Stephanus of Byzantium

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Stephanus of Byzantium, also known as Stephanus Byzantinus (Latin; Greek Στέφανος Βυζάντιος), fl. 6th century) was the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled Ethnica (Ἐθνικά). Of the dictionary itself only meagre fragments survive, but we possess an epitome compiled by one Hermolaus.

The work is of enormous value for geographical, mythological, and religious information about ancient Greece. The standard modern edition is that of Augustus Meineke (1849), and by convention, references to the text use Meineke's page numbers. The first modern edition of the work was that published by the Aldine Press in 1502.

Hermolaus dedicates his epitome to Justinian; whether the first or second emperor of that name is meant is disputed, but it seems probable that Stephanus flourished in the earlier part of the 6th century, under Justinian I.

The chief fragments remaining of the original work (which certainly contained lengthy quotations from classical authors and many interesting topographical and historical details) are preserved by Constantine Porphyrogennetos, De administrando imperio, ch. 23 (the article Ίβηρίαι δύο) and De thematibus, ii. 10 (an account of Sicily); the latter includes a passage from the comic poet Alexis on the Seven Largest Islands. Another respectable fragment, from the article Δύμη to the end of Δ, exists in a manuscript of the Seguerian library.

[edit] References

[edit] Editions

• Aldus Manutius (pr.), 1502, Στέφανος. Περὶ πολεῶν (Peri poleōn) = Stephanus. De urbibus ("On cities") (Venice).
• Guilielmus Xylander, 1568, Στέφανος. Περὶ πολεῶν = Stephanus. De urbibus (Basel).
• Thomas de Pinedo, 1678, Στέφανος. Περὶ πολεῶν = Stephanus. De urbibus (Amsterdam).
• Claudius Salmasius (Claude Saumaise) and Abraham van Berkel 1688, Στεφάνου Βυζαντίου Ἐθνικὰ κατ' ἐπιτομήν = Stephani Byzantini Gentilia per epitomen, antehac Περὶ πολεῶν De urbibus inscripta (Leiden)
• Karl Wilhelm Dindorf, 1825, Stephanus Byzantinus. Opera, 4 vols. (Leipzig), incorporating notes by L. Holsteinius, A. Berkelius, and T. de Pinedo.
• Augustus Meineke, 1849, Stephani Byzantii ethnicorum quae supersunt (Berlin).

[edit] Further reading

• Smith, W., Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. 3, s.v. "Stephanus" (2) of Byzantium.
• Diller, Aubrey 1938, "The tradition of Stephanus Byzantius", Transactions of the American Philological Association 69: 333-48.
• Bunbury, E.H., 1883, History of Ancient Geography (London), vol. i. 102, 135, 169; ii. 669-71.
• Holstenius, L., 1684 (posth.), Lucae Holstenii Notae et castigationes postumae in Stephani Byzantii Ethnika, quae vulgo Peri poleōn inscribuntur (Leiden).
• Niese, B., 1873, De Stephani Byzantii auctoribus (Kiel)
• Geffcken, J., 1886, De Stephano Byzantio (Göttingen)
• Whitehead, D. (ed.), 1994, From political architecture to Stephanus Byzantius : sources for the ancient Greek polis (Stuttgart).

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Britannica page as a TIFF scan.