Manichaeism in the Roman Empire (III. - VI. centuries AD)

In this study, the historical process of Manichaeism, which started in Mesopotamia and spread to the western world within the borders of the Roman Empire with its emergence in the third century AD, in the Roman geography and the religious-political factors affecting this process were examined. This study, which connects the two different disciplines within the scope of research on Manichaeism, aims to contribute to the studies of History of Religions by examining the history of Manichaeism in the Roman Empire and its interaction with the early Christian tradition, on the one hand, and to contribute to late antiquity studies on Roman history and culture by presenting new perspectives on the understanding of the religious atmosphere of the period, on the other. In accordance with this purpose, descriptive method, classical history and comparative history methods, which are among the main methods of the History of Religions studies, and textual content analysis method, that allows the information in ancient texts to be interpreted correctly in a historical perspective, were used while examining the research findings. In addition to these, the empathic approach method, which is one of the stages of the phenomenological method, was applied. The main problem of the research is when and in which ways Manichaeism entered the Roman geography, to which regions it reached within the borders of the empire, to what extent it had an effect on the society and the factors that caused this religious tradition, which entered the Roman Empire very quickly, to lost its effect in these lands at a similar rate. In this context, in the first part of the research, firstly the emergence of Manichaeism, the political, socio-cultural, economic and religious situation of the Roman Empire and the mission approach that allowed the Manichaean tradition to spread to Roman lands were examined. Then, the subject of which ways the Manichaean missionaries entered the Roman geography and to which regions they reached in this geography were discussed. In the second part, it is mentioned that depending on which factors Manichaeism lost its momentum in Roman lands. The first of these factors is the struggle of the Christian clergy against Manichaeism, and the second is the policy of the Roman emperors towards Manichaeism. Based on this, in the second chapter, the struggle of the Christian Church against the Manichaeans and the reasons for opposing them were discussed; in the second part, the anti-Manichaean Roman laws that changed and intensified over the centuries from the emperor Diocletian (285-305) to Justinian (527-565) and their effect on the progress of the Manichaeans were analyzed. As a result of the research, the Manichaean tradition, which adopts a developed and systematic mission approach, did not destroy the usual beliefs, moreover, it was seen that it was quickly accepted in the Roman society because it gave importance to the individual liberation needed and reached all the Roman provinces of the period starting from Mesopotamia to Syria, Egypt, Palestine, Anatolia, the Balkans, North Africa, Italy, Spain and Gaul thanks to its advanced mission approach. The losing its effect of Manichaeism in the Roman lands, where it existed for three hundred years, was found to have occurred as a result of the alliance established between Roman politics and the Church. Key Terms: History of Religions, Late Antiquity, Manichaeism, Roman Empire, Christianity