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In
ancient Roman religion Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the Roman people, people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule. The Romans thought of themselves as high ...
and
mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
, Mars (, ) is the god of war and also an
agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...
guardian, a combination characteristic of early
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
. He is the son of
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...
and Juno, and was pre-eminent among the Roman army's military gods. Most of his festivals were held in March, the month named for him ( Latin ''Martius''), and in October, the months which traditionally began and ended the season for both military campaigning and farming. Under the influence of Greek culture, Mars was identified with the Greek god
Ares Ares (; , ''Árēs'' ) is the List of Greek deities, Greek god of war god, war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for ...
,''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. whose
myth Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
s were reinterpreted in Roman literature and art under the name of Mars. The character and dignity of Mars differs in fundamental ways from that of his Greek counterpart, who is often treated with contempt and revulsion in
Greek literature Greek literature () dates back from the ancient Greek literature, beginning in 800 BC, to the modern Greek literature of today. Ancient Greek literature was written in an Ancient Greek dialect, literature ranges from the oldest surviving wri ...
. Mars's altar in the Campus Martius, the area of Rome that took its name from him, was supposed to have been dedicated by Numa, the peace-loving semi-legendary second king of Rome; in Republican times it was a focus of electoral activities.
Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
shifted the focus of Mars' cult to within the pomerium (Rome's ritual boundary), and built a temple to Mars Ultor as a key religious feature of his new forum. Unlike Ares, who was viewed primarily as a destructive and destabilizing force, Mars represented military power as a way to secure peace, and was a father ''(pater)'' of the Roman people. In Rome's mythic
genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...
and founding, Mars fathered
Romulus and Remus In Roman mythology, Romulus and (, ) are twins in mythology, twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the Founding of Rome, founding of the History of Rome, city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his frat ...
through his rape of
Rhea Silvia Rhea (or Rea) Silvia (), also known as Ilia, (as well as other names) was the mythical mother of the twins Romulus and Remus, who founded the city of Rome.Livy I.4.2 This event was portrayed numerous times in Roman art. Her story is told in the ...
. The wolf was the sacred animal of Mars, with the she-wolf nursing the two founders as children. His love affair with
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
symbolically reconciled two different traditions of Rome's founding; Venus was the divine mother of the hero Aeneas, credited by Vergil as an earlier founder of Rome.


Name

The word ''Mārs'' (genitive ''Mārtis''), which in
Old Latin Old Latin, also known as Early, Archaic or Priscan Latin (Classical ), was the Latin language in the period roughly before 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin. A member of the Italic languages, it descends from a common Proto-Italic ...
and poetic usage also appears as ''Māvors'' (''Māvortis''), is cognate with Oscan ''Māmers'' (''Māmertos''). The oldest recorded Latin form, ''Mamart-,'' is likely of foreign origin''.''
Michiel de Vaan Michiel Arnoud Cor de Vaan (; born 1973) is a Dutch linguist and Indo-Europeanist. He taught comparative Indo-European linguistics, historical linguistics and dialectology at the University of Leiden until 2014, when he moved to the University ...
, ''Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages'', Brill, 2008, p. 366.
It has been explained as deriving from '' Maris,'' the name of an Etruscan child-god, though this is not universally agreed upon. Scholars have varying views on whether the two gods are related, and if so how. Latin adjectives from the name of Mars are ''martius'' and ''martialis'', from which derive English "martial" (as in "martial arts" or "
martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...
") and personal names such as "Marcus", "Mark" and "Martin". Mars may ultimately be a thematic reflex of the
Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...
god Perkwunos, having originally a thunderer character.York, Michael. Romulus and Remus, Mars and Quirinus. Journal of Indo-European Studies 16:1 & 2 (Spring/Summer, 1988), 153–172.


Birth

Like Ares who was the son of
Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...
and
Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; ; in Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Oly ...
, Mars is usually considered to be the son of
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...
and Juno. In
Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
's version of Mars' origin, he was the son of Juno alone. Jupiter had usurped the accepted function of women as mothers when he gave birth to
Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...
directly from his forehead (or mind). Juno sought the advice of the goddess
Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...
on how to do the same. Flora obtained a magic flower (Latin ''flos'', plural ''flores'', a masculine word) and tested it on a heifer who became fecund at once. Flora ritually plucked a flower, using her thumb, touched Juno's belly, and impregnated her. Juno withdrew to
Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...
and the shore of Marmara for the birth.
Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
, '' Fasti'
5.229–260
/ref>
Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
tells this story in the '' Fasti'', his long-form poetic work on the
Roman calendar The Roman calendar was the calendar used by the Roman Kingdom and Roman Republic. Although the term is primarily used for Rome's pre-Julian calendars, it is often used inclusively of the Julian calendar established by Julius Caesar in 46&nbs ...
. It may explain why the
Matronalia In ancient Roman religion, the Matronalia (or Matronales Feriae) was a festival celebrating Juno Lucina, the goddess of childbirth (" Juno who brings children into the light"), and of motherhood (''mater'' is "mother" in Latin) and women in gene ...
, a festival celebrated by married women in honor of Juno as a goddess of childbirth, occurred on the first day of Mars's month, which is also marked on a calendar from late antiquity as the birthday of Mars. In the earliest Roman calendar, March was the first month, and the god would have been born with the new year. Ovid is the only source for the story. He may be presenting a literary myth of his own invention, or an otherwise unknown archaic Italic tradition; either way, in choosing to include the story, he emphasizes that Mars was connected to plant life and was not alienated from female nurture.


