Aquila

“ The southern part of the constellation Aquila is sometimes called Antinous. For the beautiful Oriental legend of the Spinning Damsel and the Magpie Bridge connected with Aquila and Lyra, see Astronomy with the Naked Eye. Newcomb gives Altair ten times the luminosity of the sun.
The constellations Delphinus and Anser et Vulpecula will be dealt with in the next chapter. In the mean time let us turn to the western half of the sky.
Just west of the meridian, near the zenith, gleams the glorious Northern Crown, Corona Borealis. ”

“ This bright star is Altair in Aquila. It forms with Vega and Deneb an isosceles triangle. Altair is at the apex, about 35 degrees from the other two. A triangle is formed by Vega, Altair, and Ras Alhague, in the Serpent Bearer, which is about 30 degrees west of Altair.
This is a double constellation composed of Aquila and Antinous. Altair is in the neck of the eagle, Alschain in the head of Antinoüs.
When the moon is absent, a rude arrow head can be traced out, embracing almost all the stars in Aquila. ”

“ An immense branch extends to the right, which, after having formed an important luminous mass between the stars Gamma and Beta, continues its southward progress through parts of Lyra, Vulpecula, Hercules, Aquila and Ophiuchus, where it gradually terminates a few degrees south of the equator. The main stream on the left, after having formed a bright mass around Epsilon Cygni, passes through Vulpecula and then Aquila, where it crosses the equinoctial just below the star Eta, after having involved in its nebulosity the bright star Altair, the leader of Aquila. ”

“ I'll see the world once more, and when I weary of my vagrancy I can withdraw to my lands of Aquila, and in that corner of Tuscany, too mean to draw a conqueror's eye, none will molest me, and I shall rest. ”

“ And now we will turn to the east. Our next map shows Cygnus, a constellation especially remarkable for the large and striking figure that it contains, called the Northern Cross, Aquila the Eagle, the Dolphin, and the little asterisms Sagitta and Vulpecula. In consulting the map, the observer [55] is supposed to face toward the east. In Aquila the curious arrangement of two stars on either side of the chief star of the constellation, called Altair, at once attracts the eye. ”

“ The young nobles, entirely devoted to the chase, to love intrigues, and war, overwhelmed Felix Aquila with ridicule when they found him poring over these relics, and being of a proud and susceptible spirit, they so far succeeded that he abandoned the open pursuit of such studies, and stole his knowledge by fitful glances when there was no one near. As among the ancients learning was esteemed above all things, so now, by a species of contrast, it was of all things the most despised. ”

“ Here flutters and soars a great black eagle, that carries off lambs to the nest in the rocks of Astel rising over 900 feet from the valley. It is believed to come from the Alps to spend its breeding season in the Vivarais, both in these rocks and in those of Abraham, and that it returns to the Alps in winter. This is not the Aquila fulva, which is common enough, but the Aquila imperialis. It soars so high and keeps so well at a distance from men that the hunters very rarely are able to kill one. ”

“ See an instance of truly Christian charity in Aquila and Priscilla; they did good according to their ability. Aquila, though a man of great knowledge, yet did no undertake to speak in the synagogue, because he had not such gifts for public work as Apollos had; but he furnished Apollos with matter, and then left him to clothe it with acceptable words. Instructing young Christians and young ministers privately in conversation, who mean well, and perform well, as far as they go, is a piece of very good service, both to them and to the church. ”

“ ACCORSO (Accursius) , MARIANGELO (c. 1490–1544) , Italian critic, was born at Aquila, in the kingdom of Naples. He was a great favourite with Charles V., at whose court he resided for thirty-three years, and by whom he was employed on various foreign missions. To a perfect knowledge of Greek and Latin he added an intimate acquaintance with several modern languages. In discovering and collating ancient manuscripts, for which his travels abroad gave him special opportunities, he displayed uncommon diligence. ”

