View source for Mars (mythology)

{{short description|Roman god of war, guardian of agriculture}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Roman
| name = Mars
| image = File:0 Statue de Mars (Pyrrhus) - Musei Capitolini - MC0058 (2).JPG
| caption = Statue of Mars from the [[Forum of Nerva]], 2nd century CE<ref>Based on an [[Augustus|Augustan-era]] original that in turn used a [[Hellenistic art|Hellenistic Greek model]] of the 4th century BCE. [[Capitoline Museums]] in Rome, Italy. Capitoline Museums. "[http://capitolini.info/scu00058/?lang=en Colossal statue of Mars Ultor also known as Pyrrhus – Inv. Scu 58.]" Capitolini.information. Accessed 8 October 2016.</ref>
| god_of = God of war, guardian of agriculture and the Roman people
| member_of = the [[Archaic Triad]] and the ''[[Dii Consentes]]''
| abode = 
| planet = [[Mars]]<ref>{{cite book |title=The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy |first=James |last=Evans |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=1998 |pages=296–7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nS51_7qbEWsC&pg=PA17 |access-date=2008-02-04 |isbn=978-0-19-509539-5}}</ref>
| symbols = spear, shield <ref>Later represented in the astronomical and astrological [[Mars symbol|symbol for the planet Mars]], and the male gender (♂)</ref>
| consort = [[Nerio]] and others including [[Rhea Silvia]], [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]], [[Bellona (goddess)|Bellona]]
| parents = [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] and [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]]
| siblings = [[Vulcan (mythology)|Vulcan]], [[Minerva]], [[Hercules]], [[Bellona (goddess)|Bellona]], [[Apollo]], [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]], [[Dionysus|Bacchus]], etc.
| children = [[Cupid]], [[Romulus and Remus]]
| festivals = February 27, March 14 [[Equirria]] horse races<br/>March 1 ''[[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#dies natalis|Dies natalis]]'' (birthday) and ''[[Roman festivals|feriae]]'' of the [[Salii|Salian priests]]<br/>March 17 [[Agonalia#Agonium Martiale|Agonia]]<br/>May 14 ''dies natalis'', Temple of Mars Invictus<br/>October 15 [[October Horse|October Horse sacrifice]]<br/>October 19 [[Armilustrium]]
| day = [[Tuesday]] (''dies Martis'')
| other_names = Mavors, Mavorte (archaic, poetic)
| Etruscan_equivalent = [[Maris (mythology)|Maris]], [[Laran]]
| Greek_equivalent = [[Ares]]
| Norse_equivalent = [[Tyr]]
| equivalent1_type = Egyptian
| equivalent1=[[Set (deity)]] 
}}
In [[ancient Roman religion]] and [[Roman mythology|mythology]], '''Mars''' ({{langx|la|Mārs}}, {{IPA|la|maːrs|pron}})<ref>[https://alatius.com/latin/bennetthidden.html Chapter 3], Charles E. Bennett (1907) ''The Latin Language – a historical outline of its sounds, inflections, and syntax''. Allyn & Bacon, Boston.</ref> is the [[god of war]] and also an [[Roman agriculture|agricultural]] guardian, a combination characteristic of early [[ancient Rome|Rome]].<ref>[[Mary Beard (classicist)|Mary Beard]], J.A. North, and S.R.F. Price, ''Religions of Rome: A History'' (Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 47–48.</ref> He is the son of [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] and [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]], and was pre-eminent among the [[Religion in the Roman military|Roman army's military gods]]. Most of his [[Roman festivals|festivals]] were held in March, the month named for him ([[Martius (month)|Latin ''Martius'']]), and in October, the months which traditionally began and ended the season for both military campaigning and farming.<ref>[[John Scheid]], ''An Introduction to Roman Religion'', translated by Janet Lloyd (Indiana University Press, 2003), pp. 51–52; Robert Turcan, ''The Gods of Ancient Rome'' (Routledge, 2001; originally published in French 1998), p. 79.</ref>

Under the [[Hellenization|influence of Greek culture]], Mars was [[interpretatio graeca|identified with]] the [[Greek mythology|Greek god]] [[Ares]],<ref name=Lar>''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', [[The Book People]], Haydock, 1995, p. 215.</ref> whose [[myth]]s were reinterpreted in [[Latin literature|Roman literature]] and [[Roman art|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 [[Ancient Greek literature|Greek literature]].<ref>Kurt A. Raaflaub, ''War and Peace in the Ancient World'' (Blackwell, 2007), p. 15.</ref> 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 Pompilius|Numa]], the peace-loving semi-legendary second [[Kings of Rome|king of Rome]]; in Republican times it was a focus of electoral activities. [[Augustus]] 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 [[Forum of Augustus|his new forum]].<ref>Paul Rehak and John G. Younger, ''Imperium and Cosmos: Augustus and the Northern Campus Martius'' (University of Wisconsin Press, 2006), pp. 11–12.</ref>

