Underneath the Toga pt 2 (With Naomi Alderman)

Jan 8, 2026

Naomi Alderman is a novelist and games designer known for her acclaimed work, including The Power. In this engaging conversation, she clears up misconceptions about women wearing togas in Ancient Rome, discussing everything from adulteresses to sex workers. Naomi connects historical dress practices to modern cultural insights, reflecting on her Orthodox background and the significance of studying classics. The chat also explores how deep history inspires sci-fi and the literary imagination, finishing with a playful debate on which lost literary work to rescue.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Recording While Awaiting MA Result

Naomi mentioned she was awaiting her MA result while recording the podcast and later passed with distinction.
This personal detail frames her involvement as both student and guest.

INSIGHT

Toga-as-Punishment Questioned

Naomi Alderman questioned the claim that adulterous Roman women were forced to wear the toga and found it implausible.
She argues the toga was an elite male garment, so forcing it on women as disgrace doesn’t fit Augustan Rome’s semiotics.

INSIGHT

Scholia May Mislead On Dress

The supposed evidence for forcing adulteresses into togae rests on late marginal notes (scholia) and likely copying errors.
Naomi reads the scholia as mistranscriptions, not reliable proof of a legal punishment.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Naomi Alderman is an author and games designer. Her books include Disobedience (adapted into a film starring Rachel Weisz), The Power (also an Amazon Prime series) and most recently The Future. She’s also an emerging classicist and reached out to Instant Classics after our episode on the toga came happily close to her MA thesis on the same subject.

In this episode, Naomi sets the record straight about when and why women in Ancient Rome may have worn the toga, talks about her interest in the classical world and why studying it gives her solace. Finally, she asks the big question - which Mary and Charlotte answer too - if you could rescue one lost work of literature from the past, what would it be?

This episode was recorded in a moment of immense jeopardy as Naomi waited to discover if she had passed her Classics MA or not. The next day we had our answer. Yes - and with distinction. Which is not surprising based on the evidence of her conversation in this episode.

Content warning: this episode contains mildly explicit comments about sex in the ancient world.

@instaclassicpod for Insta, TikTok and YouTube

@insta_classics for X

email: instantclassicspod@gmail.com

Mary and Charlotte recommend some further reading: all Naomi’s books, games, broadcasts and myriad other activities can be found on her website, naomialderman.com

The question of Roman women (and which Roman women) wearing the toga has been discussed in intricate detail for decades. Naomi’s dissertation clearly disposes of the idea that adulteresses were forced to wear it. But if you want a flavour of the arguments, one of the clearest discussions, yes clearest (!), try Thomas A J McGinn, Prostitution, Sexuality and the Law in Ancient Rome (OUP pb, 1998), esp chap 5.

Mary chose the autobiography of Nero’s mother, Agrippina, as her favourite “lost work” of the ancient world. There is more on this in A. A. Barrett’s Agrippina, Mother of Nero (Routledge pb, 1999).

Charlotte made a reference to a 19th century science fiction novel whose name she couldn’t remember – it was After London by Richard Jefferies

Instant Classics handmade by Vespucci

Producer: Jonty Claypole

Executive Producer: Natalia Rodriguez Ford

Video Editor: Jak Ford

Theme music: Casey Gibson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices