Editing Sancus (section)

=== Statue and shrine on Tiber Island and others ===
Semo Sancus had a large sanctuary at Velitrae, now [[Velletri]], in [[Volscian language|Volscian]] territory.<ref>
{{cite book|author=[[Livy]]|title=[no title cited]|at=XXXII 1, 10}}
</ref>

There was possibly another shrine or altar ({{Lang|la|ara}}) dedicated to Semo Sancus on the [[Isle of the Tiber]], near the temple of {{Lang|la|Iupiter Iurarius}}. This altar bears the inscription seen and misread by [[Justin Martyr|Justin]] ({{Lang|la|Semoni Sanco Deo}} read as {{Lang|la|Simoni Deo Sancto}}) and was discovered on the island in July{{nbs}}1574. It is preserved in the {{Lang|la|Galleria Lapidaria}} of the Vatican Museum, first compartment ({{Lang|la|Dii}} gallery). Lanciani advances the hypothesis that while the shrine on the Quirinal was of [[Sabines|Sabine]] origin that on the Tiber island was [[Latins|Latin]].
Claridge (1998) reports that the statue of Sancus (inscribed {{Lang|la|Semo Sancus Dius Fidus}}) was found on the [[Tiber Island]].<ref name=Claridge-1998>
{{cite book|last=Claridge|first=Amanda|year=1998|title=Rome: An Oxford archaeological guide|place=Oxford, GB|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=226}}
</ref>

The statue is life-sized and is of the [[kouros|archaic Apollo (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 ({{Lang|la|avis sanqualis}}), hypotheses made by archaeologist Visconti and reported by [[Lanciani, Rodolfo Amadeo|Lanciani]]. Other scholars think he should have held lightning bolts in his left hand.

The inscription on the pedestal mentions a {{Lang|la|decuria sacerdot[um] bidentalium}}.<ref>
{{cite book|title=[[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum|CIL]]|volume=VI|id=568}}
</ref>
Lanciani makes reference to a glossa of [[Sextus Pompeius Festus]] s.v. {{Lang|la|bidentalia}} which states these were small shrines of lesser divinities, to whom {{Lang|la|hostiae bidentes}}, i.e. lambs two years old, were sacrificed. [[William Warde Fowler|Fowler]] (1899)<ref name=Fowler-1899/> says these priests should have been concerned with lightning bolts, {{Lang|la|bidental}} being both the technical term for the {{Lang|la|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.<ref name=Fowler-1899/>{{rp|page=139}}