Rise of Surgery from Empiric Craft to Scientific Discipline

The fourth century A.D. (324-450), viewed by Tom B. Jones as the twilight of antiquity, was a time of transition, with pagan and Christian modes of life and thought competing for ascendency. In this book Jones searches for the temper of the age in a series of portraits depicting representative figures of the era. Among his characters are Egeria, a nun and pilgrim; the pagan orator Libanius; an emperor, Julian the Apostate; a soldier, Abinnaeus; the pagan philosopher Hypatia; and several prominent churchmen - Basil the Great, Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine. In the Twilight of Antiquity is an engaging, conversational work that reveals Jones's long familiarity with the age.