Consort

The
consort __NOTOC__ Consort may refer to: Music * "The Consort" (Rufus Wainwright song), from the 2000 album ''Poses'' * Consort of instruments, term for instrumental ensembles * Consort song (musical), a characteristic English song form, late 16th–earl ...
of Mars was Nerio or Neriene, "Valor." She represents the vital force ''(vis)'', power ''(potentia)'' and majesty ''(maiestas)'' of Mars. Her name was regarded as
Sabine The Sabines (, , , ;  ) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains (see Sabina) of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divided int ...
in origin and is equivalent to Latin ''
virtus () was a specific virtue in ancient Rome that carried connotations of valor, masculinity, excellence, courage, character, and worth, all perceived as masculine strengths. It was thus a frequently stated virtue of Roman emperors, and was perso ...
,'' "manly virtue" (from ''vir'', "man"). In the early 3rd century BCE, the comic playwright
Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus ( ; 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andro ...
has a reference to Mars greeting Nerio, his wife. A source from
late antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...
says that Mars and Neriene were celebrated together at a festival held on March 23. In the later
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
, Neriene came to be identified with
Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...
. Nerio probably originates as a divine
personification Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person, often as an embodiment or incarnation. In the arts, many things are commonly personified, including: places, especially cities, National personification, countries, an ...
of Mars's power, as such
abstraction Abstraction is a process where general rules and concepts are derived from the use and classifying of specific examples, literal (reality, real or Abstract and concrete, concrete) signifiers, first principles, or other methods. "An abstraction" ...
s in Latin are generally
feminine Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and Gender roles, roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there is also s ...
. Her name appears with that of Mars in an archaic prayer invoking a series of abstract qualities, each paired with the name of a deity. The influence of
Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
and its anthropomorphic gods may have caused Roman writers to treat these pairs as "marriages."


Venus and Mars

The union of Venus and Mars held greater appeal for poets and philosophers, and the couple were a frequent subject of art. In Greek myth, the adultery of
Ares Ares (; , ''Árēs'' ) is the List of Greek deities, Greek god of war god, war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for ...
and
Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...
had been exposed to ridicule when her husband
Hephaestus Hephaestus ( , ; wikt:Hephaestus#Alternative forms, eight spellings; ) is the Greek god of artisans, blacksmiths, carpenters, craftsmen, fire, metallurgy, metalworking, sculpture and volcanoes.Walter Burkert, ''Greek Religion'' 1985: III.2. ...
(whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan) caught them in the act by means of a magical snare. Although not originally part of the Roman tradition, in 217 BCE Venus and Mars were presented as a complementary pair in the '' lectisternium'', a public banquet at which images of twelve major gods of the Roman state were presented on couches as if present and participating. Scenes of Venus and Mars in Roman art often ignore the adulterous implications of their union, and take pleasure in the good-looking couple attended by
Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid ( , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars. He is also known as Amor (Latin: ...
or multiple Loves ''(amores)''. Some scenes may imply marriage, and the relationship was romanticized in funerary or domestic art in which husbands and wives had themselves portrayed as the passionate divine couple. The uniting of deities representing Love and War lent itself to
allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...
, especially since the lovers were the parents of Concordia. The Renaissance philosopher Marsilio Ficino notes that "only Venus dominates Mars, and he never dominates her". In ancient Roman and Renaissance art, Mars is often shown disarmed and relaxed, or even sleeping, but the extramarital nature of their affair can also suggest that this peace is impermanent.


Essential nature

Virility as a kind of life force ''(vis)'' or virtue ''(virtus)'' is an essential characteristic of Mars. As an agricultural guardian, he directs his energies toward creating conditions that allow crops to grow, which may include warding off hostile forces of nature. The priesthood of the Arval Brothers called on Mars to drive off "rust" ''(lues)'', with its double meaning of wheat fungus and the red oxides that affect metal, a threat to both iron farm implements and weaponry. In the surviving text of their hymn, the Arval Brothers invoked Mars as ''ferus'', "savage" or "feral" like a wild animal. Mars's potential for savagery is expressed in his obscure connections to the wild woodlands, and he may even have originated as a god of the wild, beyond the boundaries set by humans, and thus a force to be propitiated. In his book on farming, Cato invokes '' Mars Silvanus'' for a ritual to be carried out ''in silva'', in the woods, an uncultivated place that if not held within bounds can threaten to overtake the fields needed for crops. Mars's character as an agricultural god may derive solely from his role as a defender and protector, or may be inseparable from his warrior nature, as the leaping of his armed priests the Salii was meant to quicken the growth of crops. It appears that Mars was originally a thunderer or storm deity, which explains some of his mixed traits in regards to fertility. This role was later taken in the Roman pantheon by several other gods, such as Summanus or
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...
.


