of which was celebrated on the 5th of June, there were shown the distaff and spindle of Tanaquil, the wife of Tarquinius Priscus, and in the eyes of Roman matrons the embodiment of all wifely virtues. Dionysius of Halicarnassus (iv. 58) states that the treaty concluded between Tarquinius Superbus and the town of Gabii was deposited in the same temple of Sancus, whose name he translates by Ζεύς πίστοις. He could only be invoked under the open sky, as partaking of the nature of a god of light and day; hence a round opening was made in the roof of his temple through which prayers might ascend to heaven. If he was invoked in a private house, those who called upon his name stood beneath the opening in the roof called compluvium. The bronze orbs mentioned by Livy (viii. 20. 8) as having been set up in his temple are also supposed to have some connexion with this, although they may be merely symbols of the eternal power of Rome. There was a second chapel of Semo Sancus on the island in the Tiber with an altar, the inscription on which led Christian writers (Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Eusebius) to confuse him with Simon Magus, and to infer that the latter was worshipped at Rome as a god. The cult of Semo Sancus never possessed very great importance at Rome; authorities differ as to whether it was of Sabine origin or not. The plural Semones was used of a class of supernatural beings, a kind of tutelary deities of the state.
See Preller, Römische Mythologie; article “ Dius Fidius," by Wissowa, in Roscher's Lexikon der Mythologie, and his Religion und Kultus der Römer (1902), who rejects the identity of Semo Sancus Dius Fidius with Hercules; W. W. Fowler, The Roman Festivals (1899); E. Jannettaz, Étude sur Semo Sanctus Didius (Paris, 1885), according to whom he was a Sabine fire god.
SEMPACH, a small town in the Swiss canton of Lucerne,
built above the eastern shore of the lake of the same name, and
about 1½ m. by road north of the Sempach railway station (9 m.
N.W. of Lucerne) on the main line between Lucerne and Olten.
In 1900 it had 2592 inhabitants, German-speaking and Romanists.
It has retained some traces of its medieval appearance, especially
the main gateway, beneath a watch tower, and reached by a
bridge over the old moat. About half an hour distant to the
north-east, on the hillside, is the site of the famous battle of
Sempach (9th July 1386), in which the Swiss defeated the
Austrians, whose leader, Duke Leopold, lost his life. The legendary
deed of Arnold of Winkelried (q.v.) is associated with this
victory. The spot is now marked by an ancient and picturesque
Battle Chapel (restored in 1886) and by a modern monument
to Winkelried. Some miles north of Sempach is the quaint
village of Münster or Beromünster (973 inhabitants in 1900),
with a collegiate church founded in the 10th century and dating,
in parts, from the 11th and 12th centuries (fine 17th-century choir
stalls and altar frontals), the chapter of secular canons now
consisting of invalided priests of the canton of Lucerne: it
was in Beromünster that the first dated book was printed (1470)
in Switzerland, by care of the canons, while thence came Gering
who introduced printing into France.
See Th. von Liebenau, Die Schlacht bei Sempach (Lucerne, 1886). (W. A. B. C.)
SEMPER, GOTTFRIED (1803–1879), German architect and
writer on art, was born at Altona on the 29th of November 1803.
His father intended him for the law, but his impulses towards an
artistic career were irresistible. His early mastery of classical
literature led him to the study of classic monuments in classic
lands, while his equally conspicuous talent for mathematics gave
him the laws of form and proportion in architectural design.
At the university of Göttingen he fell under the influence of
K. O. Müller. His architectural education was carried out
successively in Hamburg, where later, upon his return from
Greece, he built the Donner Museum, in Berlin, in Dresden, in
Paris under Gau and in Munich under Gärtner; afterwards he
visited Italy and Greece. While in Greece he made observations
which showed that in ancient architecture the use of polychrome
was frequent. In the diffusion of this discovery he was much
aided by Jacques Ignace Hittorff. In 1834 he was appointed
professor of architecture in Dresden, and during fifteen years
received many important commissions from the Saxon court.
