Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/436

420 which were completed by his SOD ; besides the name of the father of the Emperor Leo was written /fao-i Aeios, from which substantive, according to the genius of the ancient Greek language, the adjective /focriAiKos could not well be derived.

1em  BASILICATA, or, as it is also called,, a province of Italy, bounded on the N. by Capitanata, N.E. by Terra di Bari, E. by Otranto and the Gulf of Taranto, S. by Calabria Citra, S.W. by the Mediterranean, W. by Principato Citra, and N.W. by Principato Ultra. It has an area of 4120 English square miles, and is divided into the four districts of Lagonegro, Matera, Melfi, Potenza. The population in 1871 was 500,543. In the N.W. of the territory the Apennines divide into two branches, the one running eastward to Terra di Bari, and the other southward to Calabria. The principal rivers are the Bradano, Basento, Salandrella, A.gri, and Siuno, all flowing into the Gulf of Taranto. The principal productions are maize, wine, linen, hemp, and tobacco; swine, goats, and sheep, are numerous ; and the produce of the silkworm forms a con siderable branch of industry. The cotton plant thrives well on low grounds near the sea. The chief towns ara Potenza, Melfi, Francavilla, Pdonero, and Tursi.  BASILIDES, one of the most celebrated of the Gnostics, flourished probably about 120 A.D. Extremely little is known of his life. He is said to have been born in Syria and to have studied at Alexandria, and this is probably correct. There is, to some extent, a corresponding uncertainty with regard to the precise doctrines held by him. Of these there are two distinct expositions, the one given chiefly by Ireuseus, which has been long before the world, the other contained in the Philosophoumena of Hippolytus, discovered in 1842. According to Irenseus, the system of Basilides strongly resembled that of Valentinus. The first principle or root of all things, was the supreme God, the unknown and unborn Father. From Him emanated in succession i/ovs, Aoyos, ^&amp;gt;por^crts, cro&amp;lt;/&amp;gt;t a, and 8tVa/x.ts. . From the last, according to Irenams, sprang the powers who created the first heaven ; according to Clemens Alex., however, from Swa/us sprang StKcuoo-iV^ and f.ipr)VY), and these seven with the Father formed the first Ogdoad, or octave of existence. From them emanated other powers, by whom the second heaven was made, and so on in succession, each system being a more shadowy type or reflex of the original ogdoad. The number of heavens was 365, whence the whole series was called Abraxas, or Abrasax, a name frequently applied to the lower deity, or even, as by Tertullian, to the supreme God. The powers of the lowest heaven, of whom the chief was called the apx^v, created the earth. This ap^wv is the God of the Jews, and against Him the other powers were arrayed. To alleviate the misfortunes of the earth, the vovs, or first emanation, became incarnate and descended upon earth. The vovs as incorporeal could not suffer death ; accordingly, he changed forms with Simon of Cyreiie, and stood by the cross, laughing at his enemies, while Simon suffered in his place. Salvation is spiritual, pertains only to the soul ; outer actions are not in themselves good or bad. That Basilides taught this doctrine of moral indifference is not perfectly clear, but Irenasus reports that his disciples acted up to it. The exposition given by Hippolytus is widely different. According to the account he gives, Basilides started neither with a dualism of God and matter or evil, nor with a theory of emanation. His first principle was God, the unknown, incomprehensible, unspeakable, non-existent one, cf whom nothing can be predicated, for no words are adequate to express His essence. This non-existent God, by the exercise of what may be called volition, created the Tra.vo-Trepfj.La, or seed, which contained in itself the germs of all things. In this chaotic mass, which strongly resembles the bfj.oLOfji.fpf) of Anaxagoras, there is a mixture of elements, criryxio-is apiKij, and at the same time are embedded in it three degrees or kinds of divine sonship, consubstantial with the Deity. The first kind is refined and pure, the second gross, the third requiring purification. As all things naturally tend towards God, the first sonship ascended and sat beside the Father. The second also strove to ascend by means of the Spirit, which is to him as a wing, but he could not rise quite to the Deity, and occupied an inferior position, while the wing or spirit formed the firmament. The third sonship still remained immersed in matter. Then from the world seed there burst forth the great apx^v, or ruler, who ascended as far as the firmament, and, imagining that there was nothing beyond, glorified himself as the brightest and strongest of all beings. This ruler, who is sometimes called Abraxas, but whose true name is ineffable, produced a son wiser and better than himself, by whose aid he laid the foundations of the world. The seat of their rule is called ihz Ogdoad, and it extends through all the ethereal region down to the moon s sphere, 