When discussing Roman shoes, there are a number of points that are agreed on by scholars, and many that are not agreed upon at all. Many of the terms from the period are unclear, and some views extended of what shoes were what seem fairly speculative. Also, there is often, in the literature, the assumption that a term will mean the same thing through the duration of its usage. In this document, and on the Roman shoe pages I have attempted to refine these arguments as I understand them. If there are errors, they are mine and not the fault of my sources.
Roman footwear, like the Greek, was based primarily on three types of footwear, at least initially. These were the same sandals ("Solae"), Carbatinae, and the marriage of the two in the Calcei. There are other shoes that do not readily fall into these categories, but in general these appear to be the major types of shoe construction. What this means is that many of the items traditionally ascribed as "Roman sandals" actually aren't. For example, the Roman Soldier's "sandal", the caligae, is actually a type of Calcei with a large amount of cutting in the uppers, stitched up the back with a lapped seam, and laced up the front. An additional outer and inner sole were added and hobnailed into place. As the making of the calcei became more developed, the front sometimes began be stitched closed, as with the "latchet shoe". The Calcei had the extra soles attached using a Roman forma, a "last" of iron that shares much in common with the modern "Cobbler's last", an anvil for turning nail points. The use of the separate sole allowed the sole to be replaced when it wore out, and thereby minimizing leather wasted in the upper.
When a man went outdoors, he wore shoes, though they were heavier and less comfortable than sandals. Free men did not appear in public at Rome with bare feet unless they were extremely poor. And it is impolite to wear inside a house shoes worn in the street. If he rode to dinner in a litter, he wore sandals; if he walked, he wore shoes, while his sandals were carried by a slave. It was not correct to wear a toga without shoes, since calcei were worn with all garments classed as amicti (or appropriate "clothing").
Sandals become more acceptable wear for men after about 175 CE, with men's styles and women's diverging (Men's sandal soles becomgin rounder and more blunt in the front, while women's becoming more slender and narrow and developing a large, toe-like projection). In the latter half of the 3rd century sandals become extremely wide, almost triangular1, 2.
It appears that Roman shoes were made with thread for the uppers, and rawhide thonging for the soles. Footwear showed some interesting changes in the 3rd century, with all the medieval forms (sewn construction, butted seams, single later soles, and, as has been suggested, turnshoes) appearing, although rarely. The assymetrical shoe that would become prevalent in the post-Roman era made its first appearance at this time, and it is possible that by this time, wooden lasts were being used, based on the evidence of a last found in Rottweil, in Germany.
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