Neto or ''Mars Neto'' is the name of one of the deities of ancient

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

. It was revered in many places of the Peninsula, but mainly by the

Iberians The Iberians (, from , ''Iberes'') were an ancient people settled in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian Peninsula, at least from the 6th century BC. They are described in Greek and Roman sources (among others, by Hecataeus of Mil ...

and

Celtiberians The Celtiberians were a group of Celts and Celticized peoples inhabiting an area in the central-northeastern Iberian Peninsula during the final centuries BC. They were explicitly mentioned as being Celts by several classic authors (e.g. Strabo) ...

. He was probably a god of

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

Name and functions

Macrobius Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...

in his ''Saturnalia'', calls Neto both a sun god and equivalent in

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

to the Roman

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

and

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

. A name ''Neito'' appears on the Celtiberian Botorrita bronze plaque.Contrebia Belaisca (Botorrita, Zaragoza) I. ''El bronce con alfabeto "ibérico" de Botorrita'', Beltraan & Tovar (1982) Zaragoza: Universidad de Zaragoza The name also recalls an Irish war god

Neit In Irish mythology Neit (Néit, Nét, Neith) was a god of war. He was the husband of Nemain and/or Fea, and sometimes of Badb. Also grandfather of Balor, he was killed at the legendary Second Battle of Moytura. Etymology The name probably d ...

whose name might be derived from the same

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

root meaning passion or conflict.

References

Lusitanian gods Basque gods War gods Solar gods Martian deities {{europe-myth-stub