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Founded by Mani (c. AD 216-276), a Syrian visionary of Judaeo-Christian ancestry from Persian Mesopotamia, Manichaeism spread rapidly into the Roman Empire in the third and fourth centuries AD and became one of the most persecuted heresies under Christian Roman emperors. This collection of sources draws from material mostly unknown to English-speaking scholars and students. The religion established missionary cells in Syria, Egypt, North Africa and Rome and included Augustine of Hippo as the most famous of its converts.