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Equestrian Boots 
How to make Roman Officer boots Hellenistic boots or fabricating Roman Officer's boots for Roman recreation festivals Roman Equestrian Boot fabrication and making Roman officer's Hellenistic Equestrian boots
The Roman Officer's Hellenistic style boots are typically worn by Generals and Emperor's in their statues. The boots are mid calf to just below the knee in height and are typically trimmed at the top with animal fur or fabric. A lion head, with the lower jaw missing, is a typical addition to the motif and covers the tie point of the laces. Whether or not the lion head was an appliqué or an actual lion cub skin is debated by archeologist and recreators.

How to make Roman Officer boots Hellenistic boots or fabricating Roman Officer's boots for Roman recreation festivals Roman Equestrian Boot fabrication and making Roman officer's Hellenistic Equestrian boots
The statuary evidence shows many styles from closed to open toe, laced to more sandal like, with some boots being far more elaborate that others




How to make Roman Officer boots Hellenistic boots or fabricating Roman Officer's boots for Roman recreation festivals Roman Equestrian Boot fabrication and making Roman officer's Hellenistic Equestrian boots

I chose to base my boots on those worn by Julius Caesar below; the design sketch was drawn by Gioi from the RomanArmyTalk forum.... many thanks!

How to make Roman Officer boots Hellenistic boots or fabricating Roman Officer's boots for Roman recreation festivals Roman Equestrian Boot fabrication and making Roman officer's Hellenistic Equestrian boots

My Roman Officer's boots began their life as a pair of knee high suede boots that laced on the sides. I had to cut them down to mid calf length, created a small thin template, and cut out the lacing gap in the front.

How to make Roman Officer boots Hellenistic boots or fabricating Roman Officer's boots for Roman recreation festivals Roman Equestrian Boot fabrication and making Roman officer's Hellenistic Equestrian boots

Then, to make the elaborate Hellenistic design, I created a template, cut it out of paper, transferred the design to white leather, and cut that out

How to make Roman Officer boots Hellenistic boots or fabricating Roman Officer's boots for Roman recreation festivals Roman Equestrian Boot fabrication and making Roman officer's Hellenistic Equestrian boots

    I then glued the pattern in place, I had to do this in two parts, first gluing the bottom portion of the design the the top portion. I  followed that by gluing a thin strip of red suede trim to make it all neat, and punched holes for the leather laces.

How to make Roman Officer boots Hellenistic boots or fabricating Roman Officer's boots for Roman recreation festivals Roman Equestrian Boot fabrication and making Roman officer's Hellenistic Equestrian boots
Next it was time to add the lion skin. I cut out a 15" x15" square, a 3.5" diameter hole, and glued it into place at the top of the boot

 
How to make Roman Officer boots Hellenistic boots or fabricating Roman Officer's boots for Roman recreation festivals Roman Equestrian Boot fabrication and making Roman officer's Hellenistic Equestrian boots

To create the rumpled folded look common in the statuary, I bunched the lion skin together with three clothespins, stitched it together at the bottom (you can see the stitched and not stitched example in the 5th image below), and lastly covered the original lace holes with a patch.

 
How to make Roman Officer boots Hellenistic boots or fabricating Roman Officer's boots for Roman recreation festivals Roman Equestrian Boot fabrication and making Roman officer's Hellenistic Equestrian boots

To form the appliqués, I used a plastic lion head as a template, placed it into clay, and then poured resin in, and allowed it to harden up.

I cut out a template and then cut out the lion skin to better match the statues

How to make Roman Officer boots Hellenistic boots or fabricating Roman Officer's boots for Roman recreation festivals Roman Equestrian Boot fabrication and making Roman officer's Hellenistic Equestrian boots

In order to get the appliqués to line up and hang correctly, I would strongly suggest to do the following, cut out your holes, put the clips in place, then add Cold Wielding to the clips. and then place the appliqués on. If you were to attach the metal to the appliqués first and then try to cut the holes out, it's very easy for the holes to be slightly off and the appliqués to hang wrong.

How to make Roman Officer boots Hellenistic boots or fabricating Roman Officer's boots for Roman recreation festivals Roman Equestrian Boot fabrication and making Roman officer's Hellenistic Equestrian boots

This is the look I ended up with

Montage for Roman Army Talk Forum of some of the photos above

How to make Roman Officer boots Hellenistic boots or fabricating Roman Officer's boots for Roman recreation festivals Roman Equestrian Boot fabrication and making Roman officer's Hellenistic Equestrian boots How to make Roman Officer boots Hellenistic boots or fabricating Roman Officer's boots for Roman recreation festivals Roman Equestrian Boot fabrication and making Roman officer's Hellenistic Equestrian boots How to make Roman Officer boots Hellenistic boots or fabricating Roman Officer's boots for Roman recreation festivals Roman Equestrian Boot fabrication and making Roman officer's Hellenistic Equestrian boots How to make Roman Officer boots Hellenistic boots or fabricating Roman Officer's boots for Roman recreation festivals Roman Equestrian Boot fabrication and making Roman officer's Hellenistic Equestrian boots