Unlike Ares, who was viewed primarily as a destructive and destabilizing force, Mars represented military power as a way [[Pax Romana|to secure peace]], and was a father ''(pater)'' of the Roman people.<ref>[[Isidore of Seville]] calls Mars ''Romanae gentis auctorem'', the originator or founder of the Roman people as a ''[[gens]]'' (''Etymologiae'' 5.33.5).</ref> In Rome's mythic [[genealogy]] and [[Founding of Rome|founding]], Mars fathered [[Romulus and Remus]] through his rape of [[Rhea Silvia]]. The wolf was the sacred animal of Mars, with the [[she-wolf (Roman mythology)|she-wolf]] nursing the two founders as children. His love affair with [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] 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''),<ref>The [[classical Latin]] [[declension]] of the name is as follows: [[nominative]] and [[vocative case]], ''Mars''; [[genitive]], ''Martis''; [[accusative]], ''Martem''; [[dative]], ''Marti''; [[ablative]] ''Marte''.[http://www.slu.edu/colleges/AS/languages/classical/latin/tchmat/grammar/whprax/w7-d3-n.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910183407/http://www.slu.edu/colleges/AS/languages/classical/latin/tchmat/grammar/whprax/w7-d3-n.html|date=September 10, 2017}}</ref> which in [[Old Latin]] and poetic usage also appears as ''Māvors'' (''Māvortis''),<ref>Virgil, ''Aeneid'' VIII, 630</ref> is cognate with [[Oscan language|Oscan]] ''Māmers'' (''Māmertos'').<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC|title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture|last=Mallory|first=J. P.|author2=D. Q. Adams|publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers|year=1997|isbn=1-884964-98-2|location=New York|pages=630–631|author-link=J. P. Mallory|author-link2=Douglas Q. Adams}}; some of the older literature assumes an Indo-European form closer to *''Marts'', and see a connection with the Indic wind gods, the [[Maruts]] {{cite web|url=http://vedabase.net/m/maruta|title=Māruta|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724122105/http://vedabase.net/m/maruta|archive-date=July 24, 2011|access-date=July 8, 2010|df=mdy-all}} However, this makes the appearance of ''Mavors'' and the agricultural cults of Mars difficult to explain.</ref> The oldest recorded Latin form, ''Mamart-,'' is likely of foreign origin''.''<ref name=":0">[[Michiel de Vaan]], ''Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages'', Brill, 2008, p. 366.</ref> It has been explained as deriving from ''[[Maris (mythology)|Maris]],'' the name of an [[Etruscan religion|Etruscan child-god]], though this is not universally agreed upon.<ref>Larissa Bonfante, Etruscan Life and Afterlife: A Handbook of Etruscan Studies (Wayne State University Press, 1986), p. 226.</ref> Scholars have varying views on whether the two gods are related, and if so how.<ref>[[Massimo Pallottino]], "Religion in Pre-Roman Italy", in ''Roman and European Mythologies'' (University of Chicago Press, 1992, from the French edition of 1981), pp. 29, 30; [[Hendrik Wagenvoort]], "The Origin of the ''Ludi Saeculares''", in ''Studies in Roman Literature, Culture and Religion''  (Brill, 1956), p. 219 ''et passim''; [[John F. Hall|John F. Hall III]], "The Saeculum Novum of Augustus and its Etruscan Antecedents", ''Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt'' II.16.3 (1986), p. 2574; [[Larissa Bonfante]], ''Etruscan Life and Afterlife: A Handbook of Etruscan Studies'' (Wayne State University Press, 1986), p. 226.</ref> Latin adjectives from the name of Mars are ''martius'' and ''martialis'', from which derive English "martial" (as in "martial arts" or "[[martial law]]") and personal names such as "Marcus", "Mark" and "Martin".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=martial|title=martial|website=[[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language|The American Heritage Dictionary]]|access-date=2019-11-04}}</ref><ref>[[Albert Dauzat]], ''Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de famille et prénoms de France'', Larousse, Paris 1980. p. 420. New completed edition by [[:fr:Marie-Thérèse Morlet|Marie-Thérèse Morlet]].</ref>

Mars may ultimately be a thematic reflex of the [[Proto-Indo-European religion|Proto-Indo-European]] god [[Perkwunos]], having originally a thunderer character.<ref name="York, Michael 1988">York, Michael. Romulus and Remus, Mars and Quirinus. Journal of Indo-European Studies 16:1 & 2 (Spring/Summer, 1988), 153–172.</ref>

==Birth==
Like Ares who was the son of [[Zeus]] and [[Hera]],<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''Theogony'' p. 79 in the translation of Norman O. Brown (Bobbs-Merrill, 1953); 921 in the [[Loeb Classical Library]] [https://archive.org/details/hesiod00hesi <!-- quote="she, mingling in love" Ares. --> numbering];  ''[[Iliad]]'', 5.890–896.</ref> Mars is usually considered to be the son of [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] and [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]]. In [[Ovid]]'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]] directly from his forehead (or mind). Juno sought the advice of the goddess [[Flora (mythology)|Flora]] on how to do the same. Flora obtained a magic flower (Latin ''flos'', plural ''flores'', a [[grammatical gender|masculine word]]) and tested it on a [[wikt:heifer|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]] and the [[Sea of Marmara|shore of Marmara]] for the birth.<ref name=Mars-birth>[[Ovid]], ''[[Fasti (poem)|Fasti]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/ovidsfasti00oviduoft#page/276/mode/2up 5.229–260]</ref>

