Basile´an Manuscripts, two manuscripts of the Greek New Testament now in the library of Basel. (1) A nearly complete uncial copy of the Gospels of the eighth century; (2) a cursive copy of the whole New Testament except the Apocalypse, tenth century.
Basil´ian Liturgy, that form for celebrating the Eucharist drawn up towards the close of the fourth century by Basil the Great, still used in the Greek Church.
Basilian Monks, monks who strictly follow the rules of St. Basil, chiefly belonging to the Greek Church.
Basil´ica, originally the name applied by the Romans to their public halls, either of justice, of exchange, or other business. The plan of the basilica was usually a rectangle divided into aisles by rows of columns, the middle aisle being the widest, with a semicircular apse at the end, in which the tribunal was placed. The ground-plan of these buildings was generally followed in the early Christian churches, which, therefore, long retained the name of basilica, and it is still applied to some of the churches in Rome by way of distinction, and sometimes to other churches built in imitation of the Roman basilicas.
Basilica´ta, also called Potenza, an Italian province, extending north from the Gulf of Taranto, and corresponding pretty closely with the ancient Lucania. Area, 3855 sq. miles; pop. 489,574 (1915).
Basil´icon, a name of several ointments, the chief ingredients of which are wax, pitch, resin, and olive-oil.
Basil´icon Do´ron (the royal gift), the title of a book written by King James I in 1599, containing a collection of precepts of the art of government. It maintains the claim of the king to be sole head of the Church. Printed at Edinburgh, 1603.
Basil´ides (dēz), one of the most famous Gnostic teachers, a native of Alexandria, who lived under the reigns of Adrian and Antoninus Pius about A.D. 120-40. He was well acquainted with Christianity, but mixed it up with the wildest dreams of the Gnostics, peopling the earth and the air with multitudes of æons. He was also greatly influenced by Platonism and Zoroastrianism. His disciples (Basilidians) were numerous in Syria, Egypt, Italy, and Gaul, but they are scarcely heard of after the fourth century.
Bas´ilisk, a fabulous creature formerly believed to exist, and variously regarded as a kind of serpent, lizard, or dragon, and sometimes identified with the cockatrice. It inhabited the deserts of Africa, and its breath and even its look was fatal. The name is now applied to a genus of saurian reptiles (Basiliscus), belonging to the family Iguanidæ;, distinguished by an elevated crest or row of scales, erectable at pleasure, which, like the dorsal fins of some fishes, runs along the whole length of the back and tail. The mitred or hooded basilisk (B.