Sacred animals

The wild animals most sacred to Mars were the woodpecker and the wolf, which in the natural lore of the Romans were said always to inhabit the same foothills and woodlands.
Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
notes that the woodpecker ''(picus)'' is sacred to Mars because "it is a courageous and spirited bird and has a beak so strong that it can overturn oaks by pecking them until it has reached the inmost part of the tree." As the beak of the ''picus Martius'' contained the god's power to ward off harm, it was carried as a magic charm to prevent bee stings and
leech Leeches are segmented parasitism, parasitic or Predation, predatory worms that comprise the Class (biology), subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the Oligochaeta, oligochaetes, which include the earthwor ...
bites. The bird of Mars also guarded a woodland herb ''( paeonia)'' used for treatment of the digestive or female reproductive systems; those who sought to harvest it were advised to do so by night, lest the woodpecker jab out their eyes. The ''picus Martius'' seems to have been a particular species, but authorities differ on which one: perhaps '' Picus viridis'' or '' Dryocopus martius''. The woodpecker was revered by the Latin peoples, who abstained from eating its flesh. It was one of the most important birds in Roman and Italic
augur An augur was a priest and official in the ancient Rome, classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the List of Roman deities, gods by studying events he observed within a predetermined s ...
y, the practice of reading the will of the gods through watching the sky for signs. The mythological figure named Picus had powers of augury that he retained when he was transformed into a woodpecker; in one tradition, Picus was the son of Mars. The Umbrian
cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
''peiqu'' also means "woodpecker", and the Italic Picenes were supposed to have derived their name from the ''picus'' who served as their guide animal during a ritual migration ''( ver sacrum)'' undertaken as a rite of Mars. In the territory of the Aequi, another Italic people, Mars had an
oracle An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...
of great antiquity where the prophecies were supposed to be spoken by a woodpecker perched on a wooden column. Mars's association with the wolf is familiar from what may be the most famous of Roman myths, the story of how a she-wolf ''(lupa)'' suckled his infant sons when they were exposed by order of King Amulius, who feared them because he had usurped the throne from their grandfather, Numitor. The woodpecker also brought nourishment to the twins. The wolf appears elsewhere in Roman art and literature in masculine form as the animal of Mars. A statue group that stood along the
Appian Way The Appian Way (Latin and Italian language, Italian: Via Appia) is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient Roman Republic, republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is in ...
showed Mars in the company of wolves. At the Battle of Sentinum in 295 BCE, the appearance of the wolf of Mars ''(Martius lupus)'' was a sign that Roman victory was to come. In
Roman Gaul Roman Gaul refers to GaulThe territory of Gaul roughly corresponds to modern-day France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and adjacent parts of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. under provincial rule in the Roman Empire from the 1st century B ...
, the goose was associated with the Celtic forms of Mars, and archaeologists have found geese buried alongside warriors in graves. The goose was considered a bellicose animal because it is easily provoked to aggression.


Sacrificial animals

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
and Roman religion distinguished between animals that were sacred to a deity and those that were prescribed as the correct animal sacrifice, sacrificial offerings for the god. Wild animals might be viewed as already belonging to the god to whom they were sacred, or at least not owned by human beings and therefore not Do ut des, theirs to give. Since sacrificial meat was eaten at a banquet after the gods received their portion – mainly the entrails ''(exta)'' – it follows that the animals sacrificed were most often, though not always, domestic animals normally part of the Roman diet. Gods often received castrated male animals as sacrifices, and the goddesses female Glossary of ancient Roman religion#victima, victims; Mars, however, regularly received intact males. Mars did receive oxen under a few of his cult titles, such as #Mars Grabovius, Mars Grabovius, but the usual offering was the bull, singly, in multiples, or in combination with other animals. The two most distinctive animal sacrifices made to Mars were the ''suovetaurilia'', a triple offering of a pig ''(sus)'', ram ''(ovis)'' and bull ''(taurus)'', and the October Horse, the only horse sacrifice known to have been carried out in ancient Rome and a rare instance of a victim the Romans considered inedible.


