Written for readers who have finished Book 1.
Neokoros — the priest-administrator of the Temple of the Sebastoi, and therefore keeper of the honour that makes Ephesus twice temple-keeper. Flavius believes, sincerely and without cynicism, that Rome's order is what holds the peace, and the imperial cult is not tyranny to him but ordinary civic piety: a courtesy, a handshake, the throat-clearing of a whole people. He is also a long-standing friend of the overseer of the city's Christian assembly.
A silversmith of Ephesus whose living comes off the pilgrim trade — the miniature shrines, the amulets, the…
The man who taught Philaretos the scroll trade — and taught his father before him. Broad, slow, generous…
Philaretos's sister, and the reason the household stands up. Kira has kept the accounts since she was…
The overseer's wife, and the warm centre of the house. Married thirty years, she keeps a home in the streets…
Senior overseer of the Ephesian church: a man in his sixties who has spent thirty years keeping order in a…
A scroll-copyist in the craftsman quarter of Ephesus, and a specialist in the Ephesia grammata — the famous…