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In ancient Roman religion, Sancus (also known as Sangus or Semo Sancus) was a god of trust (fides), honesty, and oaths. His cult, one of the most ancient amongst the Romans, probably derived from Umbrian influences. Cato In a fragment preserved by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, 2.49.2. and Silius Italicus Silius Italicus Punica VIII 421. wrote that Sancus was a Sabine god and father of the Sabine hero Sabus. He is thus sometimes considered a founding myth.
Sancus derives from a Latin language/Umbrian language/Sabine language source (compare Umbrian sacra/ sakra "sacred", and the Umbrian theonym Sansi/ Saçi), and is connected to Latin language sancire ('to hallow') and hence saint ('hallowed') and English language saint, sacred, sanctuary, sanctity and sanction.
Outside Italic, Hittite has a number of words such as saklai "rites" and sankunnis "priest" that seem to be clear cognates, suggesting an Indo-European root * sank-/*sak- "to sanctify". It is possible, however, that the former was a loan from Akkadian sakku (m) 'cultic rites,' and the latter may be a loan word from Sumerian sanga "administrative priest"
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Woodard has interpreted Sancus as the Roman equivalent of Vedic god Indra (whose name is likely related to Sanskrit indu "rain drop"), who has to rely on the help of the Maruts, in his view corresponding to the twelfth Roman semones of the carmen Arvale, in his task of killing the dragon Vrtra thus freeing the waters and averting drought. He traces the etymology of Semo to PIE stem root *sh₂e (w)- bearing the meanings of 'to pour', 'ladle', 'flow', 'drop' related to rain and sowing. (See more below at "Mars and Semo")
Dionysius of Halicarnassus
Sancus was considered the son of Jupiter, an opinion recorded by Varro and attributed to his teacher Aelius Stilo. He was the god of heavenly light, the avenger of dishonesty, the upholder of truth and good faith, the sanctifier of agreements. Hence his identification with Hercules, who was likewise the guardian of the sanctity of oaths. His festival day occurred on the nonae of June (5June).
It had a chapel containing relics of the regal period: A bronze statue of Tanaquil or Gaia Caecilia, her belt containing remedies that people came to collect, her distaff, spindle, and slippers,
Dionysius of Halicarnassus records that the treaty between Rome and Gabii was preserved in this temple. This treaty was perhaps the first international treaty to be recorded and preserved in written form in ancient Rome. It was written on the skin of the ox sacrificed to the god upon its agreement and fixed onto a wooden frame or a shield.
According to Lanciani the foundations of the temple were discovered in March1881, under what was formerly the convent of San Silvestro al Quirinale (or degli Arcioni), later the headquarters of the (former) Royal Engineers. Lanciani relates the monument was a parallelogram in shape, thirty-five feet long by nineteen wide, with walls of travertine and decorations in white marble. It was surrounded by votive altars and the pedestal of statues. In Latin literature it is sometimes called aedes, sometimes sacellum, this last appellation probably connected to the fact it was a sacred space in the open air. Platner & Ashby (1929) though write that its foundations had already been detected in the 16thcentury.
Lanciani supposes the statue depicted in this article might have been found on the site of the shrine on the Quirinal as it appeared in the antiquarian market of Rome at the time of the excavations at San Silvestro.
There was possibly another shrine or altar (ara) dedicated to Semo Sancus on the Isle of the Tiber, near the temple of Iupiter Iurarius. This altar bears the inscription seen and misread by Justin Martyr (Semoni Sanco Deo read as Simoni Deo Sancto) and was discovered on the island in July1574. It is preserved in the Galleria Lapidaria of the Vatican Museum, first compartment (Dii gallery). Lanciani advances the hypothesis that while the shrine on the Quirinal was of Sabines origin that on the Tiber island was Latins.
Claridge (1998) reports that the statue of Sancus (inscribed Semo Sancus Dius Fidus) was found on the Tiber Island.
