It was
commenced
after the completion
tory is miserably defective.
tory is miserably defective.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
]
4. A sister of Mithridates the Great, who was STATI'LIUS CORVINUS. (CORVINUS).
put to death by his orders at Pharnacia, together STATI'LIUS FLACCUS. [Flaccus. ]
with her sister Roxana, and his two wives Bere- STATI'LIUS MA'XIMUS, a Roman gram-
nice and Monima, for fear of their falling as cap- marian, frequently quoted by Charisius, wrote a
tives into the hands of Lucullus. Stateira met her work De Singularibus apud Ciceronem, and Com-
fate with a dignity and composure worthy of her mentaries upon Cato and Sallust. (Charisius, pp.
royal birth. She was about forty years of age, but 175, 192, 176, et alibi, ed. Putschius. )
unmarried. (Plut. Lucull. 18. ) (E. H. B. ] STATI'LIUS SEVE'RUS. (SEVERUS. )
STA'TIA GENS. This name appears to have STATI'LIUS TAURUS, at whose expense
been originally Lucanian or Samnite, for the Statii, the first amphitheatre of stone was built at Rome,
mentioned before the time of Julius Caesar, all is wrongly inserted by some writers in the list of
belong to the nations of southern Italy, with the ancient artists. (See TAURUS, and Dict. of Antig.
solitary exception of T. Statius who is said to have art. Amphitheatrum, 2d ed. )
(P. S. )
been tribune of the plebs at Rome in B. c. 475. The STATI'NUS or STATILI'NUS, a Roman die
Statii first acquired historical importance by the vinity, to whom sacrifices were offered at the time
exploits of L. Statius Murcus, the legatus of Caesar, when a child began to stand or run alone. (August.
whose name appears on coins (Murcus), but none De Civ. Dei, iv. 21 ; Tertullian. De Anim. 39;
of them obtained the consulship during the repub- Varro, ap. Non. p. 528. )
(L. S. )
lican period, and the first person of the name who STATI'RA. [STATEIRA. ]
was raised to this honour was L. Statius Quadratus, STATIUS. 1. T. STATIUS, tribune of the
in A. D. 142. The Statii bore several cognomens, Plebs, B. C. 475, in conjunction with his colleague
which are given below.
L. Caecidius, brought an accusation against Sp. Ser-
STATIANUS, O'PPJUS. (Oppius, No. 17. ) vilius Priscus Structus, the consul of the preceding
STATIANUS, MANLIUS, a senator the year. (Liv. ii. 52. )
reign of Probus, a speech of whose is preserved by 2. Statius, a literary slave of Q. Cicero, whom
Vopiscus. (Prob. 12. )
he subsequently manumitted, had given offence to
STATI’LIA GENS, was originally a Lucanian M. Cicero. (Cic. ad Att. ii. 18, 19, vi. 2, xii. 5,
family, and not a Roman gens. Towards the end ad Q. Fr. i. 2. § 1, i. 3. $ 8, ad Fam. xvi. 16. )
of the republic, however, the Statilii began to take 3. Statius, the Samnite, put to death by the
part in public affairs at Rome, and one of them, triumvirs in B. C. 43 (Appian, B. C. iv. 25), is
namely T. Statilius Taurus, obtained the consul probably the same as the celebrated C. Papins
ship in B. C. 37. All the Statilii of any historical Mutilus, one of the leaders of the Samnites in the
importance bore the cognomen TAURUS. A few | Social war. (MUTILUS. ]
SINE.
3 м 3
## p. 902 (#918) ############################################
902
STATIUS.
STATIUS.
9
.
4. Statius, a tribune of the soldiers in the tian. Dodwell fixes upon A. D. 61 and A. D. 96,
reign of Nero. (Tac. Ann. xv. 60. )
as the epoch of his birth and of his death, but
STA'TIUS ACHILLES. (ACHILLES TA- these conclusions are drawn from very uncertain
Tius. )
premises. Those dates, which can be ascertained
STA'TIUS A'LBIUS OPPIA'NICUS. [Op with precision, will be noted as we review his
PIANICUS. ]
productions in succession.
