Hegemonius or Pseudo Hegemonius was a 4th Century Christian who is known only from his presumed authorship of the Acta Archelai, a work on Manichaeism

Manichaeism

Manichaeism in Modern Persian Āyin e Māni; ) was one of the major Iranian Gnostic religions, originating in Sassanid Persia.Although most of the original writings of the founding prophet Mani have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived...

 preserved only in Latin.

"Traditionally attributed to Hegemonius, the Acta Archelai is the oldest and most significant anti-Manichaean polemical text. Originally composed in Greek in the fourth century, it has survived mainly in a near contemporary Latin translation - substantial section of the Greek version has however survived in the Panarion

Panarion

In early Christian heresiology, the Panarion , to which 16th-century Latin translations gave the name Adversus Haereses , is the most important of the works of Epiphanius of Salamis...

 of Epiphanius

Epiphanius

Epiphanius was the name of several early Christian scholars and ecclesiastics:*Epiphanius of Pavia *Epiphanius of Salamis , bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, author of the Panarion, or Medicine Chest against Heresies*Epiphanius of Constantinople, , Patriarch of Constantinople*Epiphanius Scholasticus ,...

. The Acta gives a fictional account of a debate between Mani and Archelaus, the Christian bishop of the city of Carchar

Harran

Harran was a major ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia whose site is near the modern village of Altınbaşak, Turkey, 24 miles southeast of Şanlıurfa...

 in Roman Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...

 as well as an important summary of his teaching on cosmogony and a highly polemical version of Mani's life. The work would later exercise enormous influence on anti-Manichaean writings in both Late Antiquity and Middle Ages."

A Latin edition Acta Disputationis Archelai, Episcopi Mesopotamia et Manetis Haresiarch was published by Lorenzo Alessandro Zaccagni, librarian of the Vatican Library

Vatican Library

The Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from...

, in Collectanea monumentorum veterum Ecclesiae graecae et latinae. Rome, 1698. Charles H. Beeson

Charles H. Beeson

Charles Henry Beeson was an American classical scholar. His book A Primer of Medieval Latin: An Anthology of Prose and Poetry has remained since its publication in 1935 one of the leading texts used by students learning post-classical Latin. In addition, he was an active researcher and reviewer,...

's edition appeared in 1906. An improved critical edition of the text of Breeson was published by Brepols Publishers (Turnhout, Belgium) in 2001. An English translation of Zaccagni's edition by S. D. F. Salmond appeared in 1871. A new translation by Mark Vermes of Breeson's edition appeared in 2001.

External links

• English translation, S. D. F. Salmond, 1871.
• Original Latin and Greek Text Online (Charles Henry Beeson, German Edition, 1906)