Note 1485 — PERSIUS.

Sessilis obba. Sessilis is properly applied to the broad back of a stout horse, affording a good seat ("tergum sessile," Ov., Met., xii., 401), then to any thing resting on a broad base. Obba is a word of Hebrew root, originally applied to a vase used for making libations to the dead. It is the ἄμβιξ of the Greeks (cf. Athen., iv., 152), a broad vessel tapering to the mouth, and answers to the "Caraffe" or "Barile" of the modern Italians.