midnight
Before sunrise the wind changed . Heavy clouds bore down from the north , darkening the clear sky of Alexandria . By the time the market was filling it was raining in torrents , and a cold breeze blew over the town from the lake . Philostratus had only allowed himself a short time for sleep , sitting till long after midnight over his history of Apolonius of Tyana . His aim was to prove , by the example of this man , that a character not less worthy of imitation than that of the lord of the Christians might be formed in the faith of the ancients , and nourished by doctrines produced by the many-branched tree of Greek religion and philosophy . Julia Domna , Caracalla 's mother , had encouraged the philosopher in this task , which was to show her passionate and criminal son the dignity of moderation and virtue . The book was also to bring home to Caesar the religion of his forefathers and his country in all its beauty and elevating power ; for hitherto he had vacillated from one form to another , had not even rejected Christianity , with which his nurse had tried to inoculate him as a child , and had devoted himself to every superstition of his time in a way which had disgusted those about him .