Acknowledgements
This book is a slightly modified version of my Ph.D., which I defended in June 2021 at the University of Leiden. For successfully achieving this challenging yet exciting research project, first and foremost, I wholeheartedly thank my supervisor Albert de Jong (Leiden University), because he was the one who suggested I do this research, and gave me the opportunity to delve into an extremely interesting topic that took me on a journey to my favourite era, Late Antiquity. I thank him, because, knowing my academic background and interests, he rightly judged that this would be a subject that would fascinate me; because he trusted me, and with his encouragement, he made me overcome my insecurities. I also want to express my deep gratitude to my co-supervisor, Dimitris Kyrtatas (University of Thessaly), for his constant and substantial interest, his prompt response, and the feedback he has consistently given me at all stages of this project. I am very grateful to both, for their academic and personal support. Both being prominent historians of Late Antiquity, with their valuable knowledge and critical insights, guidance and useful comments, our inspirational discussions, helped to effectively complete this endeavour.
I also would like to express my gratitude to my friends, fellow researchers, and academics: Prof. Samuel Lieu (Emeritus, Macquarie University, and Bye Fellow Robinson College, Cambridge), also a prominent historian of Late Antiquity, for his whole-hearted interest, his graciousness, his always encouraging words for my research, and his support and valuable advice. Prof. Rika Benveniste (University of Thessaly), for her fruitful feedback on parts of my work, and encouragement; Dr Mattias Brand (University of Zurich), for our fruitful discussions where we exchanged our views and research findings; Petros Parthenis (PhD, University of Thessaly), for his inspired and diligent translation of some ancient Greek texts that troubled me into modern Greek; Dr Mark Locicero (University of British Columbia) for his excellency in English language editing and proofreading of my manuscript. For their interest in my research and for giving me access to their work (published and/or unpublished), I thank Prof. Johannes van Oort (Radboud University and University of Pretoria), Prof. Majella Franzmann (University of Sydney), Dr Jean-Daniel Dubois (École Pratique des Hautes Études), Prof. Nils Arne Pedersen (Aarhus University), and Afroditi Kamara (Historian-Cultural Heritage Consultant).
The academic and institutional surroundings definitely contributed greatly to the completion of this project. The meetings and symposia of the ‘Late Antiquity discussion group’ led by Prof. Kyrtatas (History Lab, University of Thessaly) were very inspiring. The International Association of Manichaean Studies (IAMS), through its conferences, and the Mani in Cambridge day symposium led by Prof. Lieu, made me feel a member of the ‘wider family of Manichaeologists’ and gave me the opportunity to meet and discuss with leading scholars on the topic from all over the world, to present parts of my work, to test my working hypotheses, and receive useful comments and feedback. I am also indebted to all my colleagues (academic and administrative staff) from the Department of History, Archaeology, and Social Anthropology at the University of Thessaly for their support, understanding, and trust, which had a great significance for my work.
For the publication of my doctoral research as a book, I would like to express my gratitude to the members of the doctorate and examining committees who strongly encouraged me to publish my thesis. I am deeply grateful to Prof. van Oort for appreciating my work and suggesting that I publish it with Brill’s Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies series. I also thank him for his patience and guidance during the publication process. For the final version of the text, I am grateful to Prof. Johannes van Oort and Prof. Jason BeDuhn, for their corrections, suggestions, and comments that helped me to improve the manuscript. Special thanks also go to the editors of Brill, Marjolein van Zuylen, for her always prompt, efficient, and helpful response, and to Dirk Bakker, the production editor, for his patience and the excellent and careful editing of the book in its final phase. I would also like to thank the staff of Asiatype Inc., who worked on the book typesetting.
Lastly, I am thankful to my family for their unconditional love and support and for enduring my absence by understanding the significance of this study for me. I dedicate this book to all of them, especially to my granddaughters, Iris and Iole.
Rea Matsangou
Volos, May 2023