THE ROMAN EAGLE. 
2 9 
Lessen’d herself, and in the beams o’ the sun 
So vanish’d : which foreshadow’d our princely eagle, 
The imperial Caesar, should again unite 
His favour with the radiant Cymbeline, 
Which shines here in the west.” 
Cymbeline , Act v. Sc. 5. 
In a paper “ On the Roman Imperial and Crested 
Eagles,” * 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 appear¬ 
ance 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 con¬ 
sidered 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, repre¬ 
senting 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, ac- 
* “Annals and Magazine of Natural History." June, 1864. 
