An innkeeper, tavern-keeper, or merchant in ancient Rome.
From Latin 'caupo', likely related to roots meaning 'to buy' or 'to trade'. The word appears in Roman texts referring to those who ran inns and sold food and drink.
Roman 'caupos' were so notorious for watering down wine and cheating travelers that the word itself became a synonym for dishonest dealing—ancient people had the same jokes about shady innkeepers that we do today!
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