He built the opera-house in Renaissance style, the new museum
and picture gallery, and a Byzantine synagogue. In 1848 his
turbulent spirit led him to side with the revolution against his
royal patron; he furnished the rebels with military plans, and
was eventually driven into exile. Semper came to London at the
time of the Great Exhibition of 1851, and Prince Albert found him
an able ally in carrying out his plans. He was appointed teacher
of the principles of decoration; his lectures in manuscript are
preserved in the art library, South Kensington. He was also employed
by the prince consort to prepare a design for the Kensington
Museum; and he made the drawings for the Wellington
funeral car. In 1853 Semper left London for Zurich on his
appointment as professor of architecture, and with a commission
to build in that town the polytechnic school and the hospital.
He also built the observatory and the railway station in that city.
Here, too, he made plans for a large theatre in Rio Janeiro.
In 1870 he was called to Vienna to assist in the great architectural
projects since carried out around the Ring. A year later,
after an exile of over twenty years, he received a summons to
Dresden, on the rebuilding of the first opera-house, which had
been destroyed by fire in 1869; his second design was a modification
of the first. The closing years of his life were passed in
comparative tranquillity between Venice and Rome, and in the
latter cityihe died on the,15th of May 1879. In 1892 a bronze
statue of Semper, by Johannes Schelling, was unveiled on the
Brühlsche Terrasse in Dresden.
Semper's style was a growth from the classic orders through the Italian Cinque Cento. He forsook the base and rococo forms he found rooted in Germany, and, reverting to the best historic examples, fashioned a purer Renaissance. He stands as a leader in the practice of polychrome, since widely diffused, and by his writings and example did much to reinstate the ancient union between architecture, sculpture and painting. Among his numerous literary works are Über Polychrornie u. ihren Ursprung (1851), Die Anwendung der Farben in der Architektur u. Plastik bei den Alten, Der Stil in den technischen u. tektonischen Künsten (1860–1863). His Notes of Lectures on Practical Art in Metals and Hard Materials: its Technology, History and Style, were left in MS.
SEMPILL, the name of a Scottish family long seated in Renfrewshire. An early member, Sir Thomas Sempill (d. 1488),
was killed whilst fighting for James III. at the battle of Sauchieburn,
and his son John (d. 1513), who was made a lord of parliament
about 1489, fell at Flodden. John's grandson, Robert, 3rd
Lord Sempill (c. 1505-1 572), assisted the Scottish regent, Mary
of Lorraine, in her struggle with the lords of the congregation, and
was afterwards one of the partisans of Mary, queen of Scots;
about 1566, however, he deserted the queen, against whom
he fought at Carberry Hill and at Langside. His grandson,
Robert (d. 1611), became the 4th Lord Sempill, and another
grandson was Sir James Sempill of Beltrees (q.v.).
The title of Lord Sempill descended to Francis, the 8th lord
(d. 1684), who was succeeded by his sister Anne (d. 1695), the
wife of Francis Abercromby (d. 1703), who was created a peer
for life as Lord, Glassford. Their sons, Francis, John and Hugh,
who took the surname of Sempill, succeeded in turn to the title.
Hugh, 12th Lord Sempill (d. 1746), fought in Spain and in
Flanders, and held a command in the English army at Culloden;
in 1747 he was made colonel of the Black Watch. His title
descended to Selkirk Sempill, the 15th lord (1788-183 5), who
was succeeded by his sister, Maria ]anet (1 '}'QO'-1884). She was
succeeded by a cousin, William Forbes (18 36-190 5), a descendant
of the 13th lord, who took the name of F orbes-Sempill; in 1905
his son, John Forbes-Sempill (b. 1863), became the 18th lord.
A certain Robert Sempill, who served James Edward, the Old
Pretender, in France, and is described as a captain in Dillon's famous
Irish regiment, was created Lord Sempill by this prince after 1723.
This circumstance has given rise to a certain amount of confusion
between the different holders of the title.
SEMPILL (or Semple), SIR JAMES, ROBERT AND FRANCIS, three Scottish ballad-writers, known as the Sempills of Beltrees from their place in Renfrewshire.
Sir James Sempill (1566-1626) was the son of John Sempill of Beltrees, and Mary Livingstone, one of the “ four Marys,” companions of Mary, queen of Scots. He was brought up with James VI. under George Buchanan, and later assisted the king
