C., is said to have
launched into the air the first "flying stag," and who, according
to the Greek writers, "made a pigeon of wood, which flew, but
which could not raise itself again after having fallen." Its
flight, it is said, "was accomplished by means of a mechanical
contrivance, by the vibrations of which it was sustained in the
air."
In the year 66 A.D., in the time of Nero, Simon, the
magician--who called himself "the mechanician"--made certain
experiments at Rome of flying at a certain height. In the eyes
of the early Christians this power was attributed to the devil,
and St. Peter, the namesake of this flying man, is said to have
prayed fervently while Simon was amusing himself in space. It
was possibly in answer to his prayers that the magician failed in
his flight, fell upon the Forum, and broke his neck on the spot.
From the summit of the tower of the hippodrome at Constantinople,
a certain Saracen met the same fate as Simon, in the reign of the
Emperor Comnenus. His experiments were conducted on the
principle of the inclined plane. He descended in an oblique
course, using the resistance of the air as a support. His robe,
very long and very large, and of which the flaps were extended on
an osier frame, preserved him from suddenly falling.
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