clavus militis
Footsoldiers and centurians wore a heavy sandal-like shoe, the
caliga, that consisted of a thick sole studded on the bottom with nails;
it was bound to the foot and ankle with leather straps.
Umbricius here
identifies the military boot by its most prominent feature, the clavus
or nail that made long marches over difficult terrain possible and served as a weapon against the shoeless.
Gaius Caesar
Germanicus, the Emperor Caligula, was given his nickname by the troops because
of the tiny boots of the common soldier that he wore as a child on campaign in
Germany with his father (Suetonius,
Vita Gai 9).
