Stephanus of Byzantium

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Stephen of Byzantium, also known as Stephanus Byzantinus (Greek: Στέφανος Βυζάντιος; fl. 6th century) was the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled Ethnica (Εθνικά). 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 last complete standard edition was 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. A new completely revised edition in German is in preparation by Margarethe Billerbeck.
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 Byzantium in the earlier part of the sixth 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 Fonds Coislin, the library formed by Pierre Séguier.