Aquila of Pontus

When did Aquila die?

Aquila of Pontus is dated d. later 1st c. (trad., with Prisca) in the archive, which places Aquila in the Apostolic Age (AD 4–70). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.

Which early sources mention Aquila?

Aquila of Pontus is named in 5 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Paul, Luke the Evangelist, Origen of Alexandria and The Constitutions' compiler. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Where was Aquila from?

The archive associates Aquila of Pontus with Pontus, Rome, Corinth, Ephesus. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.

Who were Aquila’s contemporaries?

The archive links Aquila of Pontus to 6 other figures, including Prisca (Priscilla), Paul of Tarsus, Apollos of Alexandria and Emperor Claudius. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.

Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.

And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla.

Of the parishes of Asia, Aquila and Nicetas.

“And with him Priscilla” — lo, a woman also — “and Aquila.” But these he left at Ephesus. **With good reason, namely, that they should teach.** … It was not for nothing that he left them at Ephesus, but for Apollos’ sake, the Spirit so ordered it, that he might come with greater force to the attack upon Corinth. … nowhere envy, nowhere an evil eye. **Aquila teaches, or rather this man lets himself be taught.** [The last sentence is the point of the passage for Chrysostom: set beside Apollos — “an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures” — the tentmaker is the one doing the teaching, and the credit goes to the learned man for submitting to it. He also has Paul leaving the pair at Ephesus deliberately, so that they would be there when Apollos arrived.]

Chrysostom's Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles, preached at Constantinople c. AD 400. Critical Greek: *Patrologia Graeca* 60. English translation by J. Walker, J. Sheppard and H. Browne, revised by George B. Stevens, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 1st series, vol. 11 (1889), public domain.