STA'TIUS ANNAEUS, a friend of the phi- The cxtant works of Statius are: -
losopher Seneca, and well skilled in the art of me- I. Silrarum Libri V. , a collection of thirty-two
dicine, provided Seneca with hemlock in order to occasional poems, many of them of considerable
hasten his death, when the blood did not flow in length, divided into five books. To each book is
sufficient abundance from his veins ; but the poison prefixed a dedication in prose, addressed to some
took no effect. (Tac. Ann. xv. 64. )
friend. The metre chiefly employed is the heroic
STA'TIUS CAECI’LIUS. [CAECILIUS. ) hexameter, but four of the pieces (i. 6, ii. 7, iv. 3,
STATIUS, DOMITIUS, tribune of the sol. 9), are in Phalaecian hendecasyllabics, one (iv. 5)
diers in the reign of Nero, was deprived of his in the Alcaic, and one (iv. 7) in the Sapphic
office on the detection of Piso's conspiracy. (Tac. stanza. The first book was written about A. D. 90
Ann. xv. 71. )
(i. 4. 91), the third after the commencement of A. D.
STA'TIUS GE'LLIUS, a general of the Sam- 94 (iii. 3. 171), the first piece in the fourth book
nites, was defeated by the Romans and taken was composed expressly to celebrate the kalends
prisoner in B. C. 305. (Liv. ix. 44. )
of January, A, d. 95, when Domitian entered upon
STA'TIUS ME'TIUS, held Casilinum for his 17th consulship, and the fifth book appears to
Hannibal in B. C. 214. (Liv. xxiv, 19. )
have been brought to a close in the following
STA'TIUS MURCUS. (Murcus. )
year.
STATIUS, P. PAPI'NIUS, a distinguished II. Thebaidos Libri XII. , an heroic poem in
grammarian, who, after having carried off the palm twelve books, embodying the ancient legends with
in several public literary contests, opened a school regard to the expedition of the Seven against
at Naples, about the year a. D. 39, according to Thebes. It occupied the author for twelve years
the calculations of Dodwell. He subsequently re- (xii. 811), and was not finished until after the
moved to Rome, and at one period acted as the Dacian war, which commenced in A. D. 86 (i. 20),
preceptor of Domitian, who held him in high ho- but had been published before the completion of
nour, and presented him with various marks of the first book of the Silvae (Silv. i. prooem. ; comp.
favour. He was the author of many works in iii. 2. 143, iv. 4. 86, &c. ).
prose and verse, of which no trace remains, and III. Achilleidos Libri II. , an heroic poem
died probably in A. D. 86. By his wife Agellina, breaking off abruptly. According to the original
who survived biro, he had a son
plan, it would have comprised a complete history
P. PAPINIUS STATIUS, the celebrated poet of the exploits of Achilles, but was probably never
Our information with regard to his personal his finished.
It was commenced after the completion
tory is miserably defective. He is named by no of the Thebais (Achil. i. 10), and is alluded to in
ancient author, except Juvenal, so that any know the last book of the Silvae (v. 2. 163, v. 5. 37).
ledge we possess of his family or career has been In some manuscripts this fragment is comprised
gleaned from incidental notices in his own writings, within a single book, in others is divided into five.