[[Ovid]] tells this story in the ''[[Fasti (Ovid)|Fasti]]'', his long-form poetic work on the [[Roman calendar]].<ref name=Mars-birth/> It may explain why the [[Matronalia]], a festival celebrated by married women in honor of Juno as a [[Lucina (goddess)|goddess of childbirth]], occurred on the first day of Mars's month, which is also marked on a [[Chronography of 354|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.<ref>[[William Warde Fowler]], ''The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic'' (London, 1908), p. 35f., discusses this interpretation in order to question it.</ref> Ovid is the only source for the story. He may be presenting a literary myth of his own invention, or an otherwise unknown [[Ancient peoples of Italy|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.<ref>Carole E. Newlands, ''Playing with Time: Ovid and the Fasti'' (Cornell University Press, 1995), pp. 105–106.</ref>

==Consort==
The [[wikt:consort|consort]] of Mars was [[Nerio]] or Neriene, "Valor." She represents the vital force ''(vis)'', power ''(potentia)'' and majesty ''(maiestas)'' of Mars.<ref>[[Aulus Gellius]], ''Attic Nights'' 13.23. Gellius says the word ''Nerio'' or ''Nerienes'' is [[Sabine language|Sabine]] and is supposed to be the origin of the [[cognomen|name]] ''Nero'' as used by the [[Claudia gens|Claudian family]], who were [[Sabines|Sabine]] in origin. The Sabines themselves, Gellius says, thought the word was [[ancient Greek language|Greek]] in origin, from νεῦρα ''(neura)'', Latin ''nervi'', meaning the sinews and ligaments of the limbs.</ref> Her name was regarded as [[Sabine language|Sabine]] in origin and is equivalent to Latin ''[[virtus (virtue)|virtus]],'' "manly virtue" (from ''vir'', "man").<ref>[[Robert E.A. Palmer]], ''The Archaic Community of the Romans'' (Cambridge University Press, 1970, 2009), p. 167.</ref> In the early 3rd century BCE, the comic playwright [[Plautus]] has a reference to Mars greeting Nerio, his wife.<ref>[[Plautus]], ''Truculentus'' 515.</ref> A source from [[late antiquity]] says that Mars and Neriene were celebrated together at a festival held on March 23.<ref>[[Johannes Lydus]], ''De mensibus'' 4.60 (42).</ref> In the later [[Roman Empire]], Neriene came to be identified with [[Minerva]].<ref>[[Pomponius Porphyrion|Porphyrion]], ''Commentum in Horatium Flaccum'', on ''Epistula'' II.2.209.</ref>

Nerio probably originates as a divine [[personification]] of Mars's power, as such [[abstraction]]s in Latin are generally [[grammatical gender|feminine]]. Her name appears with that of Mars in an archaic prayer [[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#invocatio|invoking]] a series of abstract qualities, each paired with the name of a deity. The influence of [[Greek mythology]] and its [[Anthropotheism|anthropomorphic gods]] may have caused Roman writers to treat these pairs as "marriages."<ref>[[William Warde Fowler]], ''The Religious Experience of the Roman People'' (London, 1922), p. 150–154; Roger D. Woodard, ''Indo-European Sacred Space: Vedic and Roman Cult'' (University of Illinois Press, 2006), pp. 113–114; Gary Forsythe, ''A Critical History of Early Rome: From Prehistory to the First Punic War'' (University of California Press, 2005), p. 145. The prayer is recorded in the passage on Nerio in Aulus Gellius.</ref><!--[[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine]] disapprovingly gives Mars and the war goddess [[Bellona (goddess)|Bellona]] as an example of a divine couple who were also sister and brother.<ref>[[Augustine]], ''De civitate Dei'' 6.10, citing Seneca; Fowler doubts the authority of the passage (''Religious Experience'', p. 166, note 16).</ref>-->

===Venus and Mars===
[[File:Wall painting - Ares and Aphrodite - Pompeii (VII 2 23) - Napoli MAN 9249 - 03.jpg|thumb|upright|Mars caresses Venus enthroned. Wall-painting in [[Pompeii]], {{Circa|20 BC – 50s AD}}]]
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]] and [[Aphrodite]] had been exposed to ridicule when her husband [[Hephaestus]] (whose Roman equivalent was [[Vulcanus|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 [[Di Consentes|twelve major gods]] of the Roman state were presented on couches as if present and participating.<ref>Robert Schilling, "Venus", in ''Roman and European Mythologies'' (University of Chicago Press, 1992, from the French edition of 1981), p. 147.</ref>

