Editing Suda (section)

==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 is appended with a brief [[chronology]] of the world.{{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]].