# Basilicus

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{{Short description|3rd century Greek rhetorician}}
{{about|the 3rd century sophist|the 16th century soldier sometimes known as "Basilicus of Malta"|Iacob Heraclid}}
'''Basilicus''' ({{langx|grc|Βασιλικός}}) was a [rhetoric](/source/rhetoric)ian and [sophist](/source/sophist) of [Nicomedeia](/source/Nicomedeia). Many scholars believe he was one of the teachers of [Apsines](/source/Apsines) of [Gadara](/source/Gadara), therefore he must have lived about 200 CE.<ref>[Suda](/source/Suda), s.vv. Βασιλικὸς and Ἀψίνης</ref><ref>[Eudokia Makrembolitissa](/source/Eudokia_Makrembolitissa), ''[Collection](/source/Eudokia_Makrembolitissa)'' p. 93</ref>

However, some scholars disagree that he was a teacher of Apsines, as the evidence for this is that Apsines calls him "the divine Basilicus", a convention that ''could'' mean he was a teacher of Apsines, but, some argue, also could mean that he had taught one of Apsines's teachers, or was a man simply admired by Apsines.<ref>{{cite book
 | last =Heath
 | first =Malcolm
 | title =Menander: A Rhetor in Context
 | publisher =[Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press)
 | date =2004
 | pages =58
 | language =English
 | url =https://www.google.com/books/edition/Menander/VVgTDAAAQBAJ
 | isbn = 9780199259205
 | accessdate=2025-12-28}}</ref> However the general scholarly consensus is that he was, in fact, Apsines's teacher.<ref>{{cite book
 | last =Apsines
 | first =
 | authorlink =Apsines
 | editor-last1=Kennedy
 | editor-first1=George
 | editor-last2=Dilts
 | editor-first2=Mervin
 | title =Two Greek Rhetorical Treatises from the Roman Empire: Introduction, Text, and Translation of the Arts of Rhetoric Attributed to Anonymous Seguerianus and to Apsines of Gadara
 | publisher =[Brill Publishers](/source/Brill_Publishers)
 | date =2018
 | pages =77
 | language =English
 | url =https://www.google.com/books/edition/Two_Greek_Rhetorical_Treatises_from_the/ePn7EAAAQBAJ
 | isbn = 9789004330313
 | accessdate=2025-12-28}}</ref>

He was the author of several rhetorical works:
* ''On the patterns of words'' (περὶ τῶν διὰ τῶν λέξεων σχημάτων)
* ''On rhetorical preparation'' (περὶ ῥητορικῆς παρασκενῆς)
* ''On exercise'' (περὶ ἀσκήσεως)
* ''On transformation'' (πεπὶ μεταποιήσεως)

There were several other, more obscure sophists with this name in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DGRBM|author=LS|title= Basilicus|volume=1|page=465|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/acl3129.0001.001/480}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basilicus}}

Category:Ancient Greek writers known only from secondary sources
Category:3rd-century Greek writers
Category:Ancient Greek rhetoricians
Category:Ancient Greek educators
Category:Rhetoric theorists
Category:3rd-century writers
Category:Roman-era Athenian rhetoricians
Category:Year of birth unknown
Category:Year of death unknown

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Basilicus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilicus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilicus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.