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]] or multiple Loves ''(amores)''. Some scenes may imply marriage,<ref>John R. Clarke, ''The Houses of Roman Italy, 100 B.C.–A.D. 250: Ritual, Space, and Decoration'' (University of California Press, 1991), pp. 156–157</ref> and the relationship was romanticized in funerary or domestic art in which husbands and wives had themselves portrayed as the passionate divine couple.<ref>Laura Salah Nasrallah, ''Christian Responses to Roman Art and Architecture: The Second-Century Church amid the Spaces of Empire'' (Cambridge University Press, 2010), pp. 284–287.</ref>

The uniting of deities representing Love and War lent itself to [[allegory]], especially since the lovers were the parents of [[Concordia (mythology)|Concordia]].{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} The Renaissance philosopher [[Marsilio Ficino]] notes that "only Venus dominates Mars, and he never dominates her".<ref>Ficino, ''On Love'', speech 5, chapter 8, as summarized in the entry on "Mars", ''The Classical Tradition'' (Harvard University Press, 2010), p. 564.</ref> 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.<ref>Entry on "Mars" in ''The Classical Tradition,'' p. 564.</ref>

==Essential nature==
[[File:Campanian bowl with Mars and Venus.JPG|thumb|A relief depicting Mars and [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] on a [[black-slip]] bowl from [[Campania]], Italy, 250–150 BCE, [[British Museum]]]]
[[Virility]] as a kind of life force ''(vis)'' or virtue ''(virtus)'' is an essential characteristic of Mars.<ref>Onians, ''The Origins of European Thought about the Body, the Mind, the Soul, the World, Time and Fate'' (Cambridge University Press, 1951), pp. 470–471. Onians connects the name of Mars to the Latin ''mas, maris'', "male" (p. 178), as had Isidore of Seville, saying that the month of March ''(Martius)'' was named after Mars "because at that time all living things are stirred toward virility (''mas'', gen. ''maris'') and to the pleasures of sexual intercourse" ''(eo tempore cuncta animantia agantur ad marem et ad concumbendi voluptatem)'': ''Etymologies'' 5.33.5, translation by Stephen A. Barney, ''The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville'' (Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 128. In antiquity, ''vis'' was thought to be related etymologically to ''vita'', "life." Varro (''De lingua latina'' 5.64, quoting [[Gaius Lucilius|Lucilius]]) notes that ''vis'' is ''vita'': "''vis'' drives us to do everything."</ref> 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.<ref>On the relation of Mars's warrior aspect to his agricultural functions with respect to Dumézil's [[Trifunctional hypothesis]], see Wouter W. Belier, ''Decayed Gods: Origin and Development of Georges Dumézil's 'idéologie tripartie' '' (Brill, 1991), pp. 88–91 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Hs3BpWur0_4C&dq=%22Besides+the+obviously+warlike+aspects+of+Mars+there+are+also+features+which+have+an+agricultural+aspect%22&pg=PA88 online.]</ref>

The priesthood of the [[Arval Brethren|Arval Brothers]] called on Mars to drive off  "rust" ''(lues)'', with its double meaning of [[Wheat leaf rust|wheat fungus]] and the [[rust|red oxides]] that affect metal, a threat to both iron farm implements and weaponry. In the [[Carmen Arvale|surviving text of their hymn]], the Arval Brothers invoked Mars as ''ferus'', "savage" or "feral" like a wild animal.<ref>Schilling, "Mars", in ''Roman and European Mythologies'', p. 135; Palmer, ''Archaic Community'', pp. 113–114.</ref>

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 [[wikt:propitiate|propitiated]].<ref>Gary Forsythe, ''A Critical History of Early Rome'' (University of California Press, 2005), p. 127; Fowler, ''Religious Experience'', p. 134.</ref> In his [[De Agri Cultura|book on farming]], [[Cato the Elder|Cato]] invokes ''[[#Mars Silvanus|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.<ref>[[Cato the Elder|Cato]], ''On Agriculture'' 141. In pre-modern agricultural societies, encroaching woodland or wild growth was a real threat to the food supply, since clearing land for cultivation required intense manual labor with minimal tools and little or no large-scale machinery. Fowler says of Mars, "As he was not localised either on the farm or in the city, I prefer to think that he was originally conceived as a Power outside the boundary in each case, but for that very reason all the more to be propitiated by the settlers within it" (''Religious Experience'', p. 142).</ref> Mars's character as an agricultural god may derive solely from his role as a defender and protector,<ref>Schilling, "Mars", p. 135.</ref> or may be inseparable from his warrior nature,<ref>Beard ''et al.'', ''Religions of Rome: A History'', pp. 47–48.</ref> as the leaping of his armed priests the [[Salii]] was meant to quicken the growth of crops.<ref>Forsythe, ''A Critical History of Early Rome'', p. 127</ref>

It appears that Mars was originally a thunderer or storm deity, which explains some of his mixed traits in regards to fertility.<ref name="York, Michael 1988"/> This role was later taken in the Roman pantheon by several other gods, such as [[Summanus]] or [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]].

