The Basilika (Greek: τὰ βασιλικά, romanized: ta basiliká, "the imperial [laws]") was a collection of laws completed c. 892 AD in Constantinople by order of the Byzantine emperor Leo VI the Wise during the Macedonian dynasty. This was a continuation of the efforts of his father, Basil I, to simplify and adapt the Emperor Justinian I's Corpus Juris Civilis code of law issued between 529 and 534 which had become outdated. The term comes from the Greek adjective Basilika meaning "Imperial (laws or enactments)" and not from the Emperor Basil's name; both share a common etymology from the term Basileus.
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👉 Basilika in the context of Basil I
Basil I, nicknamed "the Macedonian" (Greek: Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, romanized: Basíleios ō Makedṓn; 811 – 29 August 886), was Byzantine emperor from 867 to 886. Born to a peasant family in Macedonia, he rose to prominence in the imperial court after gaining the favour of Emperor Michael III, whose mistress he married on his emperor's orders. In 866, Michael proclaimed him co-emperor. Fearing a loss of influence, Basil orchestrated Michael's assassination the next year and installed himself as sole ruler of the empire. He was the first ruler of the Macedonian dynasty.
Despite his humble origins, Basil was an effective and respected monarch. He initiated a complete overhaul of Byzantine law, an effort continued by his successor that ultimately became the Basilika. On the foreign front, he achieved military success against the heretical Paulicians, whom he subjugated in 872. He also pursued an active policy in the west, allying with Carolingian emperor Louis II against the Arabs, which led to a new period of Byzantine domination in Italy. Upon his death in a hunting accident in 886, he was succeeded by his son Leo VI, also rumoured to have been the son of Michael III.
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