The Ethnica by Stephanus of Byzantium constitute a dictionary of geography and cultural history from the Justinian period that has been transmitted to us in abridged form. They record place names and terms of belonging (ethnica), generally using quotes from source authors. Alongside their value as a source of lexicographical information, where authors' works have been lost, the Ethnica are hugely significant as a source of fragments.

Margarethe Billerbeck and Arlette Neumann-Hartmann, University of Fribourg, Switzerland.