View source for Suda

{{Short description|10th century Byzantine encyclopedia}}
{{other uses|Suda (disambiguation)|Souda (disambiguation)}}
{{Italic title}}
[[Image:Suda.jpg|thumb|First page of an early printed edition of the ''Suda'']]
The '''''Suda''''' or '''''Souda''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|uː|d|ə}}; {{langx|grc-x-medieval|Σοῦδα}} {{transliteration|grc-x-medieval|Soûda}} {{IPA|grc-x-medieval|ˈsuða|}}; {{langx|la|Suidae Lexicon}})<ref>[[Thomas Gaisford|Gaisford Thomas]], ed., (1834), ''Suidae Lexicon'', 3 vols.</ref> is a large 10th-century [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] [[encyclopedia]] of the [[History of the Mediterranean region|ancient Mediterranean world]], formerly attributed to an author called '''Soudas''' ({{lang|grc|Σούδας}}) or '''Souidas''' ({{lang|grc|Σουίδας}}). It is an encyclopedic [[lexicon]], written in [[Medieval Greek|Greek]], with 30,000 entries, many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost, and often derived from [[Christianity in the Middle Ages|medieval Christian]] compilers.

==Title==
The exact spelling of the title is disputed.<ref>It is worth noticing that Adler's edition maintains the spelling ''Suida''/{{lang|grc|Σουΐδα}} (as Gaisford's and Bekker's editions did), in continuity with the manuscripts, but modern scholarship prefers ''Suda''/Σούδα.</ref> The transmitted title (''paradosis'') is "Suida", which is also attested in [[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathius]]' commentary on [[Homer]]'s epic poems; several conjectures have been made, both defending it and trying to correct it in "Suda".<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Nuovo |first=Claudia |date=2022 |title=Un'ultima ''teichotaphromachia'' per il lessico ''Suda'' |journal=Jahrbuch der österreichischen Byzantinistik |volume=72 |pages=421–426}}</ref>

* [[Paul Maas (classical scholar)|Paul Maas]] advocated for the {{lang|grc|Σοῦδα}} spelling, connecting it to the Latin verb {{wikt-lang|la|sūdā}}, the second-person singular imperative of {{wikt-lang|la|sudo|sūdāre}}, "to sweat".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Maas |first=Paul |date=1932 |title=Der Titel des "Suidas" |url=https://doi.org/10.1515/byzs.1932.32.1.1 |journal=Byzantinische Zeitschrift |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=1 |doi=10.1515/byzs.1932.32.1.1 |s2cid=191333687 |via=De Gruyter|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
* [[Franz Dölger]] also defended {{lang|grc|Σοῦδα}}, tracing its origins back to Byzantine military lexicon ({{wikt-lang|grc|σοῦδα}}, "ditch, trench", then "fortress").<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dölger |first=Franz |title=Der Titel der sogenannten Suidaslexicons |publisher=Bayerische Akademie des Wissenschaften |year=1936 |series=''Sitzungsberichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Abteilung. Jahrgang'' 1936. ''Heft'' 6 |location=München}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dölger |first=Franz |date=1938 |title=Zur σοῦδα – Frage |journal=Byzantinische Zeitschrift |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=36–57 |doi=10.1515/byzs.1938.38.1.36 |s2cid=191479647}}</ref>
* [[Henri Grégoire (historian)|Henri Grégoire]], starting from a critique to Dölger's interpretation, defended a proposal advanced by one of his pupils, and explained the word {{lang|grc|Σοῦδα}} as the acrostic of {{lang|grc|Συναγογὴ ὀνομάτων ὑπὸ διαφόρων ἀνδρῶν σοφῶν}}, "Collection of names (words) by different learned men", or alternatively {{lang|grc|Συναγογὴ ὀνομαστικῆς ὕλης δι’ ἀλφαβήτου}}, "Collection of lexicographical material in alphabetical order".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grégoire |first=Henri |date=1937 |title=Suidas et son mystère |journal=Les études classiques |volume=6 |pages=346–355}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grégoire |first=Henri |date=1937 |title=Étymologies byzantino-latines |journal=Byzantion |volume=12 |pages=293–300; 658–666}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grégoire |first=Henri |date=1938 |title=La teichotaphromachia |journal=Byzantion |volume=13 |pages=389–391}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grégoire |first=Henri |date=1944–1945 |title=La fin d'une controverse: koptō taphron, taphrokopō |journal=Byzantion |volume=17 |pages=330–331}}</ref> This suggestion was also supported by French Hellenist and Byzantinist [[Alphonse Dain]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dain |first=Alphonse |date=1937 |title=Suda dans les traités militaires |journal=Annuaire de l'Institut de Philologie et d'Histoire Orientales et Slaves |volume=5 |pages=233–241}}</ref>
* [[Silvio Giuseppe Mercati]] wrote on the matter twice: firstly in an article appeared in the academic journal ''Byzantion'',<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mercati |first=Silvio Giuseppe |date=1957 |title=Intorno al titolo dei lessici di Suida-Suda e di Papia |journal=Byzantion |volume=25/26/27 |issue=1 |pages=173–93}}</ref> and later in an expanded version of the same.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mercati |first=Silvio Giuseppe |date=1960 |title=Intorno al titolo dei lessici di Suida-Suda e di Papia |journal=Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Memorie, Classe di Scienze Morali, Storiche e Filologiche |volume=8 |issue=10 |pages=3–50}}</ref> He suggested a link with the Neo-Latin substantive {{wikt-lang|la|guida}} ("guide"), transliterated in Greek as {{lang|grc|γουίδα}} and later miswritten as {{lang|grc|σουίδα}}. This interpretation was strongly criticized by Dölger, who also refused to publish Mercati's first article in the ''Byzantinische Zeitschrift''; on the other hand, Giuseppe Schirò supported it.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schirò |first=Giuseppe |date=1958 |title=Da Suida-Suda a Guida |journal=Archivio Storico per la Calabria e la Lucania |volume=27 |pages=171–176}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schirò |first=Giuseppe |date=1962 |title=Si torna a Suida (= Guida) |journal=Rivista di cultura classica e medioevale |volume=4 |pages=240–241}}</ref>
* [[Bertrand Hemmerdinger]] interpreted Σουΐδας as a [[Doric Greek|Doric]] [[Genitive case|genitive]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hemmerdinger |first=Bertrand |date=1998 |title=Suidas, et non la Souda |journal=Bollettino dei Classici |series=3rd Series |volume=19 |pages=31–32}}</ref>

