the Bodleian
Library; the other is a description of the discovery by Panvinius.[57]
The place was in such good condition that even the statue and altar
of Vortumnus, described by Livy, Asconius, Varro and others, were
found lying at the foot of the steps of the temple.

THE SACELLUM SANCI, or Shrine of Sancus on the Quirinal.[58] 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 in 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.[59] He must have glanced hurriedly at the first three names of
the Sabine god,--SEMONI SANCO DEO,--and translated them [Greek: SIMONI
DEO SANKTO]. 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, 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.

[Illustration: Statue of Semo Sancus.]

Its foundations were discovered in March, 1881, under what was
formerly the convent of S. Silvestro al Quirinale