Basilica

A 60-book Greek summary of Justinian's Corpus Juris Civilis, with comments (scholia). *The Basilica ("royal law") was begun by the Byzantine emperor Basil 1, and it served as a major source of the law of the Eastern Empire from the early 10th century until Constantinople's fall in 1453.

Ba*sil"i*ca (?), n.; pl. Basilicas (#); sometimes Basilice (#). [L. basilica, Gr. ( sc. , or ) fr. royal, fr. king.]

Originally, the place of a king; but afterward, an apartment provided in the houses of persons of importance, where assemblies were held for dispensing justice; and hence, any large hall used for this purpose.

2. Arch. (a)

A building used by the Romans as a place of public meeting, with court rooms, etc., attached.

A church building of the earlier centuries of Christianity, the plan of which was taken from the basilica of the Romans. The name is still applied to some churches by way of honorary distinction.

© Webster 1913.

Ba*sil"i*ca, n.

A digest of the laws of Justinian, translated from the original Latin into Greek, by order of Basil I., in the ninth century.

P. Cyc.

© Webster 1913.