==Sacred animals==
[[File:Altar Mars Venus Massimo lupa.jpg|thumb|[[She-wolf (Roman mythology)|She-wolf]] and twins [[Romulus and Remus]] from an altar to Venus and Mars]]
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.<ref>Plutarch, ''Roman Questions'' 21, citing [[Nigidius Figulus]].</ref>

[[Plutarch]] 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."<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''Roman Questions'' 21; also named as sacred to Mars in his ''Life of Romulus''. Ovid (''Fasti'' 3.37) calls the woodpecker the bird of Mars.</ref> As the beak of the ''picus Martius'' contained the god's power to ward off harm, it was carried as a [[amulet|magic charm]] to prevent [[bee sting]]s and [[leech]] bites.<ref>[[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]], ''Natural History'' 29.29.</ref> The bird of Mars also guarded a woodland herb ''([[paeonia (plant)|paeonia]])'' used for treatment of the [[Human gastrointestinal tract|digestive]] or [[Female reproductive system|female reproductive systems]]; those who sought to harvest it were advised to do so by night, lest the woodpecker jab out their eyes.<ref>Pliny, ''Natural History'' 27.60. Pliny names the herb as ''glycysīdē'' in Greek, Latin ''[[paeonia (plant)|paeonia]]'' (see [[Peony#Name|Peony: Name]]), also called ''pentorobos''.</ref> The ''picus Martius'' seems to have been a particular species, but authorities differ on which one: perhaps ''[[Picus viridis]]''<ref>A.H. Krappe, "Picus Who Is Also Zeus", ''Mnemosyne'' 9.4 (1941), p. 241.</ref> or ''[[Dryocopus martius]]''.<ref>[[William Geoffrey Arnott]], ''Birds in the ancient world from A to Z'' (Routledge, 2007), p. 63 [https://books.google.com/books?id=0NB4qqenLQIC&dq=picus+Martius+Mars+%22green+woodpecker%22&pg=PA63 online.]</ref>

The woodpecker was revered by the [[Latins (Italic tribe)|Latin peoples]], who abstained from eating its flesh.<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''Roman Questions'' 21. [[Athenaeus]] lists the woodpecker among delicacies on Greek tables (''Deipnosophistae'' 9.369).</ref> It was one of the most important birds in Roman and Italic [[augur]]y, the practice of reading the will of the gods through watching the sky for signs.<ref>[[Plautus]], ''Asinaria'' 259–261; [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]], ''Natural History'' 10.18. Named also in the [[Iguvine Tables]] (6a, 1–7), as [[Umbrian language|Umbrian]] ''peiqu''; Schilling, "Roman Divination", in ''Roman and European Mythologies'' (University of Chicago Press, 1992), pp. 96–97 and 105, note 7.</ref> 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.<ref>[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] 1.31; Peter F. Dorcey, ''The Cult of Silvanus: A Study in Roman Folk Religion'' (Brill, 1992), p. 33.</ref> The [[Umbrian language|Umbrian]] [[cognate]] ''peiqu'' also means "woodpecker", and the Italic [[Picentes|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.<ref>John Greppin, entry on "woodpecker", ''Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture'' (Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997), p. 648.</ref> In the territory of the [[Aequi]], another Italic people, Mars had an [[oracle]] of great antiquity where the prophecies were supposed to be spoken by a woodpecker perched on a wooden column.<ref>[[Dionysius Halicarnassus]], ''Roman Antiquities'' I.14.5, as noted by Mary Emma Armstrong, ''The Significance of Certain Colors in Roman Ritual'' (George Banta Publishing, 1917), p. 6.</ref>

Mars's association with the wolf is familiar from what may be the most famous of [[Roman mythology|Roman myths]], the story of how a [[She-wolf (Roman mythology)|she-wolf]] ''(lupa)'' suckled his infant sons when they were [[Infanticide#Greece and Rome|exposed]] by order of [[Amulius|King Amulius]], who feared them because he had [[usurper|usurped]] the throne from their grandfather, [[Numitor]].<ref>The myth of the she-wolf, and the birth of the twins with Mars as their father, is a long and complex tradition that weaves together multiple stories about the founding of Rome. See [[T.P. Wiseman]], ''Remus: A Roman Myth'' (Cambridge University Press, 1995), p. xiii, 73ff. ''et passim.''</ref> The woodpecker also brought nourishment to the twins.<ref>Plutarch, ''Life of Romulus'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Romulus*.html 4.]</ref>

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]] showed Mars in the company of wolves.<ref>[[Livy]] 22.1.12, as cited by Wiseman, ''Remus'', p. 189, note 6, and Armstrong, ''The Significance of Certain Colors'', p. 6.</ref> 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.<ref>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)|Ab Urbe Condita]]'' 10.27.</ref>

In [[Gallo-Roman culture|Roman Gaul]], the goose was associated with the [[#Provincial epithets|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.<ref>Miranda Green, ''Animals in Celtic Life and Myth'' (Routledge, 1992), p. 126.</ref>

