BA`BRIUS, or GABRIUS, a Greek poet of uncertain date; turned
the fables of AEsop and of others into verse, with alterations.

BABY-FARMING, a system of nursing new-born infants whose parents may
wish them out of sight.

BABYLON, the capital city of Babylonia, one of the richest and most
magnificent cities of the East, the gigantic walls and hanging gardens of
which were classed among the seven wonders of the world; was taken,
according to tradition, by Cyrus in 538 B.C., by diverting out of their
channel the waters of the Euphrates, which flowed through it and by
Darius in 519 B.C., through the self-sacrifice of Zophyrus. The name was
often metaphorically applied to Rome by the early Christians, and is
to-day to great centres of population, such as London, where the
overcrowding, the accumulation of material wealth, and the so-called
refinements of civilisation, are conceived to have a corrupting effect on
the religion and morals of the inhabitants.

BABYLO`NIA, the name given by the Greeks to that country called in
the Old Testament, Shinar, Babel, and "the land of the Chaldees"; it
occupied the rich, fertile plain through which the lower waters of the
Euphrates and the Tigris flow, now the Turkish province of Irak-Arabi or
Bagdad. From very early times it was the seat of a highly developed
civilisation introduced by the Sumero-Accadians, who descended on the
plain from the mountains in the NW. Semitic tribes subsequently settled
among the Accadians and impressed their characteristics on the language
and institutions of the country. The 8th century B.C. was marked by a
fierce struggle with the northern empire of Assyria, in which Babylonia
eventually succumbed and became an Assyrian province. But Nabopolassar in
625 B.C. asserted his independence, and under his son Nebuchadnezzar,
Babylonia rose to the zenith of its power. Judah was captive in the
country from 599 to 538 B.C. In that year Cyrus conquered it for Persia,
and its history became merged in that of Persia.

BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY, the name given to the deportation of Jews from
Judea to Babylon after the capture of Jerusalem by the king of Babylon,
and which continued for 70 years, till they were allowed to return to
their own land by Cyrus, who had conquered Babylon; those who returned
were solely of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi.

BACCHANALIA, a festival, originally of a loose and riotous
character, in honour of Bacchus.

BAC