“ Here over the face of the waters as it were, just above the region of the sky known to the ancients as "the Sea," we find three birds in flight, two eagles and a swan, our Lyra, being anciently known as "the Falling Eagle." There is a significance in this arrangement that has never been satisfactorily explained. Dupuis advanced the idea that the famous three Stymphalian Birds of mythology were represented by the constellations Aquila, Cygnus, and Lyra, grouped near Hercules, whose fifth labour it was to slay them. ”

“ The duke of Calabria was upon the banks of the Tronto with his men-at-arms, under pretense of appeasing some disturbances among the peasantry; but really with a design of reducing L'Aquila entirely under the king's authority, and sent for the Count di Montorio, as if to consult him upon the business he pretended then to have in hand. The count obeyed without the least suspicion, and on his arrival was made prisoner by the duke and sent to Naples. When this circumstance became known at L'Aquila, the anger of the inhabitants arose to the highest pitch ”

“ For stately buildings the street called del Aquila, the street of the eagle, exceeds the rest, where live Gentlemen, and Courtiers, and Judges belonging to the Chancery, and is the palace of the Marquesse del Valle from the line of Ferdinando Cortez ”

“ The increased brightness of the Milky Way in Aquila is accounted for by the fact that Herschel’s “gages” show an increased number of stars, and hence the brightness in Aquila and Sagittarius does not necessarily imply that the Milky Way is nearer to us in those parts, but that it is richer in small stars than in other regions.
Easton is of opinion that the annular hypothesis of the Milky Way is inconsistent with our present knowledge of the galactic phenomena, and he suggests that its actual constitution resembles more that of a spiral nebula. ”

“ The Hebrews know this constellation as "Neshr," an eagle, falcon, or vulture. The Arabians called it "Al-'Okāb," probably their black eagle. Grotius and Bayer both called the constellation " Altair," the name now borne by its brightest star.
The Turks called Aquila the "Hunting Eagle," and through all the ages it has been known as a bird of prey, the "Eagle of the Winds," the "Soaring Eagle," as contrasted with Vega near by, the "Swooping or Falling Eagle." ”

“ Thes. p. 156.↑ Jer. xxxi. 22. vid. also supr. p. 85, where he notices that this is the version of the Septuagint, Aquila’s being ‘The Lord created a new thing in woman.’ Athan. has preserved Aquila’s version in three other places, in Psalm xxx. 12 ”

“ Some authorities claim that Aquila is the flying eagle, the semblance of the fourth face of the Cherubim, but in view of the fact that Antares, the brilliant first magnitude star in the Scorpion, is always known as one of the so-called four "Royal Stars," known as such from remote antiquity, there seems to be some ground for the argument that the constellation Scorpio was originally considered to represent the eagle. ”

“ When Aquila had thus spoken, his brother Nicetas said: “It is necessary, O Clement our brother, for me to mention what has been left out by Aquila. For, in the first place, God is witness that we assisted him in no impious work, but that we looked on while he wrought ”

“ Both the Vulgate and Septuagint seem to have reference to this superstition.
The Syriac understands the passage of a pestilential wind, that blows at noonday. Aquila translates, of the bite of the noonday demon.
Verse 7
A thousand shall fall at thy side - Calmet thinks this place should be translated thus: "A thousand enemies may fall upon thee on one side, and ten thousand may fall upon thee on thy right hand: but they shall not come nigh thee to take away thy life." It is a promise of perfect protection, and the utmost safety. ”

“ His treatise is really adapted from that by Alexander, son of Numenius, as is expressly stated by Julius Rufinianus, who brought out a supplementary treatise, augmented by material from other sources. Aquila’s style is harsh and careless, and the Latin is inferior. ”

“ Don Marzio was gifted with animal courage, and even nerve, proportionate to the might of his stalwart frame. But then his was merely a combative spirit. Thews and sinews were of no avail in the case. The garden was no breathing ground for him, and he resolved upon prompt emigration.
The people of Aquila, as indeed you may well know, of most towns in Southern Italy, have the habit of—consequently a peculiar talent for—earthquakes. They know how to deal with them, and are seldom caught unprepared. ”