and many of these are couched in very ambiguous Statius may justly claim the praise of standing
language. It appears that under the skilful tuition in the foremost rank among the heroic poets of the
of his father he speedily rose to fame, and became Silver Age, and when we remember how few of the
peculiarly renowned for the brilliancy of his ex- extant specimens of the Roman muse belong to
temporaneous effusions, so that he gained the prize this department, we do not feel surprised that
three times in the Alban contests (see Sueton. Dante and Scaliger should have assigned to him a
Dom. 4); but having, after a long career of popu- place immediately after Virgil, provided always
larity, been vanquished in the quinquennial games we regard them as separated by a wide impassable
(Suet. Dom. I. c. ) he retired to Naples, the place of gulph. While by no means deficient in dignity,
his nativity, along with his wife Claudia whom he and not unfrequently essaying lofty flights, he is
married in early life, to whom he was tenderly in a great measure free from extravagance and
attached, and whose virtues he frequently com- pompous pretensions ; but, on the other hand, in
memorates. From the well-known lines of Ju- no portion of his works do we find the impress of
venal, s. vii. 82,-
high natural talent and imposing power. Those
Curritur ad vocem jucundam et carmen amicae
passages which have been most frequently quoted,
Thebaidos, laetam fecit quum Statius Urbem
and most generally admired, display a great com-
Promisitque diem: tanta dulcedine captos
mand of graceful and appropriate language, a live-
liness of imagination which occasionally oversteps
Afficit ille animos, tantaque libidine vulgi
Auditur, sed, quum fregit subsellia versu,
the limits of correct taste, brilliant imagery, pic-
Esurit, intactam Paridi nisi vendat Agavem, -
tures designed with artistic skill, and glowing with
the richest colours, a skilful development of cha-
we should infer that Statius, in his earlier years at racter, and a complete knowledge of the mechanism
least, was forced to struggle with poverty, but he of verse; but they are not vivified and lighted up
appears to have profited by the patronage of Do- by a single spark of true inspiration. The rules of
mitian (Silv. iv. 2), whom in common with Martial art are observed with undeviating accuracy, and
and other contemporary bards he addresses in the most intricate combinations are formed without
strains of the most fulsome adulation. The tale the introduction of a disturbing element; but there
that the emperor, in a fit of passion, stabbed him is a total absence of that simple energy which is
with a stilus, seems to be as completely destitute the surest mark of true genius.
of foundation as the notion that he was a Chris- The pieces which form the Silvae, although
## p. 903 (#919) ############################################
STATOR.
903
STAURACIUS.
evidently thrown off in haste, and probably re- STATORIUS, 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 Roinan 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 accom-
shackled 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 men.
volume, 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. Suas. 2. )
lus, Tibullus, and Propertius, which appeared in STAURA'CIUS (Etavpários), 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 Punnartz, 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 alto-
which is a reprint of Markland, with some ad-gether unfitted, according to Theophanes, either
ditional matter.
in personal appearance, bodily strength, or judg-
The 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
folio volume, without date, and without name of not fully married to him, her union had been con-
place or printer. It contains the commentary of summated. The choice of 60 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 yet appeared. That of Nicephorus cast additional contempt on his son by
Hurd, 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 young 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 young emperor. In May
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 refused.
2 vols. 8vo. Oxford, 1767 and 1773. The trans. The first encounters, which were favourable 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. [PRISCUS. )
Adrianople. Here he was proclaimed autocrator, sole
STA'TIUS PROʻXIMUS. [PROXIMUS. ] emperor, by the officers who surrounded him, and
STA'TIUS QUADRA'TUS. (Quadratus. ] this announcement was received by those who had
STATIUS SEBU'SUS. [Selosus. ]
escaped with him from the slaughter with a delight
STATIUS 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. Screr. 48. ) his friends to assume the purple ; but he declined, pro-
STATOR, 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 suc-
isting order of things. (Liv. i. 12, x. 37 ; Cic
. Cat. i. ceed. Stauracius was conveyed in a litter to Con-
13;
Flor. i. 1; Senec. De Benef. iv. 7; Plin. stantinople, where he was exhorted by the patriarch
H. N. ii. 53; August. De Civ. Dei, iii. 13. ) [L. S. ] | Nicephorus [NICEPHORUS, Byzantine writers,
3 at
## p. 904 (#920) ############################################
904
STELLIO.
STEPHANUS.
a
1
1
No. 9] to seek the Divine mercy and to make | tioned in the Illyrian town of Uscana, which
restitution to those whom his father had oppressed. was compelled to surrender to Perseus. (Liv.
