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The Paulicians came to prominence within the East Roman (or Byzantine) Empire during the ninth century, not only as a dissident religious movement, but also as a regional military power. They have conventionally been understood as a continuation of Armenian adoptionism, as the beginning of a distinctly medieval dualism, and/or as a product of the iconoclast controversy. By contrast, this paper will examine Paulician self-defence within the context of the persecutions conducted by Michael I (811-13) and Leo V (813-20). It will examine the Didaskalie, arguing that this source demonstrates that Paulicians reacted to these persecutions by casting themselves as the spiritual heirs of the Christians who were persecuted in the Acts of the Apostles. This reappropriation of Acts was a crucial factor in the short-term expansion of the movement.