===Sacrificial animals===
[[File:Suovetaurile Louvre.jpg|thumb|left|The procession of the ''[[suovetaurilia]]'', a sacrifice of a pig, ram, and bull, led by a priest with his head [[capite velato|ritually covered]]]]
[[Religion in ancient Greece|Ancient 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&nbsp;– mainly the entrails ''([[exta]])'' – it follows that the animals sacrificed were most often, though not always, domestic animals normally part of the Roman diet.<ref>Nicole Belayche, "Religious Actors in Daily Life: Practices and Related Beliefs", in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'' (Blackwell, 2007), p. 283; C. Bennett Pascal, "October Horse", ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'' 85 (1981), pp. 268, 277.</ref> 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.<ref>As did Neptune, Janus and the [[Genius (mythology)|Genius]]; [[John Scheid]], "Sacrifices for Gods and Ancestors", in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'' (Blackwell, 2007), p. 264.</ref> 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.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}}

The two most distinctive animal sacrifices made to Mars were the ''[[suovetaurilia]]'', a triple offering of a pig ''(sus)'', ram ''(ovis)'' and bull ''(taurus)'',<ref>[[Mary Beard (classicist)|Mary Beard]], J.A. North, and S.R.F. Price, ''Religions of Rome: A Sourcebook'' (Cambridge University Press, 1998), p. 153.</ref> 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.<ref>C. Bennett Pascal, "October Horse", ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'' 85 (1981), pp. 263, 268, 277.</ref>

==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.<ref>Lawrence Richardson, ''A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992), p. 245.</ref> 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.<ref>[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]], ''Roman Antiquities'' 5.13.2</ref> 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 censor]]s. Newly elected censors placed their [[curule chair]]s by the altar, and when they had finished conducting the census, the citizens were collectively [[lustrum|purified]] with a suovetaurilia there.<ref>Livy 40.45.8, 1.44.1–2.</ref> 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.<ref>Katja Moede, "Reliefs, Public and Private", in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'' (Blackwell, 2007), p. 170.</ref>

[[File:Tempio di Marte Ultore (Roma) - Laterale.jpg|thumb|Remains of the [[Temple of Mars Ultor]] in the Forum of Augustus, Rome]]
The main Temple of Mars ''([[Aedes (Roman)|Aedes]] Martis)'' in the Republican period also lay outside the sacred boundary{{where|date=October 2018}} and was devoted to the god's warrior aspect.<ref>[[Vitruvius]] 1.7.1; [[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], note to ''[[Aeneid]]'' 1.292; Richardson, ''New Topographical Dictionary,'' p. 244.</ref> It was built to fulfill a vow ''([[votum]])'' made by a Titus [[Quinctia gens|Quinctius]] in 388 BCE during the [[Gallic siege of Rome]].<ref>[[Livy]] 6.5.7; Richardson, ''New Topographical Dictionary,'' p. 244.</ref> The founding day ''([[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#dies natalis|dies natalis]])'' was commemorated on June 1,<ref>Ovid, ''Fasti'' 6.191–192 and the ''[[Fasti Antiates]]'' (Degrassi 463), as cited by Richardson, ''New Topographical Dictionary,'' p. 244.</ref> and the temple is attested by several inscriptions and literary sources.<ref>''[[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum|CIL]]'' 6.473, 474 = 30774, 485; ''[[Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae|ILS]]'' 3139, 3144, as cited by Richardson, ''New Topographical Dictionary,'' p. 244.</ref> The sculpture group of Mars and the wolves was displayed there.<ref>[[H.H. Scullard]], ''Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic'' (Cornell University Press, 1981), p. 127.</ref> 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.<ref>Scullard, ''Festivals and Ceremonies,'' pp. 127, 164.</ref>

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.<ref>Pliny, ''Natural History'' 36.26; Richardson, ''New Topographical Dictionary,'' p. 245.</ref>

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]] 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.<ref>Paul Rehak, ''Imperium and Cosmos: Augustus and the Northern Campus Martius'' (University of Wisconsin Press, 2006), pp. 7–8.</ref>

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.<ref>Rehak, ''Imperium and Cosmos,'' p. 145.</ref> The date continued to be marked with [[ludi circenses|circus games]] as late as the mid-4th century AD.<ref>Michele Renee Salzman, ''On Roman Time: The Codex Calendar of 354 and the Rhythms of Urban Life in Late Antiquity'' (University of California Press, 1990), p. 122.</ref>

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]])''.<ref>Richardson, ''New Topographical Dictionary,'' p. 27.</ref>

==Iconography and symbol==
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| footer            = 
| image1            = Othea's Epistle (Queen's Manuscript) 11.jpg
| width1            = 143<!--Do not modify. This provides the same length as the other image in the frame-->
| alt1              = 
| caption1          = Medieval representation of Mars. Sitting on a rainbow with a sword and a [[sceptre]], he "excites men to war".
| image2            = Mural warrior.jpg
| width2            = 150<!--Do not modify. This provides the same length as the other image in the frame-->
| alt2              = 
| caption2          = A nude statue of Mars<ref>Robert Schilling, "Mars", in ''Roman and European Mythologies'' (University of Chicago Press, 1992, from the French edition of 1981), p. 135 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Uf2_kHAs22sC&dq=mars+intitle%3Amythologies&pg=PA135 online.] The figure is sometimes identified only as a warrior.</ref> in a garden setting, depicted on a wall painting from [[Pompeii]]
| image3            = Mars Symbol.png
| width3            = 140<!--Do not modify. This provides the same length as the other image in the frame-->
| alt3              = 
| caption3          = [[Mars Symbol|A stylised "spear and shield of Mars"]] is also the symbol for [[Mars|the planet Mars]] and [[male|male gender]].
}}
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.<ref>Jonathan Williams, "Religion and Roman Coins", in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'', p. 143.</ref>

