Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

BASILICA

Online Encyclopedia

Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 478 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.

Encyclopedia Home :: BAR-BEC

Spread the word:

del.icio.us it!

BASILICA , a See also:

CODE (Lat. codex)

code of See also:

law, See also:

DRAWN

drawn up in the See also:

Greek See also:

LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language, with a view to putting an end to the uncertainty which prevailed throughout the See also:

East See also:

ROMAN

Roman See also:

EMPIRE

empire in the 9th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century as to the authorized See also:

SOURCES

sources of law. This uncertainty had been brought about by the conflicting opinions of the jurists of the 6th century as to the proper See also:

INTERPRETATION (from Lat. interpretari, to expound, explain, inter pres, an agent, go-between, interpreter; inter, between, and the root pret-, possibly connected with that seen either in Greek 4 p4'ew, to speak, or irpa-rrecv, to do)

interpretation to be given to the legislation of the See also:

EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor Justinian, from which had resulted a See also:

SYSTEM

system of teaching which had deprived that legislation of all authority, and the imperial See also:

JUDGES, THE BOOK OF

judges at last were at a loss to know by what rules of law they were to regulate their decisions. An endeavour had been made by the emperor See also:

Leo the Isaurian to remedy this evil, but his attempted reform of the law had been rather calculated to increase its uncertainty; and it was reserved for See also:

BASIL (Russ. VASILY)

Basil the Macedonian to show himself worthy of the See also:

THRONE

throne, which he had usurped, by purifying the See also:

ADMINISTRATION (Lat. administrare, to serve)

administration of See also:

JUSTICE (Lat. justitia)

justice and once more reducing the law into an intelligible code. There has been considerable controversy as to the See also:

PART

part which the emperor Basil took in framing the new code. There is, however, no doubt that he abrogated in a formal manner the See also:

ancient See also:

LAWS

laws, which had fallen into desuetude, and the more probable See also:

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion would seem to be, that he caused a revision to be made of the ancient laws which were to continue in force, and divided them into See also:

FORTY

forty books, and that this code of laws was subsequently enlarged and distributed into sixty books by his son Leo the Philosopher. A further revision of this code is stated to have been made by See also:

CONSTANTINE

Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the son and successor of Leo, but this statement rests only on the authority of See also:

THEODORUS, FLAVIUS MALLIUS

Theodorus Balsamon, a very learned canonist of the 12th century, who, in his See also:

PREFACE (Med. Lat. prefatia, for classical praefatio, praefari, to speak beforehand)

preface to the Nomocanon of See also:

PATRIARCH (M.E. and O. Fr. patriarche, Lat. patriarcha, Gr. aarpuipxtis, from srarptu., clan, and apxil, rule)

Patriarch See also:

Photius, cites passages from the Basilica which differ from the See also:

TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text of the code as revised by the emperor Leo. The See also:

WEIGHT

weight of authority, however, is against any further revision of the code having been made after the formal revision which it underwent in the reign of the emperor Leo, who appointed a See also:

COMMISSION (from Lat. commissio, committere)

commission of jurists under the See also:

PRESIDENCY

presidency of Sympathius, the See also:

CAPTAIN (derived from Lat. ca put, head, through the Low Lat. capitanus)

captain of the See also:

BODY

body-guard, to revise the See also:

WORK

work of his See also:

FATHER

father, to which he makes allusion in the first of his Novellae. This latter conclusion is the more probable from the circumstance, that the text of the code, as revised by the emperor Leo, agrees with the citations from the Basilica which occur in the See also:

WORKS

works of See also:

Michael See also:

PSELLUS (Gr.'I' XXor)

Psellus and Michael Attaliates, both of them high dignitaries of the See also:

court of See also:

Constantinople, who lived a century before Balsamon, and who are silent as to any second revision of the code having taken See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place in the reign of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, as well as with other citations from the Basilica, which are found in the writings of Mathaeus Blastares and of Constantine Harmenopulus, both tif whom wrote shortly after Balsamon, and the latter of whom was far too learned a jurist and too accurate a lawyer to cite any but the See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official text of the code. Authors are not agreed as to the origin of the See also:

TERM

term Basilica, by which the code of the emperor Leo is now distinguishe i. The code itself appears to have been originally entitled The Revision of the Ancient Laws (1'j avaKaOapols TCOV ira)tau,p vhµwv); next there came into use the See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title i] EE11KOPri 3c(3AOS, derived from the See also:

DIVISION (from Lat. dividere, to break up into parts, separate)

division of the work into sixty books; and finally, before the conclusion of the loth century, the code came to be designated 6 ,BaviXucbs, or Ta SaQAAura, being elliptical forms of 6 (3avcAIK6s voµos and Ta /3aoILALKa vbµiµa, namely the Imperial Law or the Imperial Constitutions. This explanation of the term " Basilica " is more probable than the derivation of it from the name of the father of the emperor Leo, inasmuch as the See also:

BYZANTINE

Byzantine jurists of the 11th and 12th centuries ignored altogether the part which the emperor Basil had taken in initiating the legal reforms, which were completed by his son; besides the name of the father of the emperor Leo was written See also:

OWL (O. Eng. Ule, Swed. Uggla, Ger. Eule—all allied to Lat. Ulula, and evidently of imitative origin)

Owl's cuss, from which substantive, according to the See also:

GENIUS (from Lat. genere, gignere)

genius of A, High See also:

ALTAR (Lat. altare, from alias, high; some ancient etymological guesses are recorded by St Isidore of Seville in Etymologiae xv. 4)

altar. B, Altar of our See also:

Lord.

C, C, Steps to See also:

CRYPT (Lat. crypta, from the Gr. Kp&arrew, to hide)

crypt. D, Crypt. F ( See also:

CHORUS (Gr. xopbs)Z

Chorus cantorum. G, Our See also:

LADY (0. Eng. hlaefdige, Mid. Eng. ldfdi, lavedi; the first part of the word is hldf, loaf, bread, as in the corresponding hldford, lord; the second part is usually taken to be from the root dig-, to knead, seen also in " dough "; the sense development fr

Lady's altar. H, See also:

Bishop's throne. K, See also:

South See also:

PORCH (through the Fr. porehe, from Lat. porticus; the Ital. equivalent is portico, corresponding to the Gr. vapOi ; Ger. Vorhalle)

porch with altar. L, See also:

North porch containing school. M, See also:

ARCHBISHOP (Lat. archiepiscopus, from Gr. apxceatorcoros)

Archbishop See also:

Odo's See also:

TOMB (Gr. Tuµ/3a, Tuµ(3os, probably allied to Lat. tumulus, literally a swelling, tumere, to swell)

tomb. the ancient Greek language, the See also:

ADJECTIVE (from the Lat. adjectives, added)

adjective I3av5X KOS could not the Acta Archelai et Manetis c. 53i only became known in its well be derived. I See also:

COMPLETE

complete See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form later, and was published by L. Traube in the Sitzungsbericht der Miinchener Akad., phil, histor.

K1. (1903), pp. 533-549. See also:

IRENAEUS

Irenaeus (Adv. Haet'. i. 24 §§ 3-7) gives a See also:

SKETCH (directly adapted from Dutch schets, which was taken from Ital. schizzo, a rough draft, Lat. schedium, something hastily made, Gr. oxE&os, sudden, off-hand, axeb6v, near by; Ger. Skizze and Fr. esquisse are from the same source)

sketch of See also:

BASILIDES

Basilides' school of thought, perhaps derived from See also:

JUSTIN (JUNIANUS JUSTINUS)

Justin's Syntagma. Closely related to this is the See also:

account in the Syntagma of See also:

Hippolytus, which is preserved in Epipha.nius, Haer. 24, Philaster, Haer. 32, and Pseudo-See also:

TERTULLIAN (c. 155-c. 222)

Tertullian, Haer. These are completed and confirmed by a number of scattered notices in the Stromateis of Clemens Alexandrinus. An essentially different account, with a pronounced monistic tendency, is presented by the so-called Philosophumena of Hippolytus (vii. 20-27; X.