Other suggestions include Jan Sajdak's theory that {{lang|grc|σοῦδα / σουίδα}} may derive from [[Sanskrit]] {{wikt-lang|sa|सुविद्या}} ''suvidyā'' (which he translated into Latin: ''perfecta cumulataque scientia'', "collected and systemized knowledge");<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sajdak |first=Jan |title=Wielka literatura powszechna Trzaski, Everta i Michalskiego |date=1933 |editor-last=Lam |editor-first=S. |volume=4. Literatury słowiańskie, literatura bizantyjska i nowogrecka |location=Warszawa |pages=723 |chapter=Literatura Bizantyńska |editor-last2=Brückner |editor-first2=A.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sajdak |first=Jan |date=1934 |title=Liber Suda |journal=Poznańskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk. Prace Komisji Filologicznej |volume=7 |pages=249–272}}</ref> Giuseppe Scarpat's link to an unidentified Judas, the supposed author of the Lexicon;<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Scarpat |first=Giuseppe |date=1960–1961 |title=Una nuova ipotesi sull'autore del lessico detto di Suida |journal=Atti del Sodalizio Glottologico Milanese |volume=14 |pages=3–11}}</ref> and Hans Gerstinger's explanation which points at Russian {{wikt-lang|ru|сюда}} ''sjudá'' "here", as the answer to the question "{{lang|grc|τί ποῦ κεῖται;}}" "what and where is it?".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gerstringer |first=Hans |date=1961 |title=Review of: S. G. Mercati, Intorno al titolo dei lessici di Suida-Suda e di Papia, Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Memorie, Classe di scienze morali, storiche e filologiche VIII, 10 (1960) 3–50 |journal=Gnomon |volume=50 |pages=783–785}}</ref> The most recent explanation as of 2024 has been advanced by [[Claudia Nuovo]], who defended Σοῦδα on palaeographical, philological and historical grounds.<ref name=":0" />

==Content and sources==
{{Cquote|quote= {{lang|la|pecus est Suidas, sed pecus aurei velleris}}<br>
[Suidas is cattle, but cattle with a golden fleece]|author=[[Justus Lipsius|Lipsius]]}}

The ''Suda'' is somewhere between a grammatical dictionary and an encyclopedia in the modern sense. It explains the source, derivation, and meaning of words according to the [[philology]] of its period, using such earlier authorities as [[Harpocration]] and [[Helladius (grammarian)|Helladios]].{{sfnp|Chisholm|1911}}{{sfnp|Herbermann|1913}} It is a rich source of ancient and Byzantine history and life, although not every article is of equal quality, and it is an "uncritical" compilation.{{sfnp|Chisholm|1911}}

