According to Sárosi, ambubaiæ were "Syrian female pipers (possibly slaves), mentioned among the domestic entertainers of Roman emperors", referring to Collinson, whose definition reads, however, "Syrian girls who lived in the basement of the Roman circus. It was generally understood that they were prepared, whether from inclination or necessity, to augment their income, by a profession even older than piping… [!]. They would without doubt play upon their own national pipes of Syria, the tibiæ sarranæ, the small pipes of equal length; and the evidence would suggest that they were talented pipers", adding (➺ p.43) that "the great pipers of Greece and Rome were … players of the mouth-blown pipes, not the bagpipes"; NB¹: According to prof. dr. Harm Pinkster (Latin - Dutch dictionary) the term (spelt ambūbāia) is a Syrian loanword, which he defines as a "Syrian female flute player"; NB²: The brief definition in Wiktionary is "a Syrian girl in Rome who played the flute and danced"; NB³: LSJ offers 3 additional definitions: a) "Syrian singing-girl and courtesan", b) "a class of Syrian girls in Rome, who supported themselves by their music and immorality: ambubajarum collegia" (sources: * Hor. S. 1, 2, 1: ambubajarum ministeria, [&] Suet. Ner. 27. — In sing., Petr. 74, 13 [?; ➺ NB⁴]), and c) a definition in German (mentioned in Karl Ernst Georges, Handwörterbuch Lateinisch - Deutsch [which ed.?]): "Bajaderen [temple dancers; ws], i.e. syrische Mädchen, die in Rom durch Flötenspiel u. nebenbei auch wohl durch ein anderes Gewerbe sich nährten [i.e. Syrian girls in Rome, who supported themselves by playing the flute and probably also by another trade; ws]"; NB⁴: ➺ Perseus Digital Library, which fortunately (and usefully) provides detailed information regarding two of the sources mentioned by LSJ.