Cymbeline, Act v. Sc. 5.
THE ROMAN EAGLE.
In a paper “On the Roman Imperial and Crested Eagles,”[29] Mr. Hogg says,—“The Roman Eagle, which is generally termed the Imperial Eagle, is represented with its head plain, that is to say, not crested. It is in appearance the same as the attendant bird of the ‘king of gods and men,’ and is generally represented as standing at the foot of his throne, or sometimes as the bearer of his thunder and lightning. Indeed he also often appears perched on the top of his sceptre. He is always considered as the attribute or emblem of ‘Father Jove.’”
A good copy of this bird of Jupiter, called by Virgil and Ovid “Jovis armiger,” from an antique group, representing the eagle and Ganymedes, may be seen in Bell’s “Pantheon,” vol. i. Also “a small bronze eagle, the ensign of a Roman legion,” is given in Duppa’s “Travels in Sicily” (2nd ed., 1829, tab. iv.). That traveller states, that the original bronze figure is preserved in the Museum of the Convent of St. Nicholas d’Arcun, at Catania. This Convent is now called Convento di S. Benedetto, according
to Mr. G. Dennis, in his “Handbook of Sicily,” (p. 349); and he mentions this ensign as “a Roman legionary eagle in excellent preservation.”
THE ENSIGN OF THE EAGLE.
From the second century before Christ, the eagle is said to have become the sole military ensign, and it was mostly small in size, because Florus (lib. 4, cap. 12) relates that an ensign-bearer, in the wars of Julius Cæsar, in order to prevent the enemy from taking it, pulled off the eagle from the top of the gilt pole, and hid it by placing it under cover of his belt.
In later times, the eagle was borne with the legion, which, indeed, occasionally took its name, “aquila.” This eagle, which was also adopted by the Roman emperors for their imperial symbol, is considered to be the Aquila heliaca of Savigny (imperialis of Temminck), and resembles our golden eagle, Aquila chrysaëtos, in plumage, though of a darker brown, and with more or less white on the scapulars. It differs also in the structure of the foot. It inhabits Southern Europe, North Africa, Palestine, and India. Living examples of this species may be seen at the present time in the Gardens of the Zoological Society.
HABITS AND ATTITUDES.
Sicilius, in Cymbeline (Act v. Sc. 4), speaking of the apparition and descent of Jupiter, who was seated upon an eagle, says,—