The statue is life-sized and is of the kouros type. The expression of the face and the modeling of the body however are realistic. Both hands are missing, so that it is impossible to say what were the attributes of the god, one being perhaps the club of Hercules and/or the ossifrage, the augural bird proper to the god (avis sanqualis), hypotheses made by archaeologist Visconti and reported by Lanciani. Other scholars think he should have held lightning bolts in his left hand.
The inscription on the pedestal mentions a decuria sacerdotum bidentalium.
Their residence at the shrine on the Quirinal was located adjoining the chapel: it was ample and commodious, provided with a supply of water by means of a lead pipe.
The pipes have been removed to the Capitoline Museum. They bear the same inscription found on the base of the statue.
Martianus is likely to have derived his system from Varro, and through an intermediate source, from Nigidius Figulus.
In Rome this theonym is attested in the carmen Arvale ( semunis alternei advocapit conctos repeated thrice) and in two fragmentary inscriptions: CIL V 567 Semoni Sanco Deo Fidio ... decur (ia) bidentalis donum dedit and CIL V 568 Sanco Sancto Semoni Deo Fidio sacrum decuria sacerdotum bidentalium
Outside Rome in Sabine, Umbrian and Pelignan territory: An inscription from Corfinium in Umbrian reads: Çerfom sacaracicer Semunes sua[d, 'priest of the Çerfi and the Semones', placing side by side the two entities çerfi and semunes. The çerfi are mentioned in the Iguvine Tables in association with Mars e.g. in expressions as Çerfer Martier. Their interpretation remains obscure: an etymological and semantic relation to PIE root *ker-, meaning 'growth', is possible though problematic and debated, since that root also means "horn, head" which would suggest a horned deity.
Also in Umbrian, in the Iguvine Tables, the b side of tablet II begins " seminies tekuries" which is interpreted to be a "decurial festival to Semo..." where a pig and goat sacrifice were performed, though the opening lines of this tablet are difficult to translate with certainty.
According to ancient Latin sources, the meaning of the term semones would denote semihomines (also explained as se-homines, men separated from ordinary ones, who have left their human condition: the prefix both in Latin and Greek may denote segregation), or the dii medioxumi, i.e. gods of the second rank, or semigods,
Festus s.v. medioxumi.
entities that belong to the intermediate sphere between gods and men.
Scheiffele in Pauly Real Encyclopaedie der Altertumwissenschaften s.v. Semones citing Priscianus p. 683.
Fulgentius De Sermone Antiquorum 11;
Festus s.v. hemona;
Varro (unreferenced) from semideus;
Hartung I. 41: from serere and Sabine Semones half-self, more like genii;
also Gdywend Mythologie bei der Romer par. 261: in Sabine, godly people, maybe Lares. Besides all the dii medioxumi belong to this category.
The relationship of these entities to Semo Sancus is comparable to that of the genii to Genius Iovialis: as among the genii there is a Genius Iovialis, thus similarly among the semones there is a Semo Sancus. The semones would then be a class of semigods, i.e. people who did not share the destiny of ordinary mortals even though they were not admitted to Heaven, such as Faunus, Priapus, Picus, the Silvani.
cf. Ovid Metamorphoses I 193-195.
However, some scholars opine such a definition is wrong and the semones are spirits of nature, representing the generative power hidden in seeds (Latin semina).
Dahrenberg & Saglio Dictionnaire des Antiquites Grecques et Romaines s.v. Semo Sancus.
In ancient times only offers of milk were allowed to the semones.
The deity Semonia bears characters that link her to the group of the Semones, as is shown by Festus s.v. supplicium: when a citizen was put to death the custom was to sacrifice a lamb of two years (bidentis) to Semonia to appease her and purify the community. Only thereafter could the head and property of the culprit be vowed to the appropriate god. That Semo Sancus received the same kind of cult and sacrifice is shown in the inscription (see figure in this article) now under the statue of the god reading decuria sacerdotum bidentalium.
The relationship between Sancus and the semones of the carmen Arvale remains obscure, even though some scholars opine that Semo Sancus and Salus Semonia or Dia Semonia would represent the core significance of this archaic theology. It has also been proposed to understand this relationship in the light of that between Vedic god Indra or his companion Trita Āpya and the Maruts.
