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.
It had been particularly interesting to the writer, with a view to the
purpose of this work, to meet with a girl who practiced all the virtues
the Christians most highly prized, without belonging to that sect, who
were always boasting of the constraining power of their religion in
conducing to pure morality.

In his work the day before he had taken occasion to regret the small
recognition his hero had met with among those nearest to him. In this,
as in other respects, he seemed to have shared the fate of Jesus Christ,
whose name, however, Philostratus purposely avoided mentioning. Now,
to-night, he reflected on the sacrifice offered by Melissa for Caesar
whom she knew not, and he wrote the following words as though proceeding
from the pen of Apollonius himself: "I know well how good a thing it is
to regard all the world as my home, and all mankind as my brethren and
friends; for we are all of the same divine race, and have all one
Father."

Then, looking up from the papyrus, he murmured to himself: "From such a