Religione manichea e monarchi. Considerazioni sulle tradizioni letterarie, con particolare attenzione alla narrazione del Codice Manicheo di Colonia

Since its foundation, the Manichaean religion has presented a missionary and universalistic vocation: this is demonstrated not only by the narratives on the life of the founder himself and his disciples, but also by the geographical and chronological breadth of its diffusion. This peculiarity of the Manichaean mission is reflected in the literary testimonies on the meetings between the Manichaean missionaries and the rulers of the regions in which they carried their mission (both small local monarchs and great figures such as Palmyra and Ša¯ buhr I), of which we can read rather late and often fragmentary texts in Coptic and Iranian languages, as well as an account in Arabic. Beyond the problem of hagiographic stylization which often distorts the historical perspective of the sources on Mani, these narratives are of great interest, because they involve narrative mechanisms which, overturning the principle of earthly authority, exalt the figure of the missionary compared to that of the monarch, thus demonstrating the superiority of divine power over earthly power. The aim of this article will be to focus on and analyze these narratives, making constant reference to the narrative of the CMC, which, as a biography of the founder formed by the texts of his disciples, contains in itself the oldest testimony of this literary model which then spread in the Manichaean tradition.