concept
Toga (as worn by a prostitute)
toga
also: togae
Here not the citizen's garment but the dress that marked a prostitute or disgraced woman, in contrast to the respectable matron's stola. Sulpicia's gibe sets the 'toga-wearing' rival beneath her own aristocratic rank.
Reading notes
- The Elegies §16 toga
In this context, the 'toga' is a marker of the meretrix (prostitute) class: Roman prostitutes and women of low status wore the toga, while respectable women (matronae) wore the stola. Sulpicia contrasts herself, a woman of the highest aristocratic class, with a 'toga-wearing' rival — a cutting social insult.