Being,” says Thcophanes “the genuine inheritor xliii. 18, 19. )
of his father's disposition," but perhaps influenced STE'NIUS or STHE'NIUS, a Campanian and
by the exbaustion of the imperial finances through Lucanian name. Stenius was one of the leading
an unfortunate war, he replied, that he could men at Capua, who entertained Hannibal in B. C.
not spare for restitution more than three talents. 216, after the battle of Cannae (Liv. xxiii. 8);
" This,” says the irate historian, " was but a small and Pliny speaks of a Stenius Statilius as a Lu-
part of what he (Nicephorus) had wrongfully canian general. [STATILIUS, No. 1. ]
taken. " The painfulness of his wounds, the STENTOR (ETévtWp), a herald of the Grecks
buggestions of Theophano, who hoped, like Irene, at Troy, whose voice was as loud as that of fifty
to grasp the sceptre, and probably the intrigues of other men together. His name has become pro-
the parties themselves, alienated Stauracius from verbial for any one who screams or shouts with an
his brother-in-law Michael and several of the unusually loud voice. (Hom. II. v. 783 ; Juven.
great officers of the court, and he is said to have Sat. xii. 112. )
(L. S. )
contemplated bequeathing the empire to his wife, STENYCLE'RU'S (EtevúkAmpos), a Messenian
or even restoring the ancient forms of the Roman hero, from whom the Stenyclarian plain was be-
Republic. His courtiers conspired against him, lieved to have derived its name. (Paus. iv. 33.
and Stauracius having proposed to put out the eyes $ 5. )
(L. S. )
of Michael, matters were brought to a crisis ; Mi- STE'PHANUS (Stépavos), historical. 1. One
chael was proclaimed emperor (Oct. 811), and of the two sons of Thucydides, whom Plato men.
Stauracius having put on the habit of a monk, was tions among the instances of those sons of great
deposed, and died soon after his deposition, having men, whom their fathers, though educating them
reigned only two months and six days after his with the utmost care, have been unable to train to
father's death. His widow Theophano embraced excellence (Menon, p. 94, c. d. ). He is mentioned
a monastic life, and employed the wealth which the by Athenaeus (vi.
4. A sister of Mithridates the Great, who was STATI'LIUS CORVINUS. (CORVINUS).
put to death by his orders at Pharnacia, together STATI'LIUS FLACCUS. [Flaccus. ]
with her sister Roxana, and his two wives Bere- STATI'LIUS MA'XIMUS, a Roman gram-
nice and Monima, for fear of their falling as cap- marian, frequently quoted by Charisius, wrote a
tives into the hands of Lucullus. Stateira met her work De Singularibus apud Ciceronem, and Com-
fate with a dignity and composure worthy of her mentaries upon Cato and Sallust. (Charisius, pp.
royal birth. She was about forty years of age, but 175, 192, 176, et alibi, ed. Putschius. )
unmarried. (Plut. Lucull. 18. ) (E. H. B. ] STATI'LIUS SEVE'RUS. (SEVERUS. )
STA'TIA GENS. This name appears to have STATI'LIUS TAURUS, at whose expense
been originally Lucanian or Samnite, for the Statii, the first amphitheatre of stone was built at Rome,
mentioned before the time of Julius Caesar, all is wrongly inserted by some writers in the list of
belong to the nations of southern Italy, with the ancient artists. (See TAURUS, and Dict. of Antig.
solitary exception of T. Statius who is said to have art. Amphitheatrum, 2d ed. )
(P. S. )
been tribune of the plebs at Rome in B. c. 475. The STATI'NUS or STATILI'NUS, a Roman die
Statii first acquired historical importance by the vinity, to whom sacrifices were offered at the time
exploits of L. Statius Murcus, the legatus of Caesar, when a child began to stand or run alone. (August.
whose name appears on coins (Murcus), but none De Civ. Dei, iv. 21 ; Tertullian. De Anim. 39;
of them obtained the consulship during the repub- Varro, ap. Non. p. 528. )
(L. S. )
lican period, and the first person of the name who STATI'RA. [STATEIRA. ]
was raised to this honour was L. Statius Quadratus, STATIUS. 1. T. STATIUS, tribune of the
in A. D. 142. The Statii bore several cognomens, Plebs, B. C. 475, in conjunction with his colleague
which are given below.
