Straton

• a Peripatetic philosopher, Sen. Q. N. 6, 13, 2.

(Στράτων), historical.

1. A Tyrian, who was preserved by the gratitude of his slave, upon occasion of a general servile insurrection, and was subsequently elected by general consent to be king of Tyre, a dignity which he transmitted to his descendants. No clue is given us to the date of this story, which is recorded only by Justin (18.3), and wears a very fabulous aspect.

2. Son of Gerostratus, the king or dynast of Aradus in Phoenicia at the time of its conquest by Alexander. Gerostratus himself was absent with the Persian fleet, but Straton hastened after the battle of Issus (B. C. 333) to meet the conqueror on his advance into Phoenicia with the offering of a crown of gold, and bearing the submission of Aradus and its dependent cities. (Arrian. Anab. 2.13; Curt. 4.1.6.)

3. King or dynast of Sidon, at the same period, was distinguished for his luxury and voluptuousness, in which he sought to vie with his contemporary Nicocles, king of Salamis (Athen. 12.531). After the conquest of Phoenicia, he was deposed by Alexander on account of the support he had given to Dareius, and his throne conferred upon Abdalonimus, a man in humble circumstances. (Curt. 4.1.16; Diod. 17.47, erroneously re presents him as king of Tyre.)

4. A Greek rhetorician, a friend of M. Brutus, who was present with him at the fatal battle of Philippi (B. C. 42), and having fled with him from the field, was induced to render him a last service by dispatching him with his own sword. He was subsequently reconciled with Octavian, who treated him with distinction, and to whom he rendered good service at the battle of Actium. (Plut. Brut. 52. 53.) [E.H.B]

(Στράτων), literary.

1. An Athenian comic poet of the Middle Comedy, according to Suidas (s. v.), who mentions his play entitled Φοίνιξ, which is, no doubt, the same as the Φοινιτίδηρ, from which a considerable fragment is quoted by Athenaeus (ix. p. 382e.). From the frequency with which the name of the comic poet Strattis occurs corrupted into Straton, some distinguished scholars have supposed that the fragment in Athenaeus should be ascribed to Strattis, and that the comic poet Straton owes his existence solely to the errors of transcribers, followed by Suidas. It has, however, been shown by Meineke, from the internal evidence of the fragment itself, that it could hardly have been written by Strattis, or by any other poet of the Old Comedy; and therefore there is no reason to reject the testimony of Suidas, although it may be doubted whether he is strictly correct in ascribing Straton to the Middle Comedy. If the Philetas mentioned in the fragment be, as seems very probable, the celebrated poet of Cos, who flourished about Ol. 120, Straton ought rather to be referred to the New than to the Middle Comedy. The first three verses of the fragment and the beginning of the fourth were appropriated by Philemon. (Ath. xiv. p. 659b.)

Another comic poet of this name is mentioned by Plutarch (Symp. 5.1), as a contemporary. (Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. ii. pp. 496, 497; Meineke, Frag. Com. Graec. vol. i. pp. 426-428, vol. iv. pp. 545-548, Editio Minor, pp. 1156-1158.)

2. The son of Arcesilaus, of Lampsacus, was a distinguished peripatetic philosopher, and the tutor of Ptolemy Philadelphus. He succeeded Theophrastus as head of the school in Ol. 123, B. C. 288, and, after presiding over it eighteen years, was succeeded by Lycon. (D. L. 5.58.) He devoted himself especially to the study of natural science, whence he obtained, or, as it appears from Cicero, himself assumed the appellation of Physicus (Φυσικός). Cicero, while speaking highly of his talents, blames him for neglecting the most necessary part of philosophy, that which has respect to virtue and morals, and giving himself up to the investigation of nature. (Acad. Quaest. 1.9, de Fin. 5.5.) Works

In the long list of his works, given by Diogenes, several of the titles are upon subjects of moral philosophy, but the great majority belong to the department of physical science. Assessment

The opinions of Straton have given rise to much interesting controversy; but unfortunately the result has been very unsatisfactory on account of the want of positive information. From the few notices of his tenets. which we find in the ancient writers, he appears to have held a pantheistic system, the specific character of which cannot however, be determined. He seems to have denied the existence of any god out of the material universe, and to have held that every particle of matter has a plastic and seminal power, but without sensation or intelligence; and that life, sensation, and intellect, are but forms, accidents, and affections of matter. Some modern writers have regarded Straton as a forerunner of Spinoza, while others see in his system an anticipation of the hypothesis of monads. He has been charged with atheism by Cudworth, Leibnitz, Bayle, and other distinguished writers, and warmly defended by Schlosser, in his Spicilegium historico-philosophicur de Stratone Lampsaceno, cognomine Physico, et atheismo vulgo ei tributo, Vitemberg. 1728, 4to. A good account of the controversy, with references to the writers who have noticed Straton, is given by Harless, in his edition of Fabricius. Further Information

Bibl. Graec. vol. iii. pp. 506-508; C. Nauwerck, de Strat. Lamps. Phil. Disquis. Berol. 1836, 8vo.

3. Another Peripatetic philosopher of Alexandria. (D. L. 5.61.)

4. An historian, who wrote the exploits of Philip and Perseus in their wars with the Romans, and may therefore be supposed to have lived about B. C. 160. (D. L. 5.61.)

