"Sergius and Bacchus" (1959), a historical novel or rather a novelistic chronicle, draws its plot from Byzantium, narrating the 14 centuries of Greek life from 250 AD to 1948, sometimes seriously and sometimes in a humorous way.
The saints Sergius and Bacchus do not live in seclusion in the bliss of Paradise, but rather, from the beautiful temple built in their honor by Justinian, they watch over the course of the Greek people and the entire world with a vigilant eye, discussing, commenting, and judging it. Meanwhile, the reader delights and bursts into laughter.
This novel is unique within Karagatsis's work, not only because there is no other inspired by Byzantium - apart from the short story "Christmas of 1448 AD" - but also because there are two versions of it: the extensive one in two volumes and the shorter one which bears the slightly different title: "The Wonderful Story of Saints Sergius and Bacchus." [Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]