Temples and topography in Rome

The earliest center in Rome for cultivating Mars as a deity was the Altar of Mars ''(Glossary of ancient Roman religion#ara, Ara Martis)'' in the Campus Martius ("Field of Mars") outside the sacred boundary of Rome ''( pomerium)''. The Romans thought that this altar had been established by the semi-legendary Numa Pompilius, the peace-loving successor of Romulus. According to Roman tradition, the Campus Martius had been consecrated to Mars by their ancestors to serve as horse pasturage and an equestrian training ground for youths. During the Roman Republic (509–27 BCE), the Campus was a largely open expanse. No temple was built at the altar, but from 193 BCE a covered walkway connected it to the Porta Fontinalis, near the office and archives of the Roman censors. Newly elected censors placed their curule chairs by the altar, and when they had finished conducting the census, the citizens were collectively lustrum, purified with a suovetaurilia there. A frieze from the so-called Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus, "Altar" of Domitius Ahenobarbus is thought to depict the census, and may show Mars himself standing by the altar as the procession of victims advances. The main Temple of Mars ''(Aedes (Roman), Aedes Martis)'' in the Republican period also lay outside the sacred boundary and was devoted to the god's warrior aspect. It was built to fulfill a vow ''(votum)'' made by a Titus Quinctia gens, Quinctius in 388 BCE during the Gallic siege of Rome. The founding day ''(Glossary of ancient Roman religion#dies natalis, dies natalis)'' was commemorated on June 1, and the temple is attested by several inscriptions and literary sources. The sculpture group of Mars and the wolves was displayed there. Soldiers sometimes assembled at the temple before heading off to war, and it was the point of departure for a major parade of Roman cavalry held annually on July 15. A temple to Mars in the Circus Flaminius was built around 133 BCE, funded by Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus from war booty. It housed a colossal statue of Mars and a nude Venus. The Campus Martius continued to provide venues for equestrian events such as chariot racing during the Roman Empire, Imperial period, but under the first emperor
Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
it underwent a major program of urban renewal, marked by monumental architecture. The Altar of Augustan Peace ''(Ara Pacis Augustae)'' was located there, as was the Obelisk of Montecitorio, imported from Roman Egypt, Egypt to form the pointer ''(gnomon)'' of the Solarium Augusti, a giant sundial. With its public gardens, the Campus became one of the most attractive places in the city to visit. Augustus made the centrepiece of his new forum a large Temple to Mars Ultor, a manifestation of Mars he cultivated as the avenger ''(ultor)'' of the assassination of Julius Caesar, murder of Julius Caesar and of the military disaster suffered at the Battle of Carrhae. When the legionary standards lost to the Parthians were recovered, they were housed in the new temple. The date of the temple's dedication on May 12 was aligned with the heliacal setting of the constellation Scorpio (constellation), Scorpio, the Astrological sign, sign of war. The date continued to be marked with ludi circenses, circus games as late as the mid-4th century AD. A large statue of Mars was part of the short-lived List of Roman triumphal arches, Arch of Nero, which was built in 62 CE but dismantled after Nero's suicide and disgrace ''(damnatio memoriae)''.


Iconography and symbol

In Roman art, Mars is depicted as either bearded and mature, or young and clean-shaven. Even Nude (art), nude or seminude, he often wears a helmet or carries a spear as emblems of his warrior nature. Mars was among the deities to appear on the earliest Roman coinage in the late 4th and early 3rd century BCE. On the Altar of Peace ''(Ara Pacis)'', built in the last years of the 1st century BCE, Mars is a mature man with a "handsome, Classicism, classicizing" face, and a short curly beard and moustache. His helmet is a plumed neo-Attic-Attic helmet, type. He wears a military cloak ''(paludamentum)'' and a muscle cuirass, cuirass ornamented with a gorgoneion. Although the relief is somewhat damaged at this spot, he appears to hold a spear laurel wreath, garlanded in laurel, symbolizing a peace that is won by military victory. The 1st-century statue of Mars found in the Forum of Nerva (pictured at top) is similar. In this guise, Mars is presented as the dignified ancestor of the Roman people. The panel of the ''Ara Pacis'' on which he appears would have faced the Campus Martius, reminding viewers that Mars was the god whose altar Numa established there, that is, the god of Rome's oldest civic and military institutions. Particularly in works of art influenced by ancient Greek art, the Greek tradition, Mars may be portrayed in a manner that resembles Ares, youthful, beardless, and often nude. In the Renaissance, Mars's nudity was thought to represent his lack of fear in facing danger.


The spear of Mars

The spear is the instrument of Mars in the same way that Jupiter wields the lightning bolt, Neptune (mythology), Neptune the trident, and Saturn (mythology), Saturn the scythe or sickle. A Relics in classical antiquity, relic or fetishism, fetish called the spear of Mars was kept in a ''sacellum, sacrarium'' at the Regia, the former residence of the Kings of Rome. The spear was said to move, tremble or vibrate at impending war or other danger to the state, as was reported to occur before the assassination of Julius Caesar. When Mars is pictured as a peace-bringer, his spear is wreathed with laurel or other vegetation, as on the Ara Pacis or a coin of Aemilianus.


Priesthoods

The high priest of Mars in Roman public religion was the Flamen Martialis, who was one of the three major priests in the fifteen-member collegium, college of flamens. Mars was also served by the Salii, a twelve-member priesthood of patrician youths who dressed as archaic warriors and danced in procession around the city in March. Both priesthoods extend to the earliest periods of Roman history, and patrician (ancient Rome), patrician birth was required.


