What are Stephanus pages?

If you read a text by Plato, you may notice numbers and letters in the margins. We call these “Stephanus numbers” or “Stephanus pagination.” They’re named after Henricus Stephanus, who published a famous edition of the collected works of Plato in 1578.

What are the numbers in Plato’s Republic?

Plato’s number is a number enigmatically referred to by Plato in his dialogue the Republic (8.546b).

How do you read Bekker numbers?

Bekker numbers consist of up to three ordered coordinates, or pieces of information: a number, the letter a or b, and another number, which refer respectively to the page number of Bekker’s edition of the Greek text of Aristotle’s works, the page column (a standard page of Bekker’s edition has exactly two columns), and …

Why are the page numbers in Plato called Stephanus numbers?

We call these “Stephanus numbers” or “Stephanus pagination.” They’re named after Henricus Stephanus, who published a famous edition of the collected works of Plato in 1578. And since then, the page numbering from this edition has become a standard part of published Plato texts.

How many columns are there in Stephanus numbers?

Each page of this edition is split into two columns, the right one providing the Greek text and the left one a Latin translation (by Jean de Serres). In between the two columns are printed letters from a to e dividing the column into five sections.

How are Bekker numbers and Stephanus numbers related?

Just as Plato has Stephanus numbers, Aristotle has Bekker numbers (or Bekker pagination). These are named after August Immanuel Bekker, who edited a version of the complete works of Aristotle. Bekker numbers are based on the page numbering used in this edition of Aristotle’s collected writings.

What are the line numbers in Stephanus pagination?

More specific citations may add line numbers, e.g. Symposium 209a5–9, but these generally refer to the lines in John Burnet ‘s Oxford Classical Text, not to Estienne’s line divisions. There are some peculiarities in the Stephanus page numbers.