Book
The Beacon at Alexandria
First published 1986
In 371 CE, Charis of Ephesus refuses a marriage to the violent imperial official Festinus and flees disguised as a eunuch named Chariton. In Alexandria she studies medicine under the Jewish physician Philon, treating patients while concealing her sex in a profession and society that deny women the authority she seeks.
Religious conflict around Bishop Athanasius and the suspicions of Emperor Valens eventually make Alexandria unsafe, sending Charis to serve as an army doctor on the Gothic frontier. War, epidemic disease and the Battle of Adrianople test her skill, while the discovery of her identity forces Roman officials to decide whether her work matters more than the rules she has broken.
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