Festivals and rituals

The festivals of Mars cluster in his namesake month of March (Latin: ''Martius (month), Martius''), with a few observances in October, the beginning and end of the season for military campaigning and agriculture. Festivals with horse racing took place in the Campus Martius. Some festivals in March retained characteristics of new year festivals, since ''Martius'' was originally the first month of the
Roman calendar The Roman calendar was the calendar used by the Roman Kingdom and Roman Republic. Although the term is primarily used for Rome's pre-Julian calendars, it is often used inclusively of the Julian calendar established by Julius Caesar in 46&nbs ...
. * February 27: Equirria, involving chariot racing, chariot or horse races; * March 1: Mars's ''Glossary of ancient Roman religion#dies natalis, dies natalis'' ("birthday"), a ''Glossary of ancient Roman religion#feria, feria'' also sacred to #Birth, his mother Juno; * March 14: a second Equirria, again with chariot races; * March 14 or 15: Mamuralia, a new year festival when a figure called Mamurius Veturius (perhaps the "old Mars" of the old year) is driven out; * March 17: an Agonalia#Agonium Martiale, Agonalia or ''Agonium Martiale'', an obscure type of observance held at other times for various deities; * March 23: Tubilustrium, a purification of the deploying army March 23; * October 15: the ritual of the October Horse, with a chariot race and Rome's only known horse sacrifice; * October 19: Armilustrium ("purification of arms"). Mars was also honored by chariot races at the Robigalia and Consualia, though these festivals are not primarily dedicated to him. From 217 BCE onward, Mars was among the gods honored at the lectisternium, a banquet given for deities who were present as images. Roman hymns ''(Glossary of ancient Roman religion#carmen, carmina)'' are rarely preserved, but Mars is invoked in two. The Arval Brothers, or "Brothers of the Fields", chanted a hymn to Mars while performing their three-step dance. The ''Carmen Saliare'' was sung by Mars's priests the Salii while they moved twelve sacred shields ''(ancilia)'' throughout the city in a procession. In the 1st century AD, Quintilian remarks that the language of the Salian hymn was so archaic that it was no longer fully understood.


Name and cult epithets

In Religion in ancient Rome, Classical Roman religion, Mars was invoked under several titles, and the first Roman emperor Augustus thoroughly integrated Mars into Imperial cult (ancient Rome), Imperial cult. The 4th-century Latin historian Ammianus Marcellinus treats Mars as one of several classical Roman deities who remained "cultic realities" up to his own time. Mars, and specifically Mars Ultor, was among the gods who received sacrifices from Julian (emperor), Julian, the only emperor to reject Christianity after the conversion of Constantine I. In 363 AD, in preparation for the Battle of Ctesiphon (363), Siege of Ctesiphon, Julian sacrificed ten "very fine" bulls to Mars Ultor. The tenth bull violated ritual protocol by attempting to break free, and when killed and Glossary of ancient Roman religion#litatio, examined, produced Exta, ill omens, among the many that were read at the end of Julian's reign. As represented by Ammianus, Julian swore never to make sacrifice to Mars again—a vow kept with his death a month later.


Mars Gradivus

Gradivus was one of the gods by whom a general or soldiers might swear an oath to be valorous in battle. His temple outside the Porta Capena was where armies gathered. The archaic priesthood of Mars Gradivus was the '' Salii'', the "leaping priests" who danced ritually in armor as a prelude to war. His cult title is most often taken to mean "the Strider" or "the Marching God", from ''gradus'', "step, march." The poet Statius addresses him as "the most implacable of the gods," but Valerius Maximus concludes his Roman historiography, history by invoking Mars Gradivus as "author and support of the name 'Roman'": Gradivus is asked – along with Capitoline Jupiter and Vesta (mythology), Vesta, as the keeper of Rome's perpetual flame – to "guard, preserve, and protect" the state of Rome, the peace, and the ''princeps'' (the emperor Tiberius at the time). A source from Late Antiquity says that the wife of Gradivus was #Consort, Nereia, the daughter of Nereus, and that he loved her passionately.


Mars Quirinus

Mars Quirinus was the protector of the Quirites ("citizens" or "civilians") as divided into ''curiae'' (citizen assemblies), whose oaths were required to make a treaty. As a guarantor of treaties, Mars Quirinus is thus a god of peace: "When he rampages, Mars is called ''Gradivus'', but when he's at peace ''Quirinus''." The deified Romulus and Remus, Romulus was identified with Mars Quirinus. In the Capitoline Triad of
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...
, Mars, and Quirinus, however, Mars and Quirinus were two separate deities, though not perhaps in origin. Each of the three had his own flamen (specialized priest), but the functions of the Flamen Martialis and Flamen Quirinalis are hard to distinguish.


Mars Grabovius

Mars is invoked as ''Grabovius'' in the Iguvine Tablets, bronze tablets written in Umbrian that record ritual protocols for carrying out public ceremonies on behalf of the city and community of Gubbio, Iguvium. The same title is given to Jupiter and to the Umbrian deity Vofionus. This triad has been compared to the Archaic Triad, with Vofionus equivalent to Quirinus. Tables I and VI describe a complex ritual that took place at the three gates of the city. After the Glossary of ancient Roman religion#auspicia, auspices were taken, two groups of three Glossary of ancient Roman religion#victima, victims were sacrificed at each gate. Mars Grabovius received three oxen.


