concept
Quasillum (wool-basket)
wool-basket
also: quasillo
A small wicker wool-basket, emblematic tool of the Roman working-class or enslaved woman who spun wool. To be 'pressed down by the wool-basket' marks menial labour; Sulpicia uses it to set her aristocratic standing against a low-born rival.
Reading notes
- The Elegies §16 wool-basket
The quasillum was a small wicker wool-basket, the emblematic domestic tool of the Roman working-class woman (a wool-worker or enslaved person). Being 'pressed down by the wool-basket' means engaged in menial spinning work — Sulpicia uses it to contrast her aristocratic status with that of her low-born rival.