Much of the work is probably interpolated,{{sfnp|Chisholm|1911}} and passages that refer to [[Michael Psellos]] (c. 1017–1078) are deemed [[Interpolation (manuscripts)|interpolations]] which were added in later copies.{{sfnp|Chisholm|1911}}

===Biographical notices===
This [[lexicon]] contains numerous biographical notices on political, ecclesiastical, and literary figures of the Byzantine Empire to the tenth century, those biographical entries being condensations from the works of [[Hesychius of Miletus]], as the author himself avers. Other sources were the encyclopedia of [[Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus]] (reigned 912–959) for the figures in ancient history, excerpts of [[John of Antioch (chronicler)|John of Antioch]] (seventh century) for [[History of Rome|Roman history]], the chronicle of [[George Hamartolus|Hamartolus]] ([[George Hamartolos|Georgios Monachos]], 9th century) for the Byzantine age{{sfnp|Herbermann|1913}}{{sfnp|Chisholm|1911}}{{Refn|[[Karl Krumbacher]] concluded the two main biographical sources were "Constantine VII for ancient history, Hamartolus (Georgios Monarchos) for the Byzantine age".<ref>Krumbacher, Karl (1897), ''Byzantinische Literatur'', p. 566, cited by {{harvp|Herbermann|1913}}</ref>}}, the biographies of [[Diogenes Laërtius]], and the works of [[Athenaeus]] and [[Philostratus]]. Other principal sources include a lexicon by "[[Eudemus of Rhodes|Eudemus]]," perhaps derived from the work ''On Rhetorical Language'' by Eudemus of Argos.<ref>Krumbacher, Karl, ''Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteratur'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=hRtZVWDfBw8C&pg=PA268 pp. 268f.]</ref>

===Lost scholia===
The lexicon copiously draws from [[scholia]] to the classics ([[Homer]], [[Aristophanes]], [[Thucydides]], [[Sophocles]], etc.), and for later writers, [[Polybius]], [[Josephus]], the ''[[Chronicon Paschale]]'', [[George Syncellus]], [[George Hamartolus]], and so on.{{sfnp|Chisholm|1911}}{{sfnp|Herbermann|1913}} The ''Suda'' quotes or paraphrases these sources at length. Since many of the originals are lost, the ''Suda'' serves as an invaluable repository of literary history, and this preservation of the "literary history" is more vital than the lexicographical compilation itself, by some estimation.{{sfnp|Herbermann|1913}}

==Organization==
[[File:Suda, Vaticanus graecus 1296.jpg|thumb|Page from Vaticanus graecus 1296]]
The lexicon is arranged alphabetically with some slight deviations from common vowel order and place in the Greek alphabet{{sfnp|Chisholm|1911}} (including at each case the homophonous [[Digraph (orthography)|digraphs]], e.g. {{lang|grc-x-medieval|αι, ει, οι}}, that had been previously, earlier in the history of Greek, distinct [[diphthong]]s or vowels) according to a system (formerly common in many languages) called ''antistoichia'' ({{lang|grc-x-medieval|ἀντιστοιχία}}); namely the letters follow phonetically in order of sound according the pronunciation of the tenth century, which was similar to [[Modern Greek phonology|that]] of Modern Greek. The order is:

{{blockquote|{{lang|grc-x-medieval|α, β, γ, δ, αι, ε, ζ, ει, η, ι, θ, κ, λ, μ, ν, ξ, ο, ω, π, ρ, σ, τ, οι, υ, φ, χ, ψ}}<ref>Gaisford, Thomas, ed., (1853) [https://books.google.com/books?id=7OFCgP0UCy4C&pg=PA30 Suidae lexicon: Graecè et Latinè], Volume 1, Part 1, page XXXIX (in Greek and Latin)</ref>}}

In addition, double letters are treated as single for the purposes of collation (as [[gemination]] had ceased to be distinctive). The system is not difficult to learn and remember, but some editors—for example, [[Immanuel Bekker]]—rearranged the ''Suda'' alphabetically.