Mars Pater

"Father Mars" or "Mars the Father" is the form in which the god is invoked in the agricultural prayer of Cato, and he appears with this title in several other literary texts and inscriptions. ''Mars Pater'' is among the several gods invoked in the ritual of ''Glossary of ancient Roman religion#devotio, devotio'', by means of which a general sacrificed himself and the lives of the enemy to secure a Roman victory. Father Mars is the regular recipient of the ''suovetaurilia'', the sacrifice of a pig ''(sus)'', ram ''(ovis)'' and bull ''(taurus)'', or often a bull alone. To ''Mars Pater'' other epithets were sometimes appended, such as ''Mars Pater Victor'' ("Father Mars the Victorious"), to whom the Roman army sacrificed a bull on March 1. Although ''pater'' and ''mater'' were fairly common as honorifics for a deity, any special claim for Mars as father of the Roman people lies in the mythic genealogy that makes him the divine father of
Romulus and Remus In Roman mythology, Romulus and (, ) are twins in mythology, twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the Founding of Rome, founding of the History of Rome, city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his frat ...
.


Mars Silvanus

In the section of his farming book that offers recipes and medical preparations, Cato describes a ''Glossary of ancient Roman religion#votum, votum'' to promote the health of cattle:
Make an offering to Mars Silvanus in the forest ''(in silva)'' during the daytime for each head of cattle: 3 pounds of meal, 4½ pounds of bacon, 4½ pounds of meat, and 3 pints of wine. You may place the wikt:viands, viands in one vessel, and the wine likewise in one vessel. Either a slave or a free man may make this offering. After the ceremony is over, consume the offering on the spot at once. A woman may not take part in this offering or see how it is performed. You may vow the vow every year if you wish.
That ''Mars Silvanus'' is a single entity has been doubted. Glossary of ancient Roman religion#invocatio, Invocations of deities are often list-like, asyndeton, without connecting words, and the phrase should perhaps be understood as "Mars and Silvanus". Women were explicitly excluded from some cult practices of Silvanus, but not necessarily of Mars. William Warde Fowler, however, thought that the wild Silvanus (mythology), god of the wood Silvanus may have been "an emanation or offshoot" of Mars.


Mars Ultor

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
created the cult of "Mars the Avenger" to mark two occasions: his defeat of the Assassination of Julius Caesar, assassins of Caesar at Battle of Philippi, Philippi in 42 BCE, and the negotiated return of the Aquila (Roman), Roman battle standards that had been lost to the Parthian Empire, Parthians at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE. The god is depicted wearing a cuirass and helmet and standing in a "martial pose," leaning on a lance he holds in his right hand. He holds a shield in his left hand. The goddess Ultio, a divine personification of vengeance, had an altar and golden statue in his temple. The Temple of Mars Ultor, dedicated in 2 BCE in the center of the Forum of Augustus, gave the god a new place of honor. Some rituals previously conducted within the cult of Capitoline Jupiter were transferred to the new temple, which became the point of departure for Roman magistrate, magistrates as they left for military campaigns abroad. Augustus required the Roman senate, Senate to meet at the temple when deliberating questions of war and peace. The temple also became the site at which sacrifice was made to conclude the Sexuality in ancient Rome#Rites of passage, rite of passage of young men assuming the ''toga virilis'' ("man's toga") around age 14. On various Imperial cult (ancient Rome), Imperial holidays, Mars Ultor was the first god to receive a sacrifice, followed by the Genius (mythology), Genius of the emperor. An epigraphy, inscription from the 2nd century records a Glossary of ancient Roman religion#votum, vow to offer Mars Ultor a bull with gilded horns.


Mars Augustus

''Augustus'' or ''Augusta'' was appended far and wide, "on monuments great and small," to the name of gods or goddesses, including Mars. The honorific marks the affiliation of a deity with Imperial cult (ancient Rome), Imperial cult. In Hispania, many of the statues and dedications to Mars Augustus were presented by members of the priesthood or Sodales, sodality called the ''Sodales Augustales''. These vows ''(Glossary of ancient Roman religion#votum, vota)'' were usually fulfilled within a sanctuary of Imperial cult, or in a temple or precinct (''templum'') consecrated specifically to Mars. As with other deities invoked as ''Augustus'', altars to Mars Augustus might be set up to further the well-being (''salus'') of the emperor, but some inscriptions suggest personal devotion. An inscription in the Alps records the gratitude of a Slavery in ancient Rome, slave who dedicated a statue to Mars Augustus as ''conservator corporis sui'', the preserver of his own body, said to have been vowed ''ex iussu numinis ipsius'', "by the order of the ''numen'' himself". ''Mars Augustus'' appears in inscriptions at sites throughout the Empire, such as Hispania Baetica, Sagunto, Saguntum, and Emerita Augusta, Emerita (Lusitania) in Roman Spain; Leptis Magna (with a date of 6–7 AD) in present-day Libya; and Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, Sarmizegetusa in the Roman Dacia, province of Dacia.


Provincial epithets

In addition to his cult titles at Rome, Mars appears in a large number of epigraphy, inscriptions in the Roman province, provinces of the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
, and more rarely in literary texts, interpretatio romana, identified with a local deity by means of an epithet. Mars appears with great frequency in Gaul among the Continental Celts, as well as in Hispania, Roman Spain and Roman Britain, Britain. In Celtic settings, he is often invoked as a healer. The inscriptions indicate that Mars's ability to dispel the enemy on the battlefield was transferred to the sick person's struggle against illness; healing is expressed in terms of warding off and rescue.