14). Whether this last account, or that given by Irenaeus and in the Syntagma of Hippolytus, represents the See also:

ORIGINAL

original system of Basilides, has been the subject of a See also:

long controversy. (See See also:

HILGENFELD, ADOLF BERNHARD CHRISTOPH (1823—1907)

Hilgenfeld p. 205, See also:

note 337.) The most See also:

RECENT

recent opinion tends to decide against the Philosophumena; for, in its See also:

composition, Hippolytus appears to have used as his See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal source the compendium of a Gnostic author who has introduced into most of the systems treated by him, in addition to the employment of older sources, his own opinions or those of his See also:

SECT

sect. The Philosophumena, therefore, cannot be taken into account in describing the teaching of Basilides (see also H. Stachelin, " See also:

Die gnostischen Quellen Hippolyts " in Texte and Untersuchungen, vi. 3; and the See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article See also:

GNOSTICISM (Gr. yvwvcs, knowledge)

GNOSTICISM). A comparison of the surviving fragments of Basilides, moreover, with the outline of his system in Irenaeus-Hippolytus (Syntagma) shows that the account given by the Fathers of the See also:

Church is also in the highest degree untrustworthy. The principal and most characteristic points are not noticed by them. If we assume, as we must needs do, that the opinions which Basilides promulgates as the teaching of the " barbari " (Acta Archelai c. 55) were in fact his own, the fragments prove him to have been a decided dualist, and his teaching an interesting further development of See also:

ORIENTAL

oriental (Tranian) See also:

DUALISM (from rare Lat. dualis, containing two, from duo)

dualism. Entirely consistent with this is the See also:

INFORMATION (from Lat. informare, to give shape or form to, to represent, describe)

information given by the Acta Archelai that Basilides, before he came to See also:

Alexandria, had appeared publicly among the Persians (fuit praedicator apud Persas); and the allusion to his having appealed to prophets with oriental names, Barkabbas and Barkoph (See also:

Agrippa in See also:

Eusebius Hist.

Ecd. iv. 7 § 7). So too his son Isidorus explained the prophecies of a certain Parchor (=Barkoph) and appealed to the prophecies of Chaml (Clemens Alexandrinus, Stromat. vi. 6 § 53). Thus Basilides assumed the existence of two principles, not derivable from each other: See also:

LIGHT

Light and Darkness. These had existed for a long See also:

time See also:

side by side, without knowing any-thing of each other, but when they perceived each other, the Light had only looked and then turned away; but the Darkness, seized with See also:

DESIRE

desire for the Light, had made itself See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master, not indeed of the Light itself, but only of its reflection ,(See also:

SPECIES

species, color). Thus they had been in a position to form this See also:

WORLD

world: See also:

UNCLE

uncle nec perfectum bonum est in hoc mundo, et quad est, valde est exiguum. This See also:

SPECULATION

speculation is clearly a development of that which the Iranian cosmology has to tell about the battles between Ahura-Mazda and Angro-Mainyu (Ormuzd and See also:

AHRIMAN (Gr. 'Apecµavios in Aristotle, or 'Apeiµav+7s in Agathias; in the Avesta, Angr3 Mainyush)—" the Destructive Spirit ")

Ahriman). The Iranian optimism has been replaced here by a strong See also:

PESSIMISM (from Lat. pessimus, worst)

pessimism. This material world is no longer, as in Zoroastrianism, essentially a creation of the See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

God, but the See also:

POWERS, HIRAM (1805-1873)

powers of evil have created it with the aid of some stolen portions of light. This is practically the transference of Iranian dualism to the more Greek See also:

ANTITHESIS (the Greek for " setting opposite ")

antithesis of soul and body, spirit and See also:

MATTER

matter (cf. Irenaeus 24 § 5: animae autem eorum solam esse salutem, corpus enim natura corruptibile existit).

