Shoes, textile and mirrors

The story of a shoemaker (sutor) in Ostia, in the later third century, is told in the "Acts of the Saints", as part of the martyrdom of Aurea:

Sutor autem erat in eodem loco, cuius filius eadem hora mortuus est. Transeunte beato Cyriaco, et Maximo et beata Aurea, militibus Christi, lamentabatur sutor in morte filii sui. Tunc beatus Maximus presbyter dixit ad sutorem: Tu crede in Dominum Iesum Christum coram nobis omnibus, et tu vives, et filium recipies. Ille autem dixit: In quem credamus, numquid in illum, quem a iuventute mea blasphemavi? Beatus Maximus dixit: Poenitentiam age, quia Deus poenitentium est, non reddens secundum nostra peccata; sed secundum magnam misericordiam suam. Sutor autem dixit: Baptizate me in nomine eius, ut credam. Tunc baptizatus etiam factus Christianus, cum accepisset signum Christi, gaudens duxit illos ad filium suum. Quem cum vidissent beatus Cyriacus, et beatus Maximus, cum lacrymis dixerunt: Domine Iesu Christe, qui dignatus es formam servi accipere, ut nos a servitute diaboli liberares, respice in opera manuum tuarum, ut cognoscant te factorem suum et creatorem ac restauratorem suum. Tunc beatus Cyriacus dixit: Domine, in nomine tuo flectimus genua nostra. Cumque orassent diu, dixit beatus Cyriacus: Domine Iesu Christe Nazarene crucifixe, qui Lazarum foetentem resuscitare dignatus es, et filium unicum viduae resuscitasti; ostende in hunc famulum tuum virtutem tuam, ut cognoscat te Dominum vivum et verum creatorem suum, in regeneratione sua, quia tu regnas per omnia saecula saeculorum. Et cum dixissent omnes, Amen, statim revixit qui erat mortuus: et coepit loqui dicens: Ego vidi Dominum Iesum Christum reducentem me de tenebris ad lucem. Tunc catechizavit eum et baptizatus est, et accepit signaculum Christi: quem suscepit beata Aurea. Erat autem plus minus annorum decem, nomine Faustinus.

There was, moreover, a shoemaker in that same place [Ostia], whose son had died at that very hour. While the blessed Cyriacus and Maximus and Aurea, soldiers of Christ, were passing through, the shoemaker was lamenting the death of his son. Then blessed Maximus the presbyter said to the shoemaker: "Believe in the lord Jesus Christ as we all do and you will live and you will receive your son back." However, that man said, "In whom should we believe, surely not in that one whom I have blasphemed against since my youth?" Blessed Maximus said, "Make penance since God is all powerful, repaying us not according to our sins but according to his great compassion." The shoemaker said, "Baptize me in his name so that I may believe." Then, having been baptized and also become Christian, after he had received the sign of Christ, happily he led them to his son. When blessed Cyriacus and blessed Maximus had seen him, they said with tears, "Lord Jesus Christ, you who deemed it worthy to take the shape of a servant, so that you might free us from devilish servitude, look on the work of your hands so that these people might recognize you as agent and creator and restorer. Then blessed Cyriacus said, "Lord, in your name we genuflect." And after they had prayed for a while, blessed Cyriacus said: "Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, crucified, who deemed it worthy to raise foul-smelling Lazarus from the dead, and you who have raised the only son of the widow; show your strength in this servant so that he might recognize you as living lord and as his true creator in his own rebirth since you rule for all the ages of the ages." And after everyone had said Amen, immediately the boy who had died was revived, and began talking, saying, "I saw the lord Jesus Christ leading me from the shadows to light." Then he taught him and the boy, whom blessed Aurea supported as her own, was baptized and he received the sign of Christ. He was about 10 years old, Faustinus by name.

Acta Sanctorum, August, IV, p. 757-761. Translation Douglas Boin.

A female shoemaker (sutrix) is seen on a marble funerary relief, found in two fragments on Via della Fontana and in the Baths of Neptune. Her name is Septimia Stratonice. In her hand she holds a model to make a shoe. The tomb was given to her by a friend, Marcus Acilius Is[---].

HOC SEPVLC[rum] M(arcus) ACILIVS IS[---] CESSIT DON[atione] SEPTIMIA[e Stra] TONICE S[utrici?] AMIC(a)E CA[rissi] M(a)E OB BEN[e facta] AB EA IN SE [dimidia?] PARTE ET[--- Aci] LIO FORT[unati] ANO FILIO [---]

Relief of Septimia Stratonice. Width 0.30, height 0.45
EDR106920. Photo: Uffizi, Florence.

The sole of a leather sandal, found in a boat in the harbour of Claudius.
Museo delle Navi. Photo: Parco Archeologico di Ostia Antica.

A sarcophagus from Ostia has a depiction of a shoemaker and a spinner. According to the Greek inscription, the sarcophagus was ordered by Lucius Atilius Artemas and Claudia Apphias for their friend Titus Flavius Trophimas, from Ephesus. To the left a shoemaker is working on a shoe. Next to him is a cupboard with two pairs of shoe-lasts on top. A man to the right is spinning, pulling threads of wool or flax from a bundle, and with a spindle in his right hand.

The sarcophagus with a shoemaker and a spinner.
Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome. IG XIV, 929. Zimmer 1982, cat. nr. 47. Amedick 1991, cat. nr. 173. Photo: Sarah Bond.

In 1975 a terracotta relief was found in tomb 33 of the Isola Sacra necropolis, in ruins that filled a shaft for inhumation in the floor. On the right is a male figure, preserved up to the chest, showing an open fabric to a customer in front of him, perhaps seated. Of the customer only part of the right arm and hand remains, touching the fabric, and part of a bent leg. The scene is set inside a shop: the fabric is unfolded, so that it is clearly visible to the customer. It lies on top of a quadrangular counter, probably made of wood, resting on four low feet. Drawers seem to be indicated with horizontal lines.

Relief of the sale of textile. Width 0.37, height 0.195.
Photo: Ida Baldassarre (Taglietti 2018, fig. 2).

Body care also involves looking at your face. In 1802 a lid of a sarcophagus was excavated with a depiction of the sale of mirrors. In the centre is a bust of the deceased, holding a scroll. To the right is a griffin. The sale is seen to the left. A man with the facial expression of the deceased, but with different hair, is seated on what might be a folding chair. With his right hand he holds a mirror hanging with a hook on a bar. The salesman stands in front of him and touches the customer's hand (according to Zimmer the male salesman is a reworked female figure). To the right is another mirror.

Sarcophagus with the sale of mirrors.
Vatican Museums, Museo Gregorio Profano. Zimmer 1982, cat. nr. 181. Amedick 1991, cat. nr. 285. Photo: Amedick 1991, Taf. 116,1.

Detail of the sale of mirrors.
Photo: Arachne.

Rims of mirrors found in Ostia.
Photo: ICCD E027321.