BASILICA, a code of law, drawn up in the Greek language, with a view to putting an end to the uncertainty which prevailed throughout the East Roman empire in the 9th century as to the authorized sources of the law. This uncertainty had been brought about by the conflicting opinions of the jurists of the 6th century as to the proper interpretation to be given to the legislation of the Emperor Justinian, from which had resulted a system of teaching, which had deprived that legislation of all authority, and the im perial judges at last were at a loss to know by what rules of law they were to regulate their decisions. There has been considerable controversy as to the part which the Emperor Basil took in fram ing the new code. There is, however, no doubt that he abrogated in a formal manner the ancient laws, which had fallen into desue tude, and the more probable 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 4o books, and that this code of laws was subsequently enlarged and distributed into 6o books by his son Leo the Philosopher.
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 Europe, until the important bearing of it upon the study of the Roman law was brought to their attention by Viglius Zuichemus, in his preface to his edition of the Greek Paraphrase of Theophilus, published in 1533. A cen tury, however, elapsed before an edition of the 6o books of the Basilica, so far as the mss. then known to exist supplied materials, was published in seven volumes, by Charles Annibal Fabrot, under the patronage of Louis XIII. of France. A newly restored and far more complete text of the 6o books of the Basilica was pub lished at Leipzig in six volumes (1833-7o), edited by K. W. E. Heimbach and G. E. Heimbach. The great bulk of the code was an obstacle to the multiplication of copies of it, whilst the necessity for them was in a great degree superseded by the publication from time to time of synopses and encheiridia of its contents, composed by the most eminent jurists, of which a very full account will be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 Histoire du droit byzantin, by Mortreuil, published in Paris in 1846.