Acindynus

Acindynus was a Byzantine governor of Carrhae (Harran), active in the reign of Emperor Maurice (r. 582–602). He was accused of being a pagan and was executed. The main sources about him are Syriac chronicles, in particular the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian and the Chronicle of 1234. The source of both accounts was the lost chronicle of Dionysius Telmaharensis.

Biography Acindynus was reportedly a governor of Carrhae (Harran) in Osroene. The term used, "hegemon", typically implies a civil governor, but the civil governors of Osroene were usually stationed at Edessa. Acindynus was probably a military commander stationed in the secondary city.

Theophilus himself had visited Edessa in the course of his investigations. He claimed to have interrupted a sacrifice to Zeus taking place within the city. He proceeded to arrest Anatolius and Theodore, respectively the provincial governor of Osroene and his second-in-command. They were transported first to Antioch for their interrogation and secondly to Constantinople for their trial. Liebeschuetz sees these activities as a regular "witch-hunt", where everyone is a suspect. He points out that many of the "pagans" executed were probably actual Christians.

Liebeschuetz and other modern historians point to the involvement of the Monophysites in these events. The last reign favorable to them was that of Emperor Anastasius I (r. 491–518). Since 518, they were seen as heretics, with "their churches and monasteries ... liable to be confiscated, and their bishops to be exiled and imprisoned". Yet they participated enthusiastically in the search for crypto-pagans. They probably saw it as an opportunity to discredit their enemies, since many of the "suspects" happened to be prominent Chalcedonians. For example, Gregory, Patriarch of Antioch (term 571–593) was accused of participating in a human sacrifice.