Homo Sum (Annotated)

Homo Sum is a historical novel of the early Christian desert, set among ascetics, pilgrims, and worldly intruders near the monastic settlements of Egypt and Sinai. Taking its title from Terence's humane maxim, Ebers explores the tension between renunciation and the irrepressible claims of love, pity, ambition, and memory. His style combines antiquarian exactness with melodramatic movement: careful...