Note 135 — A. PERSIUS FLACCUS
Reading edition
castoreum, stuppas, hebenum, tus: A mere hodge-podge. Comp. Menand., fr. 720 (4, 279 Mein.): στυππεῖον, ἐλέφαντ᾽, οἶνον, αὐλαίαν, μύρον. The wares are mainly Eastern. Musk came from Pontus, ebony and frankincense from the Far East.—lubrica Coa: ‘slippery Coans,’ may be understood of ‘oily (or laxative) Coan wines,’ Hor., Sat., 2, 4, 29, or of ‘soft Coan vestments,’ which were little more than woven air, Hor., Od., 4, 13, 13. The use of Coa for ‘Coan robes’ is sustained by Ov., A. A., 2, 298: Coa decere puta, even if Hor., Sat., 1, 2, 101, be cavilled at, and the effect is droller.