Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
grammarian and the author of an important
geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethnica'' (). Only meagre fragments of the dictionary survive, but the
epitome
An epitome (; gr, ἐπιτομή, from ἐπιτέμνειν ''epitemnein'' meaning "to cut short") is a summary or miniature form, or an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment. Epitomacy represents "t ...
is extant, compiled by one Hermolaus, not otherwise identified.
Life
![Byzantium550](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Byzantium550.png)
Nothing is known about the life of Stephanus, except that he was a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
grammarian who was active in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
, and lived after the time of
Arcadius
Arcadius ( grc-gre, Ἀρκάδιος ; 377 – 1 May 408) was Roman emperor from 383 to 408. He was the eldest son of the ''Augustus'' Theodosius I () and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and the brother of Honorius (). Arcadius ruled the ea ...
and
Honorius, and before that of
Justinian II
Justinian II ( la, Iustinianus; gr, Ἰουστινιανός, Ioustinianós; 668/69 – 4 November 711), nicknamed "the Slit-Nosed" ( la, Rhinotmetus; gr, ὁ Ῥινότμητος, ho Rhinótmētos), was the last Eastern Roman emperor of the H ...
. Later writers provide no information about him, but they do note that the work was later reduced to an
epitome
An epitome (; gr, ἐπιτομή, from ἐπιτέμνειν ''epitemnein'' meaning "to cut short") is a summary or miniature form, or an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment. Epitomacy represents "t ...
by a certain Hermolaus, who dedicated 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
Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...
in the earlier part of the sixth century AD, under
Justinian I
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
.
The ''Ethnica''
Even as an epitome, the ''Ethnica'' is of enormous value for geographical,
mythological
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
, and
religious
Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...
information about
ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
. Nearly every article in the epitome contains a reference to some ancient writer, as an authority for the name of the place. From the surviving fragments, we see that the original contained considerable quotations from ancient authors, besides many interesting particulars, topographical, historical, mythological, and others. Stephanus cites
Artemidorus
Artemidorus Daldianus ( grc-gre, Ἀρτεμίδωρος ὁ Δαλδιανός) or Ephesius was a professional diviner who lived in the 2nd century AD. He is known from an extant five-volume Greek work, the '' Oneirocritica'' or ''Oneirokritikon ...
,
Polybius
Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail.
Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
,
Aelius Herodianus
Aelius Herodianus ( grc-gre, Αἴλιος Ἡρωδιανός) or Herodian (fl. 2nd century CE) was one of the most celebrated grammarians of Greco-Roman antiquity. He is usually known as Herodian except when there is a danger of confusion with t ...
,
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...
,
Thucydides
Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientifi ...
,
Xenophon
Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Anci ...
,
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
and other writers.
The chief fragments remaining of the original work are preserved by
Constantine Porphyrogennetos
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Kar ...
, ''
De administrando imperio
''De Administrando Imperio'' ("On the Governance of the Empire") is the Latin title of a Greek-language work written by the 10th-century Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine VII. The Greek title of the work is ("To yown son Romanos"). It is a domes ...
'', 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 Alexis may refer to:
People Mononym
* Alexis (poet) ( – ), a Greek comic poet
* Alexis (sculptor), an ancient Greek artist who lived around the 3rd or 4th century BC
* Alexis (singer) (born 1968), German pop singer
* Alexis (comics) (1946–1977 ...
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 Fonds Coislin (french: Le fonds Coislin) is a collection (or fonds) of Greek manuscripts acquired by Pierre Séguier, but named after Henri-Charles de Coislin, its second owner. It is now held in the National Library of France, as one of three fonds ...
, the library formed by
Pierre Séguier
Pierre Séguier (; 28 May 1588 – 28 January 1672) was a French statesman, chancellor of France from 1635.
Biography Early years
Séguier was born in Paris to a prominent legal family originating in Quercy. His grandfather, Pierre Séguier (15 ...
.