Celtic Mars

Mars is identified with a number of Celtic deities, some of whom are not attested independently. *Mars Alator is attested in Roman Britain by an inscription found on an altar at South Shields, and a silver-gilt votive plaque that was part of the Barkway hoard from Hertfordshire. ''Alator'' has been interpreted variously as "Huntsman" or "Cherisher".Ross, Anne (1967). ''Pagan Celtic Britain''. Routledge & Kegan Paul. . *Mars appears in an inscription from modern-day Sablet, in the province of Gallia Narbonensis. ''Albiorix'' probably means "King of the Land" or "King of the World", with the first element related to the geographical name Albion and Middle Welsh ''elfydd,'' "world, land". The Saturnian moon Albiorix (moon), Albiorix is named after this epithet. *Mars Barrex is attested by a single dedicatory inscription found at Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle, England. ''Barrex'' or ''Barrecis'' probably means "Supreme One" (Gaulish language, Gaulish ''barro-'', "head"). *Mars Belatucadrus is named in five inscriptions in the area of Hadrian's Wall. The Celtic god Belatucadros, with various spellings, is attested independently in twenty additional inscriptions in northern England. *Mars Braciaca appears in a single votive inscription at Bakewell, Derbyshire. The Celtic epithet may refer to malt or beer, though intoxication in Greco-Roman religion is associated with Dionysus. A reference in Pliny suggests a connection to Mars's agricultural function, with the Gaulish word ''bracis'' referring to a type of wheat; a medieval Latin gloss (annotation), gloss says it was used to make beer. *Mars Camulus is found in five inscriptions scattered over a fairly wide geographical area. The Celtic god Camulus appears independently in one votive inscription from Rome. *Mars Cocidius is found in five inscriptions from northern England. About twenty dedications in all are known for the Celtic god Cocidius, mainly made by Roman military personnel, and confined to northwest Cumbria and along Hadrian's Wall. He is once identified with Silvanus. He is depicted on two votive plaques as a warrior bearing shield and spear, and on an altar as a huntsman accompanied by a dog and stag. *Mars Condatis occurs in several inscriptions from Roman Britain. The cult title is probably related to the place name ''Condate'', often used in Gaul for settlements at the confluence of rivers. The Celtic god Condatis is thought to have functions pertaining to water and healing. *Mars Corotiacus is an equestrian Mars attested only on a votive from Martlesham in Suffolk. A bronze statuette depicts him as a cavalryman, armed and riding a horse which tramples a prostrate enemy beneath its hooves.Miranda J. Green. "Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend" (p. 142.) Thames and Hudson Ltd. 1997 *Mars Lenus, or more often Lenus Mars, had a major healing cult at the capital of the Treveri (present-day Trier). Among the votives are images of children offering doves. His consort Ancamna is also found with the Celtic god Smertrios. *Mars Loucetius. The Celtic god ''Loucetios'', Latinized as ''-ius'', appears in nine inscriptions in present-day Germany and France and one in Britain, and in three as ''Leucetius''. The Gaulish language, Gaulish and Brittonic languages, Brythonic wikt:theonym, theonyms likely derive from Proto-Celtic language, Proto-Celtic ''*louk(k)et-'', "bright, shining, flashing," hence also "lightning," alluding to either a Celtic commonplace metaphor between battles and thunderstorms (Old Irish ''torannchless'', the "thunder feat"), or the aura of a divinized hero (the ''lúan'' of Cú Chulainn). The name is given as an epithet of Mars. The consort of Mars Loucetius is Nemetona, whose name may be understood as pertaining either to "sacred privilege" or to the sacred grove ''(nemeton)'', and who is also identified with the goddess Victoria (mythology), Victoria. At the Roman Britain, Romano-British site in Bath, Somerset, Bath, a dedication to Mars Loucetius as part of this divine couple was made by a pilgrim who had come from the continental Treveri of Gallia Belgica to seek healing. * Mars Medocius Campesium appears on a bronze plaque at a Romano-Celtic temple at Camulodunum (modern Colchester; see Mars Camulus above). The dedication was made between 222 and 235 CE by a self-identified Caledonian, jointly honoring Mars and the ''Victoria'' (Victory) of Severus Alexander. A Celto-Latin name ''Medocius'' or ''Medocus'' is known, and a link between Mars's epithet and the Irish legendary surgeon Miach, Miodhach has been conjectured. ''Campesium'' may be an error for ''Campestrium'', "of the Campestres", the divinities who oversaw the parade ground, or "of the Compeses" may refer to a local place name or ethnonym. *Mars Mullo is invoked in two Armorican inscriptions pertaining to Imperial cult (ancient Rome), Imperial cult. The name of the Celtic god Mullo (god), Mullo, which appears in a few additional inscriptions, has been analyzed variously as "mule" and "hill, heap". *Mars Neton or Neto (deity), Neto was a Celtiberian god at Acci (modern Guadix). According to Macrobius, he wore a radiant crown like a sun god, because the passion to act with valor was a kind of heat. He may be connected to Irish Neit. *Mars Nodens has a possible connection to the Irish mythological figure Nuada Airgetlám. The Celtic god Nodens was also interpreted as equivalent to several other Roman gods, including Mercury (mythology), Mercury and Neptune. The name may have meant "catcher", hence a fisher or hunter. *Mars Ocelus had an altar dedicated by a junior army officer at Caerwent, and possibly a temple. He may be a local counterpart to Lenus. *Mars Olloudius was depicted in a relief from Roman Britain without armor, in the guise of a ''Genius (mythology), Genius'' carrying a double cornucopia and holding a libation bowl ''(patera)''. Olloudius is found also at Ollioules in southern Gaul. *Mars Rigisamus is found in two inscriptions, the earliest most likely the one at Avaricum (present-day Bourges, France) in the territory of the Bituriges Cubi, Bituriges. At the site of a Roman villa, villa at West Coker, Somerset, he received a bronze plaque ''votum''. The Gaulish element ''rig-'' (very common at the end of names as ''-rix''), found in later Celtic languages as ''rí'', is
cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
with Latin ''rex'', "king" or more precisely "ruler". ''Rigisamus'' or ''Rigisamos'' is "supreme ruler" or "king of kings". *Mars Rigonemetis ("King of the Sacred Grove"). A dedication to Rigonemetis and the numen (spirit) of the Emperor inscribed on a stone was discovered at Nettleham (Lincolnshire) in 1961. Rigonemetis is only known from this site, and it seems he may have been a god belonging to the tribe of the Corieltauvi. *Mars Segomo. "Mars the Victorious" appears among the Celtic Sequani. * Mars Smertrius. At a site within the territory of the Treveri, Ancamna was the consort of Mars Smertrius. *Mars Teutates. A fusion of Mars with the Celtic god Teutates (Toutatis). *Mars Thincsus. A form of Mars invoked at Housesteads Roman Fort at Hadrian's Wall, where his name is linked with two goddesses called the Alaisiagae. Anne Ross (scholar), Anne Ross associated Thincsus with a sculpture, also from the fort, which shows a god flanked by goddesses and accompanied by a goose – a frequent companion of war gods. *Mars Visucius. A fusion of Mars with the Celtic god Visucius. *Mars Vorocius. A Celtic healer-god invoked at the curative spring shrine at Vichy (Allier) as a curer of eye afflictions. On images, the god is depicted as a Celtic warrior.