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.<ref>Paul Rehak and John G. Younger, ''Imperium and Cosmos: Augustus and the Northern Campus Martius'' (University of Wisconsin Press, 2006), p. 114.</ref>

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.<ref>Rehak and Younger, ''Imperium and Cosmos'', p. 114.</ref> In the Renaissance, Mars's nudity was thought to represent his lack of fear in facing danger.<ref>Entry on "Mars", in ''The Classical Tradition'', p. 564, citing Sebastiano Erizzo, ''On Ancient Medallions'' (1559), p. 120.<!--although I can't find it in that source--></ref>

===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.<ref>[[Martianus Capella]] 5.425, with Mars specified as Gradivus and Neptune named as [[Portunus (mythology)|Portunus]].</ref> A [[Relics in classical antiquity|relic]] or [[fetishism|fetish]] called the spear of Mars<ref>[[Varro]], ''Antiquitates'' frg. 254* (Cardauns); [[Plutarch]], ''Romulus'' 29.1 (a rather muddled account); [[Arnobius]], ''Adversus nationes'' 6.11.</ref> was kept in a ''[[sacellum|sacrarium]]'' at the [[Regia]], the former residence of the [[Kings of Rome]].<ref>Michael Lipka, ''Roman Gods: A Conceptual Approach'' (Brill, 2009), p. 88.</ref> 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]].<ref>[[Aulus Gellius]], ''Attic Nights'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Gellius/4*.html#6.1 4.6.1]; [[Cassius Dio]] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/44*.html#17.2 44.17.2] (because Caesar was [[pontifex maximus]]); Veit Rosenberger, "Republican ''Nobiles:'' Controlling the ''Res Publica''", in ''A Companion to Roman Religion,'' p. 295.</ref> 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]].<ref>''Imperium and Cosmos'' p. 114.</ref>

==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 [[flamen]]s. 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.<ref>Christopher Smith, "The Religion of Archaic Rome", in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'', p. 39.</ref>

==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]].<ref> Scullard, ''Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic'', p. 84.</ref>

[[File:Cornelia50.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|[[Denarius]], issued 88 BCE, depicting the helmeted head of Mars, with [[Victoria (mythology)|Victory]] driving a two-horse chariot (''[[biga (chariot)|biga]]'') on the reverse]]
* 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]];<ref>Marked as such only on the [[Chronography of 354]].</ref>
* 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.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}}

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.<ref>The hymn is preserved in an inscription ''([[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum|CIL]]'' 6.2104); Frances Hickson Hahn, "Performing the Sacred", in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'', p. 237.</ref> The ''[[Carmen Saliare]]'' was sung by Mars's priests the Salii while they moved twelve sacred shields ''([[ancilia]])'' throughout the city in a procession.<ref>Hahn, "Performing the Sacred", p. 237, citing [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] 2.70.1–5.</ref> In the 1st century AD, [[Quintilian]] remarks that the language of the Salian hymn was so archaic that it was no longer fully understood.<ref>[[Quintilian]], ''Institutiones'' 1.6.40, as cited by Frances Hickson Hahn, in "Performing the Sacred", in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'', p. 236.</ref>

==Name and cult epithets==
[[Image:0 Mars de Todi - Museo Gregoriano Etruscano (1).JPG|thumb|upright|The so-called ''[[Mars of Todi]]'', an [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] bronze of the early 4th century BCE, probably depicting a warrior<ref>Guiliano Bonfante and [[Larissa Bonfante]], ''The Etruscan Language: An Introduction'' (Manchester University Press, 1983, 2002 rev.ed.), p. 26; Donald Strong and J.M.C. Toynbee, ''Roman Art'' (Yale University Press, 1976, 1988), p. 33; Fred S. Kleiner, introduction to ''A History of Roman Art'' (Wadsworth, 2007, 2010 "enhanced edition"), [https://books.google.com/books?id=r-r0S-z-UxkC&dq=mars+todi+bronze&pg=PR40 p. xl.]</ref>]]

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.<ref>R.L. Rike, ''Apex Omnium: Religion in the ''Res Gestae'' of Ammianus'' (University of California Press, 1987), p. 26.</ref> 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.<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus 24.6.17; Rike, ''Apex Omnium,'' p. 32.</ref>

