The Sacellum Sanci, or Shrine of Sancus on the Quirinal. The worship of Semo Sancus Sanctus Dius Fidius was imported into Rome at a very early period, by the Sabines who first colonized the Quirinal Hill. He was considered the Genius of heavenly light, the son of Jupiter Diespiter or Lucetius, the avenger of dishonesty, the upholder of truth and good faith, whose mission upon earth was to secure the sanctity of agreements, of matrimony, and hospitality. Hence his various names and his identification with the Roman Hercules, who was likewise invoked as a guardian of the sanctity of oaths (me-Hercle, me-Dius Fidius). There were two shrines of Semo Sancus and ancient Rome, one built by the Sabines on the Quirinal, near the modern church of S. Silvestro, from which the Porta Sanqualis of the Servian walls was named, the other built by the Romans on the Island of the Tiber (S. Bartolomeo) near the Temple of Jupiter Jurarius. Justin, the apologist and martyr, laboring under the delusion that Semo Sancus and Simon the Magician were the same, describes the altar on the island of S. Bartolomeo as sacred to the latter. He must have glanced hurriedly at the first three names of the Sabine god, — SEMONI SANCO DEO, — and translated them. The altar on which these names were written, the very one seen and described by S. Justin, was discovered on the same island, in July, 1574, p105 during the pontificate of Gregory XIII. The altar is preserved in the Galleria Lapidaria of the Vatican Museum, in the first compartment (Dii).
The shrine on the Quirinal is minutely described by classical writers. It was hypaethral, that is, without a roof, so that the sky could be seen by the worshippers of the "Genius of heavenly light." The oath me-Dius Fidius could not be taken except in the open air. The chapel contained relics of the kingly period, the wool, distaff, spindle, and slippers of Tanaquil, and brass clypea or medallions, made of money confiscated from Vitruvius Vaccus.
Its foundations were discovered in March, 1881, under what was formerly the convent of S. Silvestro al Quirinale, now the headquarters of the Royal Engineers. The monument is a parallelogram in shape, thirty-five feet long by nineteen feet wide, with walls of travertine, and decorations of white marble; and it is surrounded by votive altars and pedestals of statues. I am not sure whether the remarkable work of art which I shall describe presently was found in this very place, but it is a strange coincidence that, during the progress of the excavations at S. Silvestro, a statue of Semo Sancus and a pedestal inscribed with his name should have appeared in the antiquarian market of the city. p106
The statue, reproduced here from a heliogravure, is life-sized, and represents a nude youth, of archaic type. His attitude may be compared to that of some early representations of Apollo, but the expression of the face and the modelling of some parts of the body are realistic rather than conventional. Both hands are missing, so that it is impossible to state what were the attributes of the god. Visconti thinks they may have been the avis Sanqualis or ossifraga, and the club of Hercules. The inscription on the pedestal is very much like that seen by S. Justin:—
SEMONI • SANCO • DEO • FIDIO • SACRUM • DECURIA • SACERDOT[UM] BIDENTALIUM •
According to Festus, bidentalia were small shrines of second-rate divinities, to whom bidentes, lambs two years old, were sacrificed. For this reason the priests of Semo were called sacerdotes bidentales. They were organized, like a lay corporation, in a decuria under the presidency of a magister quinquennalis. Their residence, adjoining the chapel, was ample and commodious, with an abundant supply of water. The lead pipe by which this was distributed through the establishment was discovered at the same time and in the same place with the bronze statues of athletes described in chapter xi. of my "Ancient Rome."
The pipe has been removed to the Capitoline Museum, the statue and its pedestal have been purchased by Pope Leo XIII. and placed in the Galleria dei Candelabri, and the foundations of the shrine have been destroyed.
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/G ... es/Europe/
Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/Lanciani/LANPAC/2*.html
Ovid Fasti Book VI: June 5 : Nones
I asked whether I should assign the Nones to Sancus,
Or Fidius, or you Father Semo: Sancus answered me:
‘Whichever you assign it to, the honour’s mine:
I bear all three names: so Cures willed it.’
