BOOK XII. XXXII. 63-65 



capital offence for camels so laden to turn aside froin 

 the high road. At Sabota a tithe estimated by 

 measure and not by weight is taken by the priests 

 for the god they call Sabis, and the incense is not 

 allowed to be put on the market until this has been 

 done ; this tithe is drawn on to defray what is a 

 pubHc expenditure, for actually on a fixed number of 

 days the god graciously entertains guests at a 

 banquet. It can only be exported through the 

 country of the Gebbanitae, and accordingly a tax 

 is paid on it to the king of that people as well. 

 Their capital is Thomna, which is 14871 ^* miles 

 distant from the town of Gaza in Judaea on the 

 Mediterranean coast ; the journey is divided into 

 65 stages with halts for camels. Fixed portions of 

 the frankincense are also given to the priests and the 

 king's secretaries, but beside these the guards and 

 their attendants and the gate-keepers and servants 

 also have their pickings : indeed all along the route 

 they keep on paying, at one place for water, at 

 another for fodder, or the charges for lodging at the 

 halts, and the various octrois ; so that expenses 

 mount up to 688 denarii per camel before the Medi- 

 terranean coast is reached ; and then again payment 

 is made to the customs officers of our empire. Conse- 

 quently the price of the best frankincense is 6, of the QuaUtiesof 

 second best 5, and the third best 3 denarii a pound. /~"'^'"<^^^- 

 It is tested by its whiteness and stickiness, its 

 fragihty and its readiness to catch fire from a hot 

 coal ; and also it should not give to pressure of 

 the teeth, and should rather crumble into grains. 

 Among us it is adulterated with drops of white resin, 

 which closely resemble it, but the fraud can be 

 detected by the means specified. ^ ^^* 



47 



