, Penn writes, is supported by a preserved letter that refers to socks and underpants being sent to a soldier stationed there. Historians also know that archers from Syria lived at Magna, and it’s safe to assume that these men would not have been accustomed to the cold climate of northern England, he adds.

Speaking to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Frame also emphasizes that individuals from different parts of the world were likely living and working at Magna two millennia ago.

“When people think about the Romans, they think about Italians,” Frame tells AFP. “They sometimes forget just how broad the empire was and how far it stretched.”