1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Stephanus Byzantinus

STEPHANUS BYZANTINUS (Stephen of Byzantium), the author of a geographical dictionary entitled Ἐθνικά, of which, apart from some fragments, we possess only the meagre epitome of one Hermolaus. This work was first edited under the title Περὶ πόλεων (Aldus, Venice, 1502); the best modern editions are by W. Dindorf and others (4 vols., Leipzig, 1825), A. Westermann (Leipzig, 1839), and A. Meineke (vol. i., Berlin, 1849). 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 Ἰβηρίαι 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 MS. of the Seguerian library.

See the editions of Westermann, Dindorf and Meineke, above noticed; the article “Stephanus Byzant.,” in Smith’s Dictionary of Ancient Biography, vol. iii.; E. H. Bunbury, History of Ancient Geography, i. 102, 135, 169; ii. 669–671 (London, 1883); Riese, De Stephani Byzant. auctoribus (Kiel, 1873) ; J. Geffcken, De Stephano Byzantio (Göttingen, 1886); Spuridon Kontogones, Διορθωτικὰ εἰς τὰ Ἐθνικά (Erlangen, 1890) ; Paul Sakolowski, Fragmenta d. S. von B. ; E. Stemplinger, Studien zu d. Ἐθνικά.