{{short description|Latin name for a kind of slipper associated to comic actors}} thumb|right|250px|A comedic actor in socci{{sfnp|Smith|1868|p=1067}} A '''soccus''' (pl. '''socci''') or '''sýkkhos''' ({{langx|grc|σύκχος}}, pl. '''sýkkhoi'''), sometimes given in translation as a '''slipper''', was a loosely fitting slip-on shoe<ref name="dic">{{cite book |last=Smith |first=William |date=1868 |title=A Smaller Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dOYRAAAAYAAJ |publisher=John Murray |page=345 |access-date=2016-05-06 |archive-date=2023-11-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231115234604/https://books.google.com/books?id=dOYRAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> in Ancient Greece and Rome with a leather sole and separate leather, bound without the use of hobnails. The word appears to originate from the languages of ancient Anatolia. They were worn by Ancient Greek comedic actors, contrasted with the cothurni worn by tragedians, and were borrowed into Latin and worn by the ancient Romans.<ref name="dic"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Thorburn |first=John E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k3NnUyqzRNYC |title=The Facts on File Companion to Classical Drama |date=2005 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-0-8160-7498-3 |pages=511 |language=en}}</ref> The soccus was considered effeminate, and the emperor Caligula is described as having worn them, possibly as a form of insult.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Davies |first1=Glenys |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nTaCAgAAQBAJ |title=Greek and Roman Dress from A to Z |last2=Llewellyn-Jones |first2=Lloyd |date=2007 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-58916-6 |pages=173 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Olson |first=Kelly |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l9wdU6ysZgEC |title=Dress and the Roman Woman: Self-Presentation and Society |date=2012-08-06 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-12120-5 |pages=57 |language=en |access-date=2023-05-09 |archive-date=2023-11-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231115234729/https://books.google.com/books?id=l9wdU6ysZgEC |url-status=live }}</ref> Later socci became popular with the general public, and several types were listed in the Edict of Diocletian.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GxGPLju4KEkC |title=The World of Roman Costume |date=2001 |publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press |isbn=0-299-13854-2 |editor1-last=Sebesta |editor1-first=Judith Lynn |editor2-last=Bonfante |editor2-first=Larissa |editor2-link=Larissa Bonfante }}</ref> The word was adopted into West Germanic languages for similarly light footwear, eventually becoming English ''socks''.
==See also== {{wiktionary|soccus}} *Clothing in ancient Rome *List of shoe styles
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==Further reading== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20150704235748/http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/soccus-e1115930?s.num=3 Soccus] Brill Online
{{Footwear}} {{Historical clothing}}
Category:Clothing in ancient Rome Category:Historical footwear Category:Ancient Greek comedy Category:Slippers
{{roman-stub}} {{comedy-stub}}