As I mentioned on Ambarvalia, I’ve just learned of a deity that I had not known of before: Sancus.
Have a look at him and consider what he might make you think of more readily than perhaps what he actually is, and you’ll have some notion of how the Romans often thought of him…and yet, not quite…
He seems like a deity that might be naturally compared to Apollon or Hermes/Mercury visually, right? And, it turns out he is associated with health and healing (like Apollon) and with commerce (like Hermes/Mercury), but he is not actually syncretized to them in Roman tradition. He does get syncretized to Jupiter, Mars, and Hercules, however…!?! And, as Semo, he is kind of the implied tutelary deity of all the Semones, which includes Faunus, Picus, Silvanus, and Priapus; the Semones tend to have a quasi-mortal heritage, or are somewhat in the category of deified mortals…which, of course, brings up the question of: would Antinous qualify as a semones, then, in this Roman theological schema? Likewise, Sancus was sometimes considered more of a daimon than a theos in some Greek writings…
There is a further fascinating misunderstanding of Sancus that equates him with Simon Magus due to some bad reading errors on the early Christians’ part…and, it is not the first nor the last time that such a thing would happen! 
But, we are not here to talk about Sancus today–we’re here to praise him. In that regard, I’ve written one verse to the following familiar (at least to me!) Carmina Burana tune, in the same meter and rhyme. Try it yourself at home!
Semo Sancus
Deus Bonus
semper sacramentorum
qui laudandus
celebrandus
Dius Fidius regum
Ave Sance Semonum
coronatur
admiratur
inter cuncta gentium
And if you use the format that the Orff version does, then you’d actually sing it like this:
Semo Sancus
Semo Sancus
Deus Bonus
semper sacramentorum
Semo Sancus
Deus Bonus
semper sacramentorum
qui laudandus
celebrandus
Dius Fidius regum
Ave Sance Semonum
coronatur
admiratur
inter cuncta gentium
Ave Sance Semonum
coronatur
admiratur
inter cuncta gentium
coronatur
admiratur
coronatur
admiratur
inter cuncta gentium
And, of course, you can add the “Ah!” at the end, too, until you run out of breath!
But, how does it translate for those who might not have much Latin? Like this:
[Semo Sancus
always the good
god of oaths
who must be praised
(and) celebrated--
Dius Fidius of the kings!
Hail Sancus of the Semones
crowned
(and) admired
among all nations!]
And, that shall do it for today’s festival!
Isn’t it great to learn about gods you didn’t know about before? I’d be interested in knowing how many who aren’t extremely well-versed in Roman deities might have known about Sancus, and how you honored him today!
Ave Semo Sance!