The statue of Tanaquil placed in the shrine of Sancus was famed for containing remedies in its girdle which people came to collect, named praebia.
Festus s.v. praebia
Georg Wissowa, Eduard Norden, and Kurt Latte write of a deity named Salus Semonia
The fact that Sancus as Iupiter is in charge of the observance of oaths, of the laws of hospitality and of loyalty ( Fides) makes him a deity connected with the sphere and values of sovereignty, i.e. what Dumézil calls "the first function".
Georg Wissowa (1909, 1912) advanced the hypothesis that Semo Sancus is the 'genius' of Jupiter. Fowler (1899) cautioned that this interpretation looks to be an anachronism, and it would only be acceptable to say that Sancus is a Genius Iovius, as it appears from the Iguvine Tables; the concept of a genius of a deity is attested only in the imperial period.
Theodor Mommsen, Fowler, and Dumézil, among others, rejected the accountability of the tradition that ascribes a Sabine origin to the Roman cult of Semo Sancus Dius Fidius, partly on linguistic grounds since the theonym is Latin and no mention or evidence of a Sabine Semo is found near Rome, while the Semones are attested in Latin in the carmen Arvale. In their view Sancus would be a deity who was shared by all ancient Italic peoples, whether Osco-Umbrian or Latino-Faliscan.
The details of the cult of Fisus Sancius at Iguvium and those of Fides at Rome,
cf. Livy I 21, 4; Servius Aen. I 292 on this prescription of Numa Pompilius's.
such as the use of the mandraculum, a piece of linen fabric covering the right hand of the officiant, and of the urfeta (orbita) or orbes ahenei, sort of small bronze disc brought in the right hand by the offerant at Iguvium and also deposed in the temple of Semo Sancus in 329BCE after an affair of treason
confirm the parallelism.
Some aspects of the ritual of the oath for Dius Fidius, such as the proceedings under the open sky and/or in the compluvium of private residences and the fact the temple of Sancus had no roof, have suggested to romanist O. Sacchi the idea that the oath by Dius Fidius predated that for Iuppiter Lapis or Iuppiter Feretrius, and should have its origin in prehistoric time rituals, when the templum was in the open air and defined by natural landmarks as e.g. the highest nearby tree.
describes king Numa Pompilius's vow, by which he asked for the divine punishment of perjury by all the gods.
All the known details concerning Sancus connect him to the sphere of the fides, of oaths, of the respect of compacts and of their sanction, i.e. divine guarantee against their breach. These values are all proper to sovereign gods and common with Iuppiter (and with Mitra in Vedic mythology).
The connexion to Hercules looks to be much more substantial on theological grounds. Hercules, especially in ancient Italy, retained many archaic features of a founder deity and of a guarantor of good faith and loyalty. The relationship with Jupiter of the two characters could be considered analogous. Hence both some ancient scholars such as Varro and Macrobius and modern ones as Woodard (2006) consider them as one.
The martial aspect of Sancus is highlighted also in the instance of the Samnite legio linteata, a selected part of the army formed by noble soldiers bound by a set of particularly compelling oaths and put under the special protection of Iupiter. While ordinary soldiers dressed in a purple red paludamentum with golden paraphernalia, those of the legio dressed in white with silver paraphernalia, as an apparent show of their different allegiance and protector. This strict association of the ritual to Iupiter underlines the military aspect of the sovereign god that comes in to supplement the usual role of Mars on special occasions, i.e. when there is the need for the support of his power.
A prodigy related by Livy concerning an avis sanqualis who broke a rainstone or meteorite fallen into a grove sacred to Mars at Crustumerium in 177BCE has also been seen by some scholars as a sign of a martial aspect of Sancus. Woodard has interpreted Sancus as the Roman equivalent of Vedic god Indra, who has to rely on the help of the Maruts, in his view corresponding to the twelfth Roman semones of the carmen Arvale, in his task of killing the dragon Vrtra thus freeing the waters and averting draught. He traces the etymology of Semo to PIE root *sh₂e (w)- bearing the meanings of 'to pour', 'ladle', 'flow', 'drop' related to rain and sowing.