The fundamental dualism of Basilides is confirmed also by one or two other passages. In the See also:

PARABLE (Gr. 7apa(3oXi7, a comparison or similitude)

parable of the See also:

rich See also:

man and See also:

Lazarus, Basilides saw the See also:

PROOF (in M. Eng. preove, proeve, preve, &°c., from O. Fr . prueve, proeve, &c., mod. preuve, Late. Lat. proba, probate, to prove, to test the goodness of anything, probus, good)

proof of naturam sine radice et sine loco See also:

REBUS (Lat. rebus, " by things ")

rebus supervenientem (Acta Archelai). According to Clemens, Strom. iv. 12 § 83, &c., Basilides taught that even those who have not sinned in See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act, even Jesus himself, possess a sinful nature. It is possibly also in connexion with the dualism of his fundamental 1 = See also:

NIMROD (-`s??, -i=s; Septuagint, Nef3pc5£: various reading in Gen. x. 8, Nef3p6av: Vulg. Nemrod)

Nimrod = Zoroaster, cf. Pseudo-See also:

Clement, Homil. ix. 3. Recogn. iv. 27. No perfect MS. has been preserved of the text of the Basilica, and the existence of any portion of the code seems to have been ignored by the jurists of western See also:

EUROPE

Europe, until the important bearing of it upon the study of the Roman law was brought to their See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention by See also:

VIGLIUS

Viglius Zuichemus, in his preface to his edition of the Greek See also:

PARAPHRASE (Gr. irapa¢pavis, from rrapa4p4av, to relate something in different words, 'raga, beside, and ¢pai"eav, speak, tell)

Paraphrase of See also:

THEOPHILUS

Theophilus, published in 1533. A century, however, elapsed before an edition of the sixty books of the Basilica, as far as the See also:

MSS. then known to exist supplied materials, was published in seven volumes, by See also:

Charles Annibal See also:

FABROT, CHARLES ANNIBAL (1580-1659)

Fabrot, under the patronage of See also:

Louis XIII. of See also:

France, who assigned an See also:

ANNUAL

annual See also:

STIPEND

stipend of two thousand livres to the editor during its publication, and placed at his disposal the royal See also:

PRINTING (from Lat. imprimere, O. Fr. empreindre)

printing-See also:

PRESS (through Fr. presse from Lat. pressare, frequentative of premere, to crush, squeeze, press)

press. This edition, although it was a See also:

GREAT

great undertaking and a work of considerable merit, was a very imperfect See also:

REPRESENTATION

representation of the original code.

A newly-restored and far more complete text of the sixty books of the Basilica was published at See also:

LEIPZIG

Leipzig in six volumes (1833-1870), edited by K. W. E. Heimbach and G. E. Heimbach. It may seem See also:

STRANGE, SIR ROBERT (1721-1792)

strange that so important a body of law as the Basilica should not have come down to us in its integrity, but a See also:

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

letter has been preserved, which was addressed by See also:

Mark the patriarch of Alexandria to Theodorus Balsamon, from which it appears that copies of the Basilica were in the 12th century very scarce, as the patriarch was unable to procure a copy of the work. The great bulk of the code was an obstacle to the multiplication of copies of it, whilst the See also:

NECESSITY (Lat. necessitas)

necessity for them was in a great degree superseded by the publication from time to time of synopses and encheiridia of its contents, composed by the most eminent jurists, of which a very full account will be found in the Hisloire au See also:

DROIT (Fr. for " right," from Lat. directus, straight)

droit byzantin, by the See also:

ADVOCATE (Lat. advocatus, from advocare, to summon, especially in law to call in the aid of a counsel or witness, and so generally to summon to one's assistance)

advocate Mortreuil, published in See also:

Paris in 1846.

End of Article: BASILICA

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
BASILIAN MONKS

[next]
BASILICATA