L. Caecidius, brought an accusation against Sp. Ser-
STATIANUS, O'PPJUS. (Oppius, No. 17. ) vilius Priscus Structus, the consul of the preceding
STATIANUS, MANLIUS, a senator the year. (Liv. ii. 52. )
reign of Probus, a speech of whose is preserved by 2. Statius, a literary slave of Q. Cicero, whom
Vopiscus. (Prob. 12. )
he subsequently manumitted, had given offence to
STATI’LIA GENS, was originally a Lucanian M. Cicero. (Cic. ad Att. ii. 18, 19, vi. 2, xii. 5,
family, and not a Roman gens. Towards the end ad Q. Fr. i. 2. § 1, i. 3. $ 8, ad Fam. xvi. 16. )
of the republic, however, the Statilii began to take 3. Statius, the Samnite, put to death by the
part in public affairs at Rome, and one of them, triumvirs in B. C. 43 (Appian, B. C. iv. 25), is
namely T. Statilius Taurus, obtained the consul probably the same as the celebrated C. Papins
ship in B. C. 37. All the Statilii of any historical Mutilus, one of the leaders of the Samnites in the
importance bore the cognomen TAURUS. A few | Social war. (MUTILUS. ]
SINE.
3 м 3
## p. 902 (#918) ############################################
902
STATIUS.
STATIUS.
9
.
4. Statius, a tribune of the soldiers in the tian. Dodwell fixes upon A. D. 61 and A. D. 96,
reign of Nero. (Tac. Ann. xv. 60. )
as the epoch of his birth and of his death, but
STA'TIUS ACHILLES. (ACHILLES TA- these conclusions are drawn from very uncertain
Tius. )
premises. Those dates, which can be ascertained
STA'TIUS A'LBIUS OPPIA'NICUS. [Op with precision, will be noted as we review his
PIANICUS. ]
productions in succession.
STA'TIUS ANNAEUS, a friend of the phi- The cxtant works of Statius are: -
losopher Seneca, and well skilled in the art of me- I. Silrarum Libri V. , a collection of thirty-two
dicine, provided Seneca with hemlock in order to occasional poems, many of them of considerable
hasten his death, when the blood did not flow in length, divided into five books. To each book is
sufficient abundance from his veins ; but the poison prefixed a dedication in prose, addressed to some
took no effect. (Tac. Ann. xv. 64. )
friend. The metre chiefly employed is the heroic
STA'TIUS CAECI’LIUS. [CAECILIUS. ) hexameter, but four of the pieces (i. 6, ii. 7, iv. 3,
STATIUS, DOMITIUS, tribune of the sol. 9), are in Phalaecian hendecasyllabics, one (iv. 5)
diers in the reign of Nero, was deprived of his in the Alcaic, and one (iv. 7) in the Sapphic
office on the detection of Piso's conspiracy. (Tac. stanza. The first book was written about A. D. 90
Ann. xv. 71. )
(i. 4. 91), the third after the commencement of A. D.
STA'TIUS GE'LLIUS, a general of the Sam- 94 (iii. 3. 171), the first piece in the fourth book
nites, was defeated by the Romans and taken was composed expressly to celebrate the kalends
prisoner in B. C. 305. (Liv. ix. 44. )
of January, A, d. 95, when Domitian entered upon
STA'TIUS ME'TIUS, held Casilinum for his 17th consulship, and the fifth book appears to
Hannibal in B. C. 214. (Liv. xxiv, 19. )
have been brought to a close in the following
STA'TIUS MURCUS. (Murcus. )
year.
