Written for readers who have finished Book 1.
Senior overseer of the Ephesian church: a man in his sixties who has spent thirty years keeping order in a scattered community that meets in houses across a great city. The correspondence with the coast-road assemblies, the disputes, the pastoral rounds — all of it runs through him, and he is meticulous, tireless and genuinely respected. Ephesus is a well-run church, and he is the reason.
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…
Neokoros — the priest-administrator of the Temple of the Sebastoi, and therefore keeper of the honour that…
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…
A scroll-copyist in the craftsman quarter of Ephesus, and a specialist in the Ephesia grammata — the famous…