In Roman myth Hercules would represent this mythic character in his killing of the monster Cacus. Sancus would be identical to Hercules and strictly related, though not identical, to Mars as purported by the old cults of the Salii of Tibur related by Varro and other ancient authors cited by Macrobius. The tricephalous deity represented near Hercules in Etruscan tombs and reflected in the wise of the killing of Cacus would correspond to the features of the monster killed by Indra in association with Trita Āpya.
Macrobius Saturnalia III 12, 1-8
The connection between Sancus and Mars can be further explained by the fact that Semo Sancus could be considered identical with the god Enyalius son of Mars (Ares); but sometimes Enyalius served also as an epithet of Ares (Mars) himself thus the two came to be regarded as very similar in character and their identities could overlap at times. Pirro Ligorio in the Codice Torinese reports the tradition about this god (Sancus) as found in the city of Rieti, populated by the Sabines and he writes as such: "… Hoggidì questa città chiamano Rieti, et delle sue antichità si trova questa base rotonda nel mezzo della sua piazza, sopra la quale fu già la statua di Sancte Sabinorum che è il Genio detto Sango et alcuni il chiamano Genio altri Enialio figliuolo di Marte, alcuni vogliono che sia Hercole, altri Apolline …" which translates as: "Nowadays they call this city Rieti, and of its ancient artifacts this rounded base can be found in the center of its square, on top of which there was the statue of Sancte Sabinorum who is the Genius called Sangus and some call him Genius others Enyalios son of Mars, some claim he is Hercules, others Apollo …". di Lucius Munius a Rieti (article), Monika Verzar Bass – Mélanges de l'école française de Rome, Year: 1985 / 97-1 / pp. 295-323.
Worship
The temple dedicated to Sancus stood on the Quirinal Hill, under the name Semo Sancus Dius Fidius.
Properce IV 9, 74;
The actual construction of the temple is generally ascribed to Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, although it was dedicated by Spurius Postumius on 5June 466BCE.
Shrine on Quirinal
The shrine on the Quirinal was described by 19thcentury archeologist R.A. Lanciani.
Statue and shrine on Tiber Island and others
Semo Sancus had a large sanctuary at Velitrae, now Velletri, in Volscian territory.
Sacerdotes bidentales – priests of Semo Sancus
For this reason the priests of Semo Sancus were called sacerdotes bidentales. They were organised, like a lay corporation, in a decuria under the presidency of a magister quinquennalis.
Simon Magus
Justin Martyr records that Simon Magus, a gnostic mentioned in the Christian Bible, performed such miracles by magic acts during the reign of Claudius that he was regarded as a god and honored with a statue on the island in the Tiber which the two bridges cross, with the inscription Simoni Deo Sancto, 'to Simon the Holy God'.
Origins and significance
Even in the ancient world, confusion surrounded this deity, as evidenced by the multiple and unstable forms of his name. Aelius Stilo
Preserved in
identified him with Hercules, and explained also that because the god was called by the Romans "Dius Fidius", he was a son of Jove by interpreting the expression Dius Fidius as Diovis Filius (son of Jove); and in order to further clarify the notion of Semo Sancus as a son of Jupiter, he explained the meaning of the expression "Diovis Filius" meaning "son of Jove" by comparing it as an example to the Greek word "Dioskouros" applied to Castor; and claimed that just as the Greeks call for example Castor a "Dioskouros" i.e. a "young boy" or "son" (kouros) of Zeus (Dios); the same way the Romans called Sancus a "Diovis Filius" - a "son of Jove". In late antiquity, Martianus Capella places Sancus in region12 of his cosmological system, which draws on Etruscan tradition in associating gods with specific parts of the sky.
Sancus as Semo
The first part of the theonym defines the god as belonging to the category of the Semones or Semunes, divine entities of the ancient Romans and Italics.
