Now if the scene of the dinner is actually at Cumae this sounds very peculiar; it might even be a gloss added by some copyist whose knowledge was not equal to his industry.

On the other hand, suppose Trimalchio is speaking of something so commonplace in his locality that the second term has become a generic, then the difficulty disappears.

We today, even though standing upon the very spot in Melos where the Venus was unearthed, would still refer to her as the Venus de Melos.

Friedlaender, in bracketing Cumis, has not taken this sufficiently into consideration.

Mommsen, in an excellent paper (Hermes, 1878), has laid the scene at Cumae.