Editing Sancus (section)

=== Shrine on Quirinal ===
The shrine on the Quirinal was described by 19th{{nbs}}century archeologist R.A. Lanciani.<ref>
{{cite book|first=R.A.|last=Lanciani|year=1893|title=Pagan and Christian Rome|place=Boston, MA; New York, NY|pages=32–33}}
</ref> It was located near the {{Lang|la|Porta Sanqualis}} of the Servian walls,<ref>
{{cite book|author=[[Sextus Pompeius Festus]]|title=s.v. Sanqualis Porta|page=345 L}}
</ref> not far from the modern church of [[San Silvestro al Quirinale]], precisely on the {{Lang|la|Collis Mucialis}}.<ref>
{{cite book|author=[[Varro]]|title=Lingua Latina|at=V 52|quote=''Collis Mucialis: Quinticeps apud aedem Dei Fidi; in delubro ubi aeditumus habere solet''.}}
</ref> It was described by classical writers as having no roof so as oaths could be taken under the sky.

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,<ref>
{{cite book|author=[[Plutarch]]|title=Quaestiones Romanae|at=30}} <br/>
{{cite book|author=[[Pliny the Elder]]|title=Natural History|at=VIII 94}}
</ref>{{efn|
''Praebia rursus Verrius vocari ait ea remedia quae Gaia Caecilia, uxor Tarquini Prisci, invenisse existimatur, et inmiscuisse zonae suae, qua praecincta statua eius est in aede Sancus, qui deus dius fidius vocatur; et qua zona periclitantes ramenta sumunt. Ea vocari ait praebia, quod mala prohibeant.''}}<ref>
{{cite book|author=[[Sextus Pompeius Festus]]|title=''s.v.'' praebia|page=276 L}}
</ref> and after the capture of [[Priverno|Privernum]] in 329{{nbs}}BCE, brass medallions or bronze wheels (discs) made of the money confiscated from [[Vitruvius Vaccus]].<ref>
{{cite book|author=[[Livy]]|title=[no title cited]|at=VIII 20, 8}}
</ref>

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.<ref>
{{cite book|author=[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]]|title={{math|Ῥωμαϊκὴ Ἀρχαιολογία}}|trans-title=Roman Antiquities|at=IV 58, 4}}
</ref>

According to Lanciani the foundations of the temple were discovered in March{{nbs}}1881, under what was formerly the convent of [[San Silvestro al Quirinale]] (or {{Lang|it|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 (Roman religion)|aedes]], sometimes [[sacellum]], this last appellation probably connected to the fact it was a sacred space in the open air.<ref name=Platner-Ashby-1929/>{{rp|page=469}} Platner & Ashby (1929)<ref name=Platner-Ashby-1929/> though write that its foundations had already been detected in the 16th{{nbs}}century.

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 al Quirinale|San Silvestro]].