The first modern printed edition of the work was that published by the
Aldine Press
The Aldine Press was the printing office started by Aldus Manutius in 1494 in Venice, from which were issued the celebrated Aldine editions of the classics (Latin and Greek masterpieces, plus a few more modern works). The first book that was dat ...
in Venice, 1502. The complete standard edition is still that of
Augustus Meineke
Johann Albrecht Friedrich August Meineke (also ''Augustus Meineke''; ; 8 December 179012 December 1870), German classical scholar, was born at Soest in the Duchy of Westphalia. He was father-in-law to philologist Theodor Bergk. (1849, reprinted at Graz, 1958), and by convention, references to the text use Meineke's page numbers. A new completely revised edition in German, edited by B. Wyss, C. Zubler, M. Billerbeck, J.F. Gaertner, was published between 2006 and 2017, with a total of 5 volumes.
[de Gruyter](_blank)
/ref>
Editions
* Aldus Manutius
Aldus Pius Manutius (; it, Aldo Pio Manuzio; 6 February 1515) was an Italian printer and humanist who founded the Aldine Press. Manutius devoted the later part of his life to publishing and disseminating rare texts. His interest in and preserv ...
(pr.), 1502, (''Peri poleōn'') = ''Stephanus. De urbibus'' ("On cities") (Venice)
Google Books
* Guilielmus Xylander
Wilhelm Xylander (born Wilhelm Holtzman, graecized to Xylander; 26 December 153210 February 1576) was a German classical scholar and humanist. He served as rector of Heidelberg University in 1564.
Biography
Born at Augsburg, he studied at Tübin ...
, 1568, = ''Stephanus. De urbibus'' (Basel).
* Thomas de Pinedo, 1678, = ''Stephanus. De urbibus'' (Amsterdam). Contains parallel Latin translation
Google Books
* Claudius Salmasius
Claude Saumaise (15 April 1588 – 3 September 1653), also known by the Latin name Claudius Salmasius, was a French classical scholar.
Life
Salmasius was born at Semur-en-Auxois in Burgundy. His father, a counsellor of the parlement of Dijon, se ...
(Claude Saumaise) and Abraham van Berkel, 1688, = ''Stephani Byzantini Gentilia per epitomen, antehac De urbibus inscripta'' (Leiden). Contains parallel Latin translation
Google Books
* Lucas Holstenius
Lucas Holstenius, born Lukas Holste, sometimes called Holstein (1596 – 2 February 1661), was a German Catholic humanist, geographer, historian, and librarian.
Life
Born at Hamburg in 1596, he studied at the gymnasium of Hamburg, and later ...
, 1692, ''Notae & castigationes in Stephanum Byzantium De urbibus'' (Leiden)
Google Books
* Thomas de Pinedo, 1725, ''Stephanus de urbibus'' (Amsterdam)
Google Books
* Karl Wilhelm Dindorf
Karl Wilhelm Dindorf ( la, Guilielmus Dindorfius; 2 January 1802 – 1 August 1883) was a German classical scholar. He was born and died at Leipzig.
From his earliest years he showed a strong taste for classical studies, and after completing F. ...
, 1825, ''Stephanus Byzantinus. Opera'', 4 vols, (Leipzig). Incorporating notes by L. Holsteinius, A. Berkelius, and T. de Pinedo
Google Books
* Anton Westermann Anton Westermann (18 June 1806, Leipzig – 24 November 1869, Leipzig) was a German classical philologist.
From 1825 to 1830, he studied philology at the University of Leipzig, where in 1833 he became an associate professor of classical philolo ...
, 1839, ''Stephani Byzantii ethnikon quae supersunt'' (Leipzig)
Google Books
* Augustus Meineke
Johann Albrecht Friedrich August Meineke (also ''Augustus Meineke''; ; 8 December 179012 December 1870), German classical scholar, was born at Soest in the Duchy of Westphalia. He was father-in-law to philologist Theodor Bergk. , 1849, ''Stephani Byzantii ethnicorum quae supersunt'' (Berlin)
Google Books
* Margarethe Billerbeck ''et al.'' (edd), ''Stephani Byzantii Ethnica''. 5 volumes: 2006–2017. Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, (Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae 43/1)
/ref>
References
Further reading
* Smith, W., ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...
'', 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.
* E.H. Bunbury, 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)
* Johannes Geffcken, 1886, ''De Stephano Byzantio'' (Göttingen)
* Whitehead, D. (ed.), 1994, ''From political architecture to Stephanus Byzantius : sources for the ancient Greek polis'' (Stuttgart).
{{Authority control
6th-century Byzantine writers
6th-century Byzantine people
Ancient Greek anthologists
Ancient Greek lexicographers
Byzantine geographers
6th-century geographers