The Sabines of old granted him a shrine accordingly,
And established it on the Quirinal Hill.
semo sancus
Een goddelijk wezen, dat in rang gelijk stond met de Genii, in beteekenis geheelenal overeenkomende met Dius Fidius. (Zie aldaar.) Oorspronkelijk was hij de beschermende en voortbrengende Genius van de velden, die tot Rome behoorden. In zijnen naam ligt die beteekenis opgesloten. Hij werd ook beschouwd als een god, die waakte over den echt. In zijnen oudsten tempel werd het spinrokken van
Tanequil, de gade van
Tarquinius Priscus, bewaard en ook verscheidene staatsoorkonden, b. v. een verdrag, dat
Servius Tullius met de Latijnen had gesloten. In lateren tijd had hij eenen tempel op het eiland in Rome in den Tiber gelegen en ook een heiligdom op den collis Quirinalis. -
In het volksgeloof was of werd hij geheel identisch met Hercules. (Zie Herakles.) Merkwaardig is de vergissing, die de Christelijke kerkvaders omtrent Semo Sancus begaan hebben. Door het niet begrijpen van sommige opschriften zijner beelden hebben zij ter goeder trouw gemeend, dat te Rome goddelijke eer bewezen werd aan
Simon, den toovenaar. -
Ook wordt er melding gemaakt van meerdere Semones. Deze zijn wezens gelijk in beteekenis aan de Lares, derhalve goden, die in eene vrij nauwe betrekking staan tot de menschen en alshetware eene brug slaan over de kloof, die er tusschen de onsterfelijke goden en de sterfelijke menschen bestaat. Zoowel zij als Semo Sancus waren geheel van sabijnschen oorsprong en hebben in den romeinschen eeredienst eene plaats gekregen, toen de Romeinen en de Sabijnen zich tot één volk vereenigden.
SANCUS, SANGUS or SEMO SANCUS, a Roman divinity, is said to have been originally a Sabine god, and identical with Hercules and Dins Fidius. (Lactant. i. 15; Ov. Fast. vi. 216; Pro- pert, iv. 9, 74 ; &1. Ital. viii. 421.) The name which is etymologically the same as
Sanctus, and connected with
Sancire, seems to justify this belief, and characterises Sancus as a divinity presiding over oaths.
Sancus also had a temple at Rome, on the Quirinal, opposite that of Quirinus, and close by the gate which derived from him the name of
Sanqualis porta. This sanctuary was the same as that of Dius Fidius, which had been con secrated in the year b. c. 465 by Sp. Postumius, but was said to have been founded by Tarquinius Superbus (Liv. viii. 20, xxxii. 1 ; Dionys. ix. 60; Ov.
Fast. vi. 213, &c.), and the ancients thoroughly identified their Dius Fidius with Sancus. He is accordingly regarded as the protector of the marriage oath, of the law of nations, and the law of hospitality. (Dionys. iv. 58 ; Varro,
De Ling. Lot. v. 66.) Sancus is said to have been the father of the Sabine hero Sabus. (Dionys. ii. 49 ; August,
de Civ. Dei, xviii. 19 ; Lactant. I.e.} [L. S.]
Sancus. Usually called
Semo Sancus (see
semones). A genius worshipped by the Sabines, Umbrians, and Romans, representing holiness and good faith in human life. In Rome, he was principally worshipped under the name
Deus Fidius (from
fides, " faith") as god of oaths, god of the public laws of hospitality and of nations, also of international intercourse and of the safety of the roads, which were placed under his protection. An oath in his name could be taken only under the open sky ; therefore even his temple had a hole in the roof, and, when an oath by him was taken at home, the man swearing went into the uncovered court. On account of many points of resemblance he was identified with Hercules. He had a temple on the Quirinal (the foundation of which was celebrated June 5), and another on the island in the Tiber [Ovid,
Fasti, vi 213-218].