Martianus Capella, II 156
Fulgentius De Sermone Antiquorum 11
In a fragment from Cato, quoted in Dionysius of Halicarnassus (II 49 1–2), Sancus is referred to as and not .
Marcus Porcius Cato, cited in
The reconstruction is uncertain.
Sancus and Salus
The two gods were related in several ways. Their shrines (aedes) were very close to each other on two adjacent hilltops of the Quirinal, the Collis Mucialis and Salutaris respectively.
Varro Lingua Latina V 53
Some scholars also claim some inscriptions to Sancus have been found on the Collis Salutaris.
Jesse B. Carter in Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics vol. 13 s.v. Salus
Moreover, Salus is the first of the series of deities mentioned by Macrobius
See also Saturnalia.
as related in their sacrality: Salus, Semonia, Seia, Segetia, Tutilina, who required the observance of a dies feriatus of the person who happened to utter their name. These deities were connected to the ancient agrarian cults of the valley of the Circus Maximus that remain quite mysterious.
Chirassi Colombo in ANRW 1981 p.405
Sancus Dius Fidius and Jupiter
The relationship between the two gods is certain as both are in charge of oath, are connected with clear daylight sky and can wield lightning bolts. This overlap of functional characters has generated confusion about the identity of Sancus Dius Fidius either among ancient and modern scholars, as Dius Fidius has sometimes been considered another theonym for Iupiter.
Italian translation Milan (1977) p.189.
The autonomy of Semo Sancus from Jupiter and the fact that Dius Fidius is an alternate theonym designating Semo Sancus (and not Jupiter) is shown by the name of the correspondent Umbrian god Fisus Sansi which compounds the two constituent parts of Sancus and Dius Fidius: in Umbrian and Sabine Fisus is the exact correspondent of Fidius, as e.g. Sabine Clausus of Latin Claudius. But Sansi/ Saçi also occurs with Iupater, as well as alone, and with the Umbrian theonyms Fisovius and Vesticius.
discussed the use of the private ''mensa'' as an altar mentioned in the ''ius Papirianum'';
Sancus and Hercules
Aelius Stilo's interpretation of the theonym as Dius Filius is based partly on the interchangeability and alternation of letters d and l in Sabine, which might have rendered possible the reading of Dius Fidius as Dius Filius, i.e. Dios Kouros, partly on the function of guarantor of oaths that Sancus shared with Hercules: Georg Wissowa called it a gelehrte Kombination, while interpreting him as the genius (semo) of Iupiter. who is rather critical of this interpretation of Wissowa's.
Stilo's interpretation in its linguistic aspect looks to be unsupported by the form of the theonym in the Iguvine Tables, where it appears as Fisus or Fisovius Sancius, a formula that includes the two component parts of the theonym.
This theonym is rooted in an ancient IE *bh (e)idh-tos and is formed on the root stem *bheidh- which is common to Latin Fides.
Sancus and Mars
At Iguvium Fisus, Sancius is associated to Mars in the ritual of the sacrifice at the Porta ('Gate') Tesenaca as one of the gods of the minor triad and this fact proves his military connection in Umbria. This might be explained by the military nature of the concept of sanction which implies the use of repression. The term sanctus too has in Roman law military implications: the walls of the city are sancti.
Sancus in Etruria
As for Etruscan religion, N. Thomas De Grummond has suggested to identify Sancus in the inscription Selvans Sanchuneta found on a cippus unearthed near Bolsena; however, other scholars connect this epithet to a local family gentilicium.N. T. De Grummond Etruscan Myth Sacred History and Legend 2006 p. 141; Peter F. Dorcey The Cult of Silvanus: a Study in Roman Folk Religion Brill Leyden 1992 p. 11 citing C. De Simone Etrusco Sanchuneta La Parola del Passato 39 (1984) pp. 49-53. The theonym Tec Sans found on bronze statues (one of a boy and that of the arringatore, 'public speaker') from the area near Cortona has been seen as an Etruscan form of the same theonym.
Footnotes
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