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.