5. Of Sardis, an epigrammatic poet, and the compiler of an Anthology.

The time of Straton has been disputed, but it is evident that he lived in the second century of our era; since, on the one hand, he compiled from the Anthology of Philip, who flourished at the end of the first century, and, on the other hand, he is mentioned by Diogenes Laertius (5.61), who wrote most probably at the beginning of the third century. A further indication of his date is derived by Schneider from his mention of the physician Capito, who flourished under Hadrian. Works Μοῦσα παιδική

Straton's Anthology was entitled. from the subject common to all the poems of which it consisted, Μοῦσα παιδική. It is so called in the preface of Constantinus Cephalas to this section of his Anthology. It was composed partly of epigrams compiled from the earlier anthologies of Meleager and Philip, and from other sources, and partly of poems written by Straton himself.

Of the poets comprised in the Garland of Meleager, Straton received thirteen into his collection, namely, Meleager, Dioscorides, Polystratus, Antipater, Aratus, Mnasalcas, Evenus, Alcaeus of Messene, Phanias, Asclepiades, Rhianus, Callimachus, and Poseidippus : of those in the Anthology of Philip, he only took two, namely, Tullius Laureas and Automedon; and to these he added ten others namely, Flaccus, Alpheius of Mytilene, Julius Leonidas, Scythinus, Numenius, Dionysius, Fronto Thymocles, Glaucus, and Diodes. The whole number of poems in the collection is 258, of which 98 are by Straton himself. Edition

The work formed the last section of the Anthology of Constantine [Planudes], and is printed in Jacobs's edition of the Palatine Anthology, c. xii. Assessment

Some of the epigrams of Straton are elegant and clever; but nothing can redeem the disgrace attaching to the moral character of his compilation. Further Information

Brunck, Anal. vol. ii. pp. 359, foil.; Jacobs, Anth. Graec. vol. iii. pp. 68, foll., vol. vi. Proleg. pp. xlvi.--xlix., vol. xiii. pp. 955, 956. [P.S]

(Στράτων), the name of several physicians : --

1. A physician mentioned by Aristotle, who lived probably in the sixth or fifth century B. C., as he is called ἰατρὸς ἀρχαῖος (D. L. 5.3.61).

2. A native of Berytus in Phoenicia, one of whose medical formulae is quoted by Galen (De Compos. Medical. sec. Loc. 4.8. vol. xii. p. 749). He is probably the same person who appears to be quoted by Andromachus the Younger (ap. Galen. ibid. 9.5. vol. xiii. p. 290) and Asclepiades Pharmacion (ibid. p. 303), simply as ὁ Βηρύτιος, and who must have lived some time in or before the first century after Christ. Sprengel and others suppose Straton of Berytus to have been the same person as the follower of Erasistratus, which may possibly be true, but cannot be proved; while, on the other hand, it may be plausibly argued that this physician is called ὁ Βηρύτιος in order to distinguish him from his more celebrated namesake.

3. A pupil of Erasistratus in the third century B. C., who appears to have lived on very intimate terms with his tutor. (D. L. 5.3.61 ; Galen. De Ven. Sect. adv. Erasistr. Rom. Deg. 100.2, vol. xi. p. 197; Oribas. Coll. Medic. 45.23, p. 60, ed. Mai.) He wrote a work to explain the difficult words found in the writings of Hippocrates, which is mentioned by Erotianus (Gloss. Hippocr. s. v. ἄμβην). Like the rest of the followers of Erasistratus, he was averse to blood-letting (Galen. De Ven. Sect. adv. Erasistr. 100.2, vol. xi. p. 151), but could not give any very good reasons for his opinion. He is probably the physician quoted by Alexander Trallianus (1.15, pp. 156, 157), and Aetius (1.2, 3, 4.1, 7, 46, pp. 64, 616, 628). He was tutor to Apollonius of Memphis (Galen. De Diff. Puls. 4.17, vol. viii. p. 759), and not his father, as some have supposed. [Apollonius * Straton is here too positively said to have been the native of Berytus; he ought to have been called the follower of Erasistratus, who may possibly have been " the native of Berytus," but cannot be proved to have been so., p. 246.] See Sprengel's Gesch. der Arzneik. vol. i. pp. 559, 561, ed. 1846.

4. A slave at Rome in the former half of the first century B. C., who was bought by Sassia, the mother of Cluentius, to prepare poisons for her ; and who was afterwards crucified for murder and robbery. (Cic. pro Cluent. cc. 63-66). [W.A.G]

a sculptor, who, with Xenophilus, made, for the temple of Asclepius at Argos, the white marble statues of the god, and of his attendant Hygieia; near which were placed the statues of the artists themselves. (Paus. 2.23.4.) [P.S]

(Στράτων). The son of Arcesilaüs of Lampsacus. He was a distinguished Peripatetic philosopher, and the tutor of Ptolemy Philadelphus. He succeeded Theophrastus as head of the school in B.C. 288, and, after presiding over it eighteen years, was succeeded by Lycon. He devoted himself especially to the study of natural science, whence he obtained the appellation of Physicus (Diog. Laert. v. 58).