STATIUS, P. PAPI'NIUS, a distinguished II. Thebaidos Libri XII. , an heroic poem in
grammarian, who, after having carried off the palm twelve books, embodying the ancient legends with
in several public literary contests, opened a school regard to the expedition of the Seven against
at Naples, about the year a. D. 39, according to Thebes. It occupied the author for twelve years
the calculations of Dodwell. He subsequently re- (xii. 811), and was not finished until after the
moved to Rome, and at one period acted as the Dacian war, which commenced in A. D. 86 (i. 20),
preceptor of Domitian, who held him in high ho- but had been published before the completion of
nour, and presented him with various marks of the first book of the Silvae (Silv. i. prooem. ; comp.
favour. He was the author of many works in iii. 2. 143, iv. 4. 86, &c. ).
prose and verse, of which no trace remains, and III. Achilleidos Libri II. , an heroic poem
died probably in A. D. 86. By his wife Agellina, breaking off abruptly. According to the original
who survived biro, he had a son
plan, it would have comprised a complete history
P. PAPINIUS STATIUS, the celebrated poet of the exploits of Achilles, but was probably never
Our information with regard to his personal his finished.
It was commenced after the completion
tory is miserably defective. He is named by no of the Thebais (Achil. i. 10), and is alluded to in
ancient author, except Juvenal, so that any know the last book of the Silvae (v. 2. 163, v. 5. 37).
ledge we possess of his family or career has been In some manuscripts this fragment is comprised
gleaned from incidental notices in his own writings, within a single book, in others is divided into five.
and many of these are couched in very ambiguous Statius may justly claim the praise of standing
language. It appears that under the skilful tuition in the foremost rank among the heroic poets of the
of his father he speedily rose to fame, and became Silver Age, and when we remember how few of the
peculiarly renowned for the brilliancy of his ex- extant specimens of the Roman muse belong to
temporaneous effusions, so that he gained the prize this department, we do not feel surprised that
three times in the Alban contests (see Sueton. Dante and Scaliger should have assigned to him a
Dom. 4); but having, after a long career of popu- place immediately after Virgil, provided always
larity, been vanquished in the quinquennial games we regard them as separated by a wide impassable
(Suet. Dom. I. c. ) he retired to Naples, the place of gulph. While by no means deficient in dignity,
his nativity, along with his wife Claudia whom he and not unfrequently essaying lofty flights, he is
married in early life, to whom he was tenderly in a great measure free from extravagance and
attached, and whose virtues he frequently com- pompous pretensions ; but, on the other hand, in
memorates. From the well-known lines of Ju- no portion of his works do we find the impress of
venal, s. vii. 82,-
high natural talent and imposing power. Those
Curritur ad vocem jucundam et carmen amicae
passages which have been most frequently quoted,
Thebaidos, laetam fecit quum Statius Urbem
and most generally admired, display a great com-
Promisitque diem: tanta dulcedine captos
mand of graceful and appropriate language, a live-
liness of imagination which occasionally oversteps
Afficit ille animos, tantaque libidine vulgi
Auditur, sed, quum fregit subsellia versu,
the limits of correct taste, brilliant imagery, pic-
Esurit, intactam Paridi nisi vendat Agavem, -
tures designed with artistic skill, and glowing with
the richest colours, a skilful development of cha-
we should infer that Statius, in his earlier years at racter, and a complete knowledge of the mechanism
least, was forced to struggle with poverty, but he of verse; but they are not vivified and lighted up
appears to have profited by the patronage of Do- by a single spark of true inspiration. The rules of
mitian (Silv. iv. 2), whom in common with Martial art are observed with undeviating accuracy, and
and other contemporary bards he addresses in the most intricate combinations are formed without
strains of the most fulsome adulation. The tale the introduction of a disturbing element; but there
that the emperor, in a fit of passion, stabbed him is a total absence of that simple energy which is
with a stilus, seems to be as completely destitute the surest mark of true genius.
of foundation as the notion that he was a Chris- The pieces which form the Silvae, although
## p. 903 (#919) ############################################
STATOR.