“ To explain what is said of their passing through seven spaces, it is said: 'The stars seem to go round the circumference of the heavens, divided into twelve spaces, in a day and night. They would accomplish six of them in a day; but as their motion is rather in advance of that of the sun, they have entered into the seventh space by the time it is up with them again.' ↑ 'The Draught Oxen' is the name of some stars in the neck of Aquila. ”

“ When Niceta had thus spoken, Aquila answered: "Whoever he was that was the author and inventor of these things, he seems to me to have been very impious, since he covered over those things which seem to be pleasant and seemly, and made the ritual of his superstition to consist in base and shameful observances, since those things which are written according to the letter are manifestly unseemly and base; and the whole observance of their religion consists in these, that by such crimes and impieties they may teach men to imitate their gods whom they worship. ”

“ Aquila and Priscilla listened to his eloquent words in the synagogue of Ephesus, and having sought his acquaintance, did much to correct his imperfect conceptions of Christian doctrine, and to explain to him more accurately the way of God (Acts xviii. 26) . Though trained in the schools of Alexandria, Apollos was not above receiving instruction from these humble natives of Pontus, and when made fully acquainted with the Christian doctrine was desirous of crossing over into Achaia. On communicating his wishes to the brethren at Ephesus, he received from them much encouragement ”

“ You might disguise me; it is quite easy. Even Pudens need not know; he never feels dull,’ he added with a smile, ‘if he may talk to Claudia, who is staying with you now.’
‘There was an excellent Jewish workman here named Aquila of Pontus,’ she said. ‘You might have talked to him, but he left Rome when the Jews were banished in your father’s days. He used to mend the awning over the viridarium, and those which kept the sun from blazing too hotly into our Cyzicene room.24 He sometimes brought with him his still more excellent wife, Prisca. ”

“ Aquila was a Jewish proselyte of Pontus, and since he was a disciple of Rabbi Aqiba (d. A.D. 135) , and (according to another Talmudic account) also of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Joshua, the immediate predecessors of Aqiba, his version may be assigned to the first half of the 2nd century. ”

“ The Lammergeyer, we have now ascertained, does not breed, as we had expected, in those more stupendous precipices beloved of Aquila bonelli, and whose height dwarfs even an eagle to the similitude of the homely kestrel; but rather, either in rock-stacks such as those (often not 100 feet high) which flank the lower gargantas, or corries of the sierra, or in those generally loftier crags which often belt the base of each individual mountain.
The actual site of the nest is a small cave—rather than a crevice—and a huge mass of material, the accumulation of years, usually covers the whole floor. ”

“ THE EAGLE AND THE LARGER BIRDS OF PREY.
AT the head of the diurnal birds of prey, most authors have agreed in placing the Eagles. Their large size, powerful flight, and great muscular strength, give them a superiority which is universally admitted. In reviewing, therefore, the birds of which Shakespeare has made mention, no apology seems to be necessary for commencing with the genus Aquila. ”

“ In the Museo Borbonico, at Naples, is a kneeling statue of Atlas sustaining the globe. It is a very interesting monument of Roman art, and one of great value to the student of ancient astronomy. Of the forty-seven constellations known to the ancients, forty-two may be distinctly recognized. The date of this curious sculpture is fixed as anterior to the time of Hadrian by the absence of the likeness of Antinous, which was inserted in the constellation Aquila by the astronomers of that period. ”

“ Greet Prisca [263] and Aquila (Ἀκύλας) , my co-workers in Christ Jesus; the friends who (οἵτινες) for my life's sake submitted their own throat to the knife (it was at some stern crisis otherwise utterly unknown to us, but well known in heaven) ; to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the Churches of the Nations; for they saved the man whom the Lord consecrated to the service of the Gentile world. And the Church at their house greet with them; that is, the Christians of their neighbourhood, who used Aquila's great room as their {427} house of prayer ”

“ The deep azure of the hitherto cloudless sky assumes a lighter hue. Scarcely can the dark space in the constellation of the Southern Cross be distinguished at night. The mild phosphorescence of the Magellanic clouds fades away. Even the vertical stars of the constellations Aquila and Ophiuchus shine with a flickering and less planetary light. Like some distant mountain, a single cloud is seen rising perpendicularly on the southern horizon. ”