"Mars Balearicus"

"Mars Balearicus" is a name used in modern scholarship for small bronze warrior figures from Majorca (one of the Balearic Islands) that are interpreted as representing the local Mars cult. These statuettes have been found within Talaiot, talayotic sanctuaries with extensive evidence of burnt offerings. "Mars" is fashioned as a lean, athletic nude lifting a lance and wearing a helmet, often conical; the genitals are perhaps semi-erect in some examples. Other bronzes at the sites represent the heads or horns of bulls, but the bones in the ash layers indicate that sheep, goats, and pigs were the sacrificial victims. Bronze horse-hooves were found in one sanctuary. Another site held an imported statue of Imhotep, the legendary Ancient Egyptian medicine, Egyptian physician. These sacred precincts were still in active use when the Roman occupation began in 123 BCE. They seem to have been astronomically oriented toward the rising or setting of the constellation Centaurus.


On the calendar

Mars gave his name to the third month in the
Roman calendar The Roman calendar was the calendar used by the Roman Kingdom and Roman Republic. Although the term is primarily used for Rome's pre-Julian calendars, it is often used inclusively of the Julian calendar established by Julius Caesar in 46&nbs ...
, ''Martius (month), Martius'', from which English ''March'' derives. In the most ancient Roman calendar, ''Martius'' was the first month. The planet Mars was named for him, and in some allegorical and philosophical writings, the planet and the god are endowed with shared characteristics. In many languages, Tuesday is Week-day names#Planetary, named for the planet Mars or the god of war: In Latin, ''martis dies'' (literally, 'Mars's Day'), survived in Romance languages as ''marte'' (History of Portuguese, Portuguese), ''martes'' (History of Spanish, Spanish), ''mardi'' (History of French, French), ''martedì'' (History of Italian, Italian), ''marți'' (History of Romanian, Romanian), and ''dimarts'' (History of Catalan, Catalan). In Irish (Gaelic), the day is ''An Mháirt'', while in Albanian language, Albanian it is ''e Marta''. The English word ''Tuesday'' derives from Old English ''Tiwesdæg'' and means 'Tiw's Day', ''Tiw'' being the Old English form of the Proto-Germanic war god *Tîwaz, or Týr in Norse.Online Etymology Dictionary.
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See also

* Cariocecus, an Iberian war god syncretised with Mars * Mars, the planet * Nergal, the Babylonian god associated with the planet Mars in astral theology * Planets in astrology#Mars * Týr, the Norse god of war


References


Notes


Citations


External links

*
The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (images of Mars)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mars (Mythology) Mars (mythology), Deities in the Aeneid Roman gods War gods Mythological rapists Tutelary deities Agricultural gods Animal gods She-wolf (Roman mythology) Martian deities Planetary gods Metamorphoses characters Umbri Dii Consentes Bear deities Horse deities Cattle deities Sabine gods