στάδιον

στάδιον [ᾰ], Argive σπάδιον (q.v.), τό: pl. στάδια and heterocl. στάδιοι; Hdt. uses both, στάδιοι 1.26, 2.149,158, al., στάδια 4.101, 5.53, 9.23, al.; so Th. in the same chapter (7.78) has στάδια once and σταδίους twice; στάδια E. Ion 497 (lyr.), Ar. Av. 6, Antiph. 100, Pl. Phdr. 229c; στάδιοι Ar. Ra. 1319, Pl. Criti. 113c, 117e, PCair.Zen. 388.6 (iii B.C.), etc.; the sg. masc. is not found: I. as a standard of length, stade,= 100 ὀργυιαί or 6 πλέθρα (Hdt. 2.149), i.e. 600 Greek, 606 3/4 English feet, about 1/8 of a Roman mile, Plb. 3.39.8, 34.12.4, cf. Plin. HN 2.85, Hero Deff. 131; a longer stade, of which there were 7 1/2 in a Roman mile, is implied by D.C. 52.21. 2. metaph., ἑκατὸν σταδίοισιν ἄριστος ‘best by a hundred miles’, Ar. Nu. 430; πλεῖν ἢ σταδίῳ λαλίστερα Id. Ra. 91. II. race-course, IG 22.677.3, etc. (because the most noted, that of Olympia, was exactly a stade long): prop. a single course, opp. δίαυλος, Pi. O. 13.37, IG 22.2313.23, SIG 1067.9 (Rhodes, ii B.C.), etc.; σταδίου δρόμος Pi. O. 13.30; γυμνὸν σ., opp. ὁπλίτης δρόμος, Id. P. 11.49; ὠκύτερον σταδίου Thgn. 1306; ἀγωνίζεσθαι σ. run a race, Hdt. 5.22; ἁμιλλᾶσθαι Pl. Lg. 833a; νικᾶν X. HG 1.2.1, cf. Pi. N. 8.16; ἀσκεῖν Pl. Thg. 128e; of the building, IG 22.351.16, 677.3, PRyl. 93.16 (iii A.D.), etc.; ἐν σταδίοις, i.e. in the amphitheatre, CIG 4377 (Sagalassos). 2. any area, e.g. for dancing, E. Ion 497 (lyr.); ξύλινον σ., of a board for playing πεσσοί, AP 15.18. 3. walk in a garden, IG 14.1853 (pl.).