Aquila (genus)

Aquila is the genus of true eagles. It is often united with the buteos, sea eagles, and other more heavyset Accipitridae, but more recently it appears as if they are less distinct from the more slender accipitrine hawks than believed. Eagles are not a natural group, but denote essentially any bird of prey large enough to hunt sizeable (about 50 cm long or more overall) vertebrate prey.

Species

Aquila belongs to an extremely close-knit group of "typical" eagles. These include genera such as Hieraaetus, Lophaetus, Ictinaetus, and the extinct Harpagornis, and all these appear to be paraphyletic with regards to the traditional Aquila. Especially some, if not all, species of Hieraaetus, separated primarily due to their smaller size, seem to belong here. The entire "typical eagle" group is in need of a thorough revision, thus this species list cannot be more than a tentative one at present.

Most problematic is certainly Hieraaetus, the hawk-eagles. The type species, the booted eagle, is known to be very close to some Aquila eagles. Other hawk-eagles might indeed be distinct enough to warrant generic separation, but the name Hieraaetus is not available for them, being a junior synonym of Aquila as the booted eagle is included herein.

Aquila

Aquila is the Latin and Romance languages word for eagle. Specifically, it may refer to:

People

Places

Work titles and brand names

Aquila (name)

Aquila is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include:

Ancient and biblical

Medieval and renaissance

Modern

Priscilla and Aquila

Priscilla (/prᵻˈsɪlə/) and Aquila (/ˈækwᵻlə/) were a first century Christian missionary married couple described in the New Testament and traditionally listed among the Seventy Disciples. They lived, worked, and traveled with the Apostle Paul, who described them as his "fellow workers in Christ Jesus" (Romans 16:3 NASB).

Priscilla and Aquila are described in the New Testament as providing a presence that strengthened the early Christian churches. Paul was generous in his recognition and acknowledgment of his indebtedness to them (Rom. 16:3-4). Together, they are credited with instructing Apollos, a major evangelist of the first century, and "[explaining] to him the way of God more accurately" (Acts 18:26).

It has been conjectured, in light of her apparent prominence, that Priscilla held the office of pastor. She is also thought by some to be the anonymous author of the Epistle to the Hebrews.

New Testament references

They are mentioned seven times in four different books of the New Testament. They are always named as a couple and never individually. Of those seven references, Priscilla's name is mentioned first on five occasions (as shown in italics in the list below), which is conspicuously unusual for such a male-dominant society. Throughout Scripture, the man is usually mentioned first; e.g., Adam and Eve, Ananias and Sapphira, making the four appearances of Priscilla's name first a notable exception.