The Fall Of The Roman Empire....

was NOTHING.....NOTHING!!!.....compared with the monumental annoyance of the Yearly Fall of the Acorns (or fill in your regional equivalent.....see below).
OUCH, DAMMIT!
:bigcry:

 

I don't know about that - pecans hurt a bunch too.

 

Brambles dammit! They've gone crazy over here recently!

Sx

 

The rise of the roman empire on the other hand might not have been possible without shoes.

 

I've stepped on a few sharp things that have fallen off trees in the past week or so, good job my soles are pretty tough now. I intend to try going barefoot as often as possible through the winter this year, so I'd better get used to it I suppose.

 

That's the sweet thing about going barefoot. Hot pavement used to scare ya? NEVERMORE! Acorns, brambles, pecans, pine needles? HA !!!

TUFF BARE SOLES RULE!

(You dissenters/naysayers post below)

 

You guys are wimps.

Acorns and pecans are afraid of me.

Now sandburrs, mesquite, and the dry needles of some species of pine (the ones with a very hard slender tip, that breaks off and makes you go digging in your foot before you can walk again) are a totally different story.

 

Evidently acorns do.

 

OK, kids, a little clarification.
Yes, I did say that acorns hurt (me).
But not everybody agrees (see RooRshack above).
"Sorry about that, Chief!"

 

That's the sweet thing about not giving a tinker's cuss about being labelled a dissenter or a naysayer. You can ensure that varied, contrasting opinions are a part of the 'equation,' regardless.

 

Able was I ere I saw Elba.
Able was I ere I saw Elba.
Able was I ere I saw Elba.
Able was I ere I saw Elba.
Able was I ere I saw Elba.
Able was I ere I saw Elba.
I regret starting this thread.
Able was I ere I saw Elba.
Able was I ere I saw Elba.
Able was I ere I saw Elba.
Able was I ere I saw Elba.

 

the neverending fall of the discarded heroin needles.

 

Sandals.

 

I think the soldiers wore some kind of shoes (and some even boots) during the empire. Maybe before they wore sandals.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligae

Fun fact:

• Caligula, the emperor whose nickname stemmed from the diminutive of caliga (meaning "little boot"). His father Germanicus was a well esteemed military officer. Germanicus' soldiers nicknamed Caligula, who stayed in camp with them often, after the amusing legionary costume he wore as a child. When Caligula wore caligae as emperor, he covered them with precious jewels.

 

Actually he complained as well. I love bare feet. I nay say the idea that you are onto an indestructible virtue.

 

OK - hobnail sandals is what they sound like from that link.

 

Marching across their empire on their sandals (which as the wiki article tells were mainly for indoor use) would not have brought them the succes that they had But yeah, they're still quite open so they do resemble a sandal.

 

They're actually a decent-looking bit of kit, those (I'm assuming they come in pairs!). It's a long-established convention of course, for women rather than men to partially (or almost fully) display their naked leg-ends in public (side-stepping the contentious issue of 'sexist' objectification for a moment, it's why pedicures and nail polish and shoes with especially thin straps that 'frame,' and heels that elevate and 'display,' came into being, no doubt!), but the above illustrated would seem a great choice for the male of the species, in terms of providing a bit of cushioning (in case of those cheeky, floor-strewn acorns) and allowing a bit of air to circulate, while at the same time sparing the public at large the 'full-blast' sight of wretched man-feet. All hail the partially open-plan, hobnailed calceus!,

 

Whether we call them sandals or open plan boots, they look to me like they'd be quite comfortable.