==Background==
Little is known about the compiler of the ''Suda''. He probably lived in the second half of the 10th century, because the death of emperor [[John I Tzimiskes]] and his succession by [[Basil II]] and [[Constantine VIII]] are mentioned in the entry under "[[Adam (Bible)|Adam]]", which has a brief [[chronology]] of the world appended.{{sfnp|Chisholm|1911}} At any rate, the work must have appeared by the 12th century, since it is frequently quoted from and alluded to by [[Eustathios (archbishop of Thessalonike)|Eustathius]] who lived from about 1115 to about 1195–1196.{{sfnp|Chisholm|1911}} It has also been stated that the work was a [[collaborative writing|collective work]], thus not having had a single author, and that the name which it is known under does not refer to a specific person.{{Sfn|Mazzucchi|2020}}

The work deals with [[Bible|biblical]] as well as [[paganism|pagan]] subjects, from which it is inferred that the writer was a [[Christianity|Christian]].{{sfnp|Chisholm|1911}} In any case, it lacks definite guidelines besides some minor interest in religious matters.{{Sfn|Mazzucchi|2020}}

The standard printed edition was compiled by Danish classical scholar [[Ada Adler]] in the first half of the twentieth century. A modern collaborative English translation, the ''Suda On Line'', was completed on 21 July 2014.<ref>{{cite web|title=The History of the Suda On Line|url=http://www.stoa.org/sol/history.shtml|website=Stoa |access-date=10 July 2015|quote="A translation of the last of the Suda's 31000+ entries was submitted to the database on July 21, 2014 and vetted the next day."}} Also {{cite journal |last1=Mahoney |first1=Anne |title=Tachypaedia Byzantina: The Suda On Line as Collaborative Encyclopedia |journal=Digital Humanities Quarterly |date=2009 |volume=3 |issue=1 |url=http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/003/1/000025/000025.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209045035/http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/003/1/000025/000025.html |archive-date= Dec 9, 2023 }}</ref>

The ''Suda'' has a near-contemporaneous Islamic parallel, the ''[[Al-Fihrist|Kitab al-Fihrist]]'' of [[Ibn al-Nadim]]. Compare also the Latin ''[[Speculum Maius]]'', authored in the 13th century by [[Vincent of Beauvais]].

==Editions==
* {{cite book|editor-last=Küster|editor-first=Ludolf|editor-link=Ludolph Küster|title=Suidae Lexicon, Graece & Latine |place=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=1705}}: [https://archive.org/details/suidaelexicongr01suid/ vol. 1], [https://archive.org/details/suidaelexicongr02suid vol. 2], [https://archive.org/details/suidaelexicongr03suid vol. 3].
* {{cite book|editor-last=Gaisford |editor-first=Thomas |editor-link=Thomas Gaisford |title=Suidae Lexicon|publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |date=1834}}: [https://books.google.com/books?id=fupCAAAAcAAJ vol. 1 (A–Θ)], [https://books.google.com/books?id=XupCAAAAcAAJ vol. 2 (Κ–Ψ)], [https://books.google.com/books?id=BedCAAAAcAAJ vol. 3 (Indices)].
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Bekker |editor-first1=Immanuel |editor-link=August Immanuel Bekker |title=Suidae Lexicon |date=1854 |publisher=G. Reimer |location=Berlin |url=https://archive.org/details/suidaelexicon01bekkgoog/}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Adler|editor-first=Ada |editor-link=Ada Adler |title=Suidae Lexicon |date=1928–38 |publisher=B. G. Teubner |location=Leipzig}} Reprinted 1967–71, Stuttgart.

==See also==
* {{lang|la|[[Natural History (Pliny)|Naturalis Historia]]}} by [[Pliny the Elder]]
* ''[[Etymologicum Magnum]]''
* ''[[Etymologicum Genuinum]]''
* [[Hesychius of Alexandria]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|2}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Sūïdas|noprescript=1}}
* [[Eleanor Dickey|Dickey, Eleanor]].  ''Ancient Greek Scholarship:  a guide to finding, reading, and understanding scholia, commentaries, lexica, and grammatical treatises, from their beginnings to the Byzantine period.'' Oxford, New York:  Oxford University Press, 2006.  {{ISBN|9780195312935}}.
*{{Catholic|wstitle=Suidas|prescript=}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [http://lexicon.katabiblon.com/suda/index.php? Index of the Suda on line]
* [https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-html/ ''Suda'' On Line]. An on-line edition of the Greek (the [[Ada Adler]] edition) with full English translations and commentary.
*[http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/work?id=olbp69034 Suda lexicon] at the [[Online Books Page]]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20231029152638/http://www.physics.ntua.gr/mourmouras/ilias_odysseia/Lexiko/souida.html Suda lexicon in Greek]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:10th-century encyclopedias]]
[[Category:10th century in the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:Byzantine Greek encyclopedias]]
[[Category:Collaborative non-fiction books]]