Book excerpt: Nemesius of Emesa's 'On Human Nature' (De Natura Hominis) is a Christian anthropology. Written in Greek, circa 390 CE, it was read in half a dozen languages - from Baghdad to Oxford - well into the early modern period. Nemesius' text circulated in two Latin versions in the centuries that saw the rise of European universities, shaping scholastic theories of human nature. During the Renaissance there were numerous print editions helping to inspire a new discourse of human dignity. David Lloyd Dusenbury offers a monograph in English on Nemesius' treatise. In the interpretation offered here, the Syrian bishop seeks to define the human qua human. His early Christian anthropology is cosmopolitan.