The Presbyters Project

II.1

Mortuo igitur Geiserico Hunericus maior filius patri succedit. Qui in primordia regni, ut habet subtilitas barbarorum, coepit mitius et moderatius agere, et maxime circa religionem nostram ut, etiam ubi antea sub rege Geiserico praeiudicatum fuerat ne spiritales fierent conuentus, conuenticula concurrerent populorum. Et, ut se religiosum ostenderet, statuit sollicitius requirendos hereticos Manicheos: ex quibus multos incendit, plurimos autem distraxit nauibus transmarinis. Quos paene omnes Manicheos suae religionis inuenit et praecipue presbyteros et diaconos Arrianae hereseos; unde magis erubescens amplius in illis exarsit.

(ed. Lancel 2002, 122)

II.1

Following the death of Geiseric, his eldest son, Huniric, succeeded his father. In accordance with the subtlety of the barbarians, at the beginning of his reign he began to act in quite a mild and moderate fashion. This was particularly so with respect to our religion, so that meetings of the people were held even where it had previously been decided under king Geiseric that spiritual assemblies were not to take place. And, to show that he was a man of religion, he decreed that the Manichaean heretics are to be sought out with painstaking care. He had many of these people burned, and he sold more of them for ships across the seas. He found that nearly all the Manichaeans were adherents of his religion, the Arian heresy, especially its presbyters and deacons; so it was that, the greater his shame, the more he was kindled against them.

(trans. Moorhead 1992, 24)

Discussion:

Huneric became king on January 25, 477.

The Manichaeans were followers of a religion founded by Mani (216-276), a charismatic religious leader from southern Mesopotamia who traveled and proselytized in Mesopotamia, Egypt, North Africa, Armenia and Persia before being imprisoned in Persia, where he died in 276. The religion mixed elements of Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, but in the version that was widespread in the Western Roman Empire and particularly in Africa, it was generally regarded as a version of Christianity that advocated a radical dualism. The Manichaeans were met with suspicion in the Roman Empire and laws were passed against them, but they were practically tolerated until the 380s (Sundermann 2009). From this time onwards, Manichaeism appeared regularly in imperial legislation ([2271], [2335], [2344]) and persecutions of this religious group were frequent. Huneric was clearly trying to legitimize his rule by introducing imperial-like legislation in his kingdom (which is also similar to his later religious policy towards the Nicenes). However, Victor uses the story to further discredit the Arian Church and to suggest its deep involvement with Manichaeism, the current that the contemporaries saw as the epitome of religious transgression.

In the fifth century, Pope Leo I pursued a particularly resolute anti-Manichaean policy (see e.g. [2262]).

Place of event:

Region

Latin North Africa

City

Carthage

About the source:

Author: Victor of Vita
Title: History of the Vandal Persecution in Africa, Historia persecutionis in Africa
Origin: Latin North Africa
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Victor of Vita is known only from his work, the History of the Vandal Persecution in Africa, a narrative about the fate of the "Catholic" (i.e. Nicene) church in Africa conquered by the "Arian" (Homoian) Vandals. Although it contains many interesting details about the history of the Vandal kingdom, it is not a historiographical work but rather a literary and religious piece concerned with martyrs, confessors, and the fight of the true faith with heresy imposed on the African people by the barbarian invaders.

Victor`s name and the fact that he was a bishop of Vita is attested only in the titles given in the manuscripts. Victor himself did not mention that he was a bishop. He knows, however, very well a topography of Carthage and suggests clearly that it is the city in which he had spent a lot of time. In a passsage about the exile of the clergy to Sicca Veneria and Lares in 482/3 (II.28), he says that he was visiting prisoners and celebrating mysteries for them. Thus, we can surmise that at the time of writing his work he was a presbyter from Carthage.

Victor says that he wrote in the sixtieth year after the conquest of Africa by the Vandals, that is in 488. The last events he relates can be dated, however, to 484 and it is uncertain whether the last chapter, which speaks of the death of Huneric, was actually written by Victor (it might have been added later by another person).

Edition:

S. Lancel (ed.), Victor of Vita, Histoire de la persécution vandale en Afrique. Les passion des sept martyres. Registre des provinces et des cités d’Afrique, Paris 2002.

Translation:

J. Moorhead (trans.), Victor of Vita, History of the Vandal Persecution, Liverpool 1992

Bibliography:

C. Courtois, Victor de Vita et son oeuvre. Étude critique, Algre 1954.

W. Sundermann, "Manichaeism I. General Survey", Encyclopedia Iranica, online edition 2009, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/manicheism-1-general-survey

R. Whelan, Being Christian in Vandal Africa: The Politics of Orthodoxy in the Post-Imperial West, Oakland 2018.

Categories:

Religious grouping (other than Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian) - Arian

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Public law - Secular

Relation with - Monarch and royal/imperial family

Religious grouping (other than Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian) - Manichaean

Administration of justice - Secular

Administration of justice - Capital punishment

Administration of justice - Exile

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER2437, https://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=2437