to clarify–
homepage.php is in /var/www/
and what /var/www/wordpress/index.php renders is what I’d like to include().
still getting the same error.
homepage.php:
<?php
/* Short and sweet */
define('WP_USE_THEMES', true);
include('/var/www/wordpress/wp-config.php');
include('/var/www/wordpress/wp-content/themes/basic/index.php');
?>