Stephenus or Stephan of Byzantium, was the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled Ethnica. Of the dictionary itself only meagre fragments survive, but we possess an epitome compiled by one Hermolaus, not otherwise identified.
Life
Nothing is known about the life of Stephanus, except that he was a grammarian at Constantinople, and lived after the time of Arcadius and Honorius, and before that of Justinian II. Later writers provide no information about him, but they do note that the work was later reduced to an epitome 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 in the earlier part of the sixth century AD, under Justinian I.
The ''Ethnica''
Even as an epitome, the Ethnica is of enormous value for geographical, mythological, and religious information about ancient Greece. 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, Polybius, Aelius Herodianus, Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Strabo and other writers. The chief fragments remaining of the original work are preserved by Constantine Porphyrogennetos, De administrando imperio, ch. 23 and De thematibus, ii. 10 ; the latter includes a passage from the comic poetAlexis 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. The first modern printed edition of the work was that published by the Aldine Press in Venice, 1502. The complete standard edition is still that of Augustus Meineke, 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.
Thomas de Pinedo, 1678, Στέφανος. Περὶ πόλεων = Stephanus. De urbibus. Contains parallel Latin translation.
Claudius Salmasius and Abraham van Berkel, 1688, Στεφάνου Βυζαντίου Ἐθνικὰ κατ' ἐπιτομήν Περὶ πόλεων = Stephani Byzantini Gentilia per epitomen, antehac De urbibus inscripta. Contains parallel Latin translation.
Lucas Holstenius, 1692, Notae & castigationes in Stephanum Byzantium De urbibus.
Thomas de Pinedo, 1725, Stephanus de urbibus.
Karl Wilhelm Dindorf, 1825, Stephanus Byzantinus. Opera, 4 vols,. Incorporating notes by L. Holsteinius, A. Berkelius, and T. de Pinedo.
Anton Westermann, 1839, Stephani Byzantii ethnikon quae supersunt.
Augustus Meineke, 1849, Stephani Byzantii ethnicorum quae supersunt.
Margarethe Billerbeck et al., Stephani Byzantii Ethnica. 5 volumes: 2006–2017. Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter,
