CĂLĂTHUS (κάλαθος, also called τάλαρος), usually signified the basket
in which women placed their work, and especially the materials for
spinning. In the following cut a slave, belonging to the class called
_quasillariae_, is presenting her mistress with the calathus.
Baskets of this kind were also used for other purposes, such as for
carrying fruits, flowers, &c. The name of calathi was also given to
cups for holding wine. Calathus was properly a Greek word, though
used by the Latin writers. The Latin word corresponding to it was
_qualus_ or _quasillus_. From _quasillus_ came _quasillaria_, the
name of the slave who spun, and who was considered the meanest of the
female slaves.
[Illustration: Slave presenting a Calathus. (From a Painting on a
Vase.)]
CALCĔUS, CALCĔĀMEN, CALCĔĀMENTUM (ὑποδήμα, πέδιλον), a shoe or boot,
anything adapted to cover and preserve the feet in walking. The use
of shoes was by no means universal among the Greeks and Romans. The
Homeric heroes are represented without shoes when armed for battle.
Socrates, Phocion, and Cato, frequently went barefoot. The Roman
slaves had no shoes. The covering of the feet was removed before
reclining at meals. People in grief, as for instance at funerals,
frequently went barefooted. Shoes may be divided into those in which
the mere sole of a shoe was attached to the sole of the foot by
ties or bands, or by a covering for the toes or the instep [SOLEA;
CREPIDA; SOCCUS]; and those which ascended higher and higher,
according as they covered the ankles, the calf, or the whole of the
leg. To calceamenta of the latter kind, _i.e._ to shoes and boots,
as distinguished from sandals and slippers, the term _calceus_ was
applied in its proper and restricted sense. There were also other
varieties of the _calceus_ according to its adaptation to particular
professions or modes of life. Thus the CALIGA was principally worn
by soldiers; the PERO by labourers and rustics; and the COTHURNUS
by tragedians, hunters, and horsemen. The _calcei_ probably did
not much differ from our shoes, and are exemplified in a painting
at Herculaneum, which represents a female wearing bracelets, a
wreath of ivy, and a panther’s skin, while she is in the attitude
of dancing and playing on the cymbals. The form and colour of the
calceus indicated rank and office. Roman senators wore high shoes
like buskins, fastened in front with four black thongs. They were
also sometimes adorned with a small crescent: we do not find on any
ancient statues the crescent, but we may regard the bottom right hand
figure in the annexed cut as representing the shoe of a senator.
Among the calcei worn by senators, those called _mullei_, from their
resemblance to the scales of the red mullet, were particularly
admired; as well as others called _alutae_, because the leather was
softened by the use of alum.
[Illustration: Greek Shoes. (From ancient Vases.)