903
STAURACIUS.
evidently thrown off in haste, and probably re- STATORIUS, 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 Roinan 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 accom-
shackled 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 men.
volume, 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. Suas. 2. )
lus, Tibullus, and Propertius, which appeared in STAURA'CIUS (Etavpários), 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 Punnartz, 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 alto-
which is a reprint of Markland, with some ad-gether unfitted, according to Theophanes, either
ditional matter.
in personal appearance, bodily strength, or judg-
The 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
folio volume, without date, and without name of not fully married to him, her union had been con-
place or printer. It contains the commentary of summated. The choice of 60 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 yet appeared. That of Nicephorus cast additional contempt on his son by
Hurd, 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 young 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 young emperor. In May
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 refused.
2 vols. 8vo. Oxford, 1767 and 1773. The trans. The first encounters, which were favourable 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. [PRISCUS. )
Adrianople. Here he was proclaimed autocrator, sole
STA'TIUS PROʻXIMUS. [PROXIMUS. ] emperor, by the officers who surrounded him, and
STA'TIUS QUADRA'TUS. (Quadratus. ] this announcement was received by those who had
STATIUS SEBU'SUS. [Selosus. ]
escaped with him from the slaughter with a delight
STATIUS 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. Screr. 48. ) his friends to assume the purple ; but he declined, pro-
STATOR, 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 suc-
isting order of things. (Liv. i. 12, x. 37 ; Cic
. Cat. i. ceed. Stauracius was conveyed in a litter to Con-
13;
Flor. i. 1; Senec. De Benef. iv. 7; Plin. stantinople, where he was exhorted by the patriarch
H. N. ii. 53; August. De Civ. Dei, iii. 13. ) [L. S. ] | Nicephorus [NICEPHORUS, Byzantine writers,
3 at
## p. 904 (#920) ############################################
904
STELLIO.
STEPHANUS.
a
1
1
No. 9] to seek the Divine mercy and to make | tioned in the Illyrian town of Uscana, which
restitution to those whom his father had oppressed. was compelled to surrender to Perseus. (Liv.
Being,” says Thcophanes “the genuine inheritor xliii. 18, 19. )
of his father's disposition," but perhaps influenced STE'NIUS or STHE'NIUS, a Campanian and
by the exbaustion of the imperial finances through Lucanian name. Stenius was one of the leading
an unfortunate war, he replied, that he could men at Capua, who entertained Hannibal in B. C.
not spare for restitution more than three talents. 216, after the battle of Cannae (Liv. xxiii. 8);
" This,” says the irate historian, " was but a small and Pliny speaks of a Stenius Statilius as a Lu-
part of what he (Nicephorus) had wrongfully canian general. [STATILIUS, No. 1. ]
taken. " The painfulness of his wounds, the STENTOR (ETévtWp), a herald of the Grecks
buggestions of Theophano, who hoped, like Irene, at Troy, whose voice was as loud as that of fifty
to grasp the sceptre, and probably the intrigues of other men together. His name has become pro-
the parties themselves, alienated Stauracius from verbial for any one who screams or shouts with an
his brother-in-law Michael and several of the unusually loud voice. (Hom. II. v. 783 ; Juven.
great officers of the court, and he is said to have Sat. xii. 112. )
(L. S. )
contemplated bequeathing the empire to his wife, STENYCLE'RU'S (EtevúkAmpos), a Messenian
or even restoring the ancient forms of the Roman hero, from whom the Stenyclarian plain was be-
Republic. His courtiers conspired against him, lieved to have derived its name. (Paus. iv. 33.
and Stauracius having proposed to put out the eyes $ 5. )
(L. S. )
of Michael, matters were brought to a crisis ; Mi- STE'PHANUS (Stépavos), historical. 1. One
chael was proclaimed emperor (Oct. 811), and of the two sons of Thucydides, whom Plato men.
Stauracius having put on the habit of a monk, was tions among the instances of those sons of great
deposed, and died soon after his deposition, having men, whom their fathers, though educating them
reigned only two months and six days after his with the utmost care, have been unable to train to
father's death. His widow Theophano embraced excellence (Menon, p. 94, c. d. ). He is mentioned
a monastic life, and employed the wealth which the by Athenaeus (vi.
