ADIMANTO ('ĀDĒKĀVTOṢ O 'ĀDHĀKĀVTOṢ)

ADIMANTO ('Ādēkāvtoṣ or 'Ādhākāvtoṣ). — A Manichaean preacher of the 3rd century. According to Augustine, he was also called Addas; he had been one of the first disciples of Mani and enjoyed the highest authority in the sect. In direct polemical response, particularly to his book *Against Moses and the other Prophets*, the Bishop of Hippo wrote his *Contra Adimantum Manichaei discipulum* (PL 42, 129–72 and CSEL 25, 115–90). According to recently discovered Coptic and Iranian Manichaean texts, Mani sent from Al-Madāʾin on the Tigris the bishop Adda to preach in the Roman Empire with his gospel and two other writings. He founded monasteries, wrote books polemicizing against other religions, and even reached Alexandria, where he performed conversions and miracles. However, the *Acta Archelai* portray him rather as a missionary in Scythia and the eastern regions. According to Heraclian of Chalcedon, Diodorus of Tarsus, and Titus of Bostra, they opposed a work of his entitled *The Mowggio*; perhaps the Ato to whom a Manichaean treatise in Chinese is attributed is the same as our Adimantus.