Sancus

Some of the oaths said at the moment of signing a contract – or other important civil promissory acts – named Sancus as guarantor, and called on him to protect and guard over the honour and integrity of the signatories' pledges.

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".

Dionysius of Halicarnassus[12] writes that the worship of Semo Sancus was imported into Rome at a very early time by the Sabines who occupied the Quirinal Hill.

[17] It was located near the Porta Sanqualis of the Servian walls,[18] not far from the modern church of San Silvestro al Quirinale, precisely on the Collis Mucialis.

[23] According to Lanciani the foundations of the temple were discovered in March 1881, 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.

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.

Fowler (1899)[11] says these priests should have been concerned with lightning bolts, bidental being both the technical term for the puteal, the hole (resembling a well) left by strikes onto the ground and for the victims used to placate the god and purify the site.

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.

[28] However, in 1574, the Semo Sancus statue was unearthed on the island in question, leading most scholars to believe that Justin confused Semoni Sanco with Simon Magus.

In late antiquity, Martianus Capella places Sancus in region 12 of his cosmological system, which draws on Etruscan tradition in associating gods with specific parts of the sky.

[33] 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 [34] Outside Rome in Sabine, Umbrian and Pelignan territory:[5]: 205 ff  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.

[39] 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).

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.

[46]: vol I [47][48] 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.

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".

[56] The details of the cult of Fisus Sancius at Iguvium and those of Fides at Rome,[57] 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 329 BCE after an affair of treason[58] 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.

[g][60] Supporting this interpretation is the explanation of the theonym Sancus as meaning sky in Sabine given by Johannes Lydus, etymology that however is rejected by Dumézil and Briquel[54] among others.

[61][62] The claim is also contradicted by the fact that the first element of Ju-piter goes back to [Proto-Indo-European] *diēu- "bright (sky)," and that the cognate Indo-European deities of Jupiter (such as Old Norse Tyr) are also connected with oath keeping.

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[h] and this fact proves his military connection in Umbria.

[54]: 135–137 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.

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.

[54] 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 177 BCE has also been seen by some scholars as a sign of a martial aspect of Sancus.

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 […]".

[65] 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.