=== Mars Gradivus ===
Gradivus was one of the gods by whom a general or soldiers might swear an oath to be valorous in battle.<ref>[[Livy]] 2.45.</ref> 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.<ref>Livy, 1.20, {{cite book|author1=Livy|author-link1=Livy|last2=Warrior|first2=Valerie M|title=The History of Rome, Books 1–5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M-ikf_c0rB0C&pg=PA31|year=1884|publisher=Hackett Publishing|isbn=1-60384-381-7}}, with note by Valerie M. Warrior, ''The History of Rome Books 1–5'' (Hackett, 2006), p. 31.</ref> His cult title is most often taken to mean "the Strider" or "the Marching God", from ''gradus'', "step, march."<ref>Compare ''[[Gradiva]]''. The second-century grammarian [[Sextus Pompeius Festus]] offers two other explanations in addition. The name, he says, might also mean the vibration of a spear, for which the Greeks use the word ''kradainein''; others locate the origin of Gradivus in the grass ''(gramine)'', because the [[Grass Crown]] is the highest military honor; see Carole Newlands, ''Playing with Time: Ovid and the Fasti'' (Cornell University Press, 1995), p. 106. [[Maurus Servius Honoratus]] says that grass was sacred to Mars (note to ''[[Aeneid]]'' 12.119).</ref>

The poet [[Statius]] addresses him as "the most implacable of the gods,"<ref>Statius, ''[[Thebaid (Latin poem)|Thebaid]]'' 9.4. See also 7.695.</ref> but [[Valerius Maximus]] concludes his [[Roman historiography|history]] by invoking Mars Gradivus as "author and support of the name 'Roman'":<ref>[[Valerius Maximus]] 2.131.1, ''auctor ac stator Romani nominis''.</ref> 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).<ref>Hans-Friedrich Mueller, ''Roman Religion in Valerius Maximus'' (Routledge, 2002), p. 88.</ref>

A source from [[Late Antiquity]] says that the wife of Gradivus was [[#Consort|Nereia]], the daughter of [[Nereus]], and that he loved her passionately.<ref>[[Martianus Capella]], ''The Marriage of Philology and Mercury'' 1.4.</ref>

=== Mars Quirinus ===
[[Image:Antoninianus Aemilianus-RIC 0015.jpg|thumb|Mars celebrated as peace-bringer on a Roman coin issued by [[Aemilianus]]]]
Mars Quirinus was the protector of the [[Quirites]] ("citizens" or "civilians") as divided into ''[[curia]]e'' (citizen assemblies), whose oaths were required to make a treaty.<ref>{{cite book|last=Palmer|first=R. E. A.|author-link=R. E. A. Palmer|title=The Archaic Community of the Romans|url=https://archive.org/details/archaiccommunity0000palm|url-access=registration|year=1970|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-07702-6}}, p. 167.</ref> 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''."<ref>''Mars enim cum saevit Gradivus dicitur, cum tranquillus est Quirinus'': [[Maurus Servius Honoratus]], note to ''[[Aeneid]]'' 1.292, at [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Serv.+A.+1.292&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0053 Perseus.] At ''Aeneid'' 6.860, Servius further notes: "Quirinus is the Mars who presides over peace and whose cult is maintained within the civilian realm, for the Mars of war has his [[Templum|temple]] outside that realm." See also Belier, ''Decayed Gods'', p. 92: "The identification of the two gods is a reflection of a social process. The men who till the soil as Quirites in times of peace are identical with the men who defend their country as Milites in times of war."</ref>

The deified [[Romulus and Remus|Romulus]] was identified with Mars Quirinus. In the [[Capitoline Triad]] of [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]], 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.<ref>Palmer, ''The Archaic Community of the Romans'', pp. 165–171. On how Romulus became identified with Mars Quirinus, see the Dumézilian summary of Belier, ''Decayed Gods'', p. 93–94.</ref>

=== Mars Grabovius ===
Mars is invoked as ''Grabovius'' in the [[Iguvine Tablets]], bronze tablets written in [[Umbrian language|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.<ref>Etymologically, Quirinus is ''*co-uiri-no'', "(the god) of the community of men ''(viri)''," and Vofionus is ''*leudhyo-no'', "(the god) of the people": Oliver de Cazanove, "Pre-Roman Italy, Before and Under the Romans", in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'' (Blackwell, 2007), p. 49. It has also been argued that Vofionus corresponds to [[Janus]], because an entry in [[Sextus Pompeius Festus]] (204, edition of Lindsay) indicates there was a Roman triad of Jupiter, Mars, and Janus, each having ''quirinus'' as a title; C. Scott Littleton, ''The New Comparative Mythology'' (University of California Press, 1966, 1973), p. 178, citing Vsevolod Basanoff, ''Les dieux Romains'' (1942).</ref> 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.<ref>O. de Cazanove, "Pre-Roman Italy," pp. 49–50.</ref>

=== Mars Pater ===
"Father Mars" or "Mars the Father" is the form in which the god is invoked in the agricultural prayer of Cato,<ref>The Indo-European character of this prayer is discussed by [[Calvert Watkins]], "Some Indo-European Prayers: Cato's Lustration of the Fields", in ''[[How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics]]'' (Oxford University Press, 1995), pp. 197–213.</ref> and he appears with this title in several other literary texts and inscriptions.<ref>Celia E. Schultz, "Juno Sospita and Roman Insecurity in the Social War", in ''Religion in Republican Italy'' (Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 217, especially note 38