I'm really tired of this thread! Nonetheless, yet another suggestion, mostly since both apes and bees seem extraordinarily unlikely to me. Could the word actually be an error for _apris_ 'out of wild boars.' The ablative/dative plural might be odd, but the animal seems much likelier. Ray Lurie 136 Edwards St. New Haven, CT 06511 Tel.: (203) 789-6121 Renaissance Studies Program Yale University