The New International Encyclopædia/Basilica (legal code)

BASILICA (Gk. neut. plur. of βασιλικός, basilikos, royal). A legal code published by Leo VI. of the Byzantine Empire at the close of the Ninth or the beginning of the Tenth Century. Its name is equivalent, in the opinion of some, to Imperial law; but others think it was given in honor of Basil, the father of Leo. who began the work. It was composed of 60 books. The materials used were Greek translations of the Corpus Juris Civilis of Justinian, commentaries on the Corpus, and some later laws. In it the influence of Christianity is very marked, especially with regard to family relations. The best edition is Heimbach: Basilicorum Libri LX. Gr. et Lat., 5 vols. (Leipzig, 1833-50), completed by Zachariæ von Lingenthal, who published the Prolegomena in 1846, and a supplement in 1870. But only about two-thirds of the whole work are extant. Consult: Heimbach, "Griechisch-römisches Recht," in Ersch und Gruber, Encyklopädie, Part LXXXVI. (Leipzig, 1818-80); Haubold, Manuale Basilicorum (Leipzig, 1819), a collation of Justinian with the later law; and Montreuil, Histoire du droit byzantin, 3 vols. (Paris, 1843-47).