A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

STATOR. STAURACIUS. 903
evidently thrown off in haste, and probably re- STATOIRIUS, a centurion in the army of P.
garded by their author as trifles of comparatively and Cn. Scipio in Spain, in B. C. 213, was sent by
little importance, produce a much more pleasing these generals as an ambassador to Syphax, the
effect than either the Thebaid or the Achilleid, in king of the Numidians, with whom he remained
which the original strength of expression seems to in order to train foot-soldiers in the Roman tactics
have been worn away by repeated polishing, and (Liv. xxiv. 48, xxx. 28). He appears to be the
the native freedom of the verse to have, been same as the L. Statorius, who afterwards accomshackled and cramped by a laborious process of panied C. Laelius, when he went on an embassy to
correction. Syphax. (Frontin. i. 1. ~ 3).
The Editio Princeps of the Silvae is a quarto STATO'RIUS VICTOR, a rhetorician menvolume, without date and without name of place tioned by the elder Seneca, was, like him, a
or printer, not later probably than 1470. The native of Corduba (Cordova) in Spain. (Senec.
Silvae will be found also in the editions of Catul- Seas. 2.)
lus, Tibullus, and Propertius, which appeared in STAURA'CIUS (:rTavpatKlos), Emperor of
1472, 1475, and 1481, and in the edition of Constantinople, son of the Emperor Nicephorus I.
Catullus of 1473. The text was revised and pub- [NICEPHORUS I.], first the colleague of his father,
lished with a commentary by Domitius Calderinus, and after his death for a short time sole emperor.
in a volume containing also remarks upon Ovid He was solemnly crowned as emperor in the
and Propertius, fol. Rom. Arnold Pannartz, 1475. month of December A. D. 803 in the second year
The best editions are those of Markland, whose of his father's reign in the ambo or pulpit of the
critical notes evince remarkable sagacity, 4to. great Church (St. Sophia) at Constantinople, by
Lond. 1728, and of Sillig, 4to. Dresd. 1827, the hand of the patriarch Tarasius: being altowhich is a reprint of Markland, with some ad- gether unfitted, according to Theophanes, either
ditional matter. in personal appearance, bodily strength, or judgThe Editio Princeps of the Thebais and Achil- ment, for such a dignity. Possibly this unfitness
leis is a folio volume, without date and without arose from his youth, for it was not until Dec. 807,
name of place or printer, but belonging probably to four years after his coronation, that Stauracius was
the year 1470. Besides this there are a consider- married. His bride was Theophano, an Athenian
able number of editions of these poems, either lady, kinswoman of the late Empress Irene
together or separately, printed in the 15th century, [IRENE], who was selected by Nicephorus for his
a sure indication of the estimation in which they son after a careful search among the unmarried
were held. ladies of the empire, notwithstanding she was
The Editio Princeps of the collected works is a already betrothed to a husband, with whom, though
fblio volume, without date, and without name of not fully married to him, her union had been conplace or printer. It contains the commentary of summated. The choice of so contaminated a
Calderinus on the Silvae, and must therefore have partner dishonoured the unhappy prince to whom
been published after the year 1475. No really she was given as a wife, and the unbridled lust of
good edition of Statius has vet appeared. That of Nicephorus cast additional contempt on his son by
Ilurd, which was a work of great promise, was the seduction about the time of the marriage of
never carried beyond the first volume, which con- two youting ladies more beautiful than Theophano,
tains the Silvae only, 8vo. Leips. 1817. The best and who had been selected as competitors with her
for all practical purposes is that which forms one of for the hand of the yottng emperor. In Mayv
the series of Latin Classics by Lemaire. 4 vols. A.D. 811 Stauracius left Constantinople with his
8vo. Paris, 1825-1830. father to take the field against the Bulgarians at
The first five books of the Thebaid were trans- the head of an army, the number of which struck
lated into English verse by Thomas Stephens, 8vo. terror into the heart of the Bulgarian king and
Lond. 1648, and the whole poem by W. L. Lewis, induced him to sue for peace, which was refitsed.
2 vols. 8vo. Oxford, 1767 and 1773. The trans- The first encounters, which were fitvourable to the
lation of the first book by Pope will be found in Greeks, appear to have been directed by Stauracius,
all editions of his works. for his father ascribed them to his skill and good
The Achilleid was translated into English verse fortune. The Bulgarians again sued for peace and
by Howard. 8vo. Lond. 1660. again their suit was rejected. In the following
Of translations into other languages, the only fatal battle, in which Nicephorus was killed and
one of any note is the version into Italian of the the Greek army almost annihilated, Stauracius
Thebaid by Cardinal Bentivoglio, 4to. Rom. 1729, received a wound in or near the spine, under the
and 8vo. Milan, 1821. [W. R.] torture of which he escaped with difficulty to
STA'TIUS PRISCUS. [PRIscvs.] Adrianople. Here hewas proclaimed autocrator,sole
STA'T1US PRO'XIMUS. [PROXIMUS.] emperor, by the officers who surrounded him, and
STA'TIUS QUADRA'TUS. [QUADRATUS.] this announcement was received by those who had
STA'TIUS SEBOISUS. [SEBosvs.] escaped with him from the slaughter with a delight
STA/TIUS TRE'BIUS delivered Compsa, a which evidenced his personal popularity. Michael
town of the Hirpini, to Hannibal after the battle the Curopalata, who had married Procopia, daughter
of Cannae, B. C. 216. (Liv. xxiii. 1.) of Nicephorus, and who had also escaped from the
STA'TIUS VALENS wrote the life of the slaughter, but unwounded, was solicited by some of
emperor Trajan. (Lamprid. Alex. Sever. 48.) his friends toassume the purple *but hedeclined, proSTATOR, a Roman surname of Jupiter, de- fessedly out of regard to the oaths of fealty which
scribing him as staying the Romans in their flight he had taken to Nicephorus and Stauracius, perhaps
from an enemy, and generally'as preserving the ex- from a conviction that the attempt would not sucisting order of thin gs. (Liv. i. 12, x. 37; Cic. Cat. i. ceed. Stauracius was conveyed in a litter to Con13; Flor. i. 1; Senec. De Benef. iv. 7 Plin. stantinople, where he was exhorted by the patriarch
tI. V. ii. 53; August. De Civ. Dei, iii. 13.) [L. S.] Nicephorus [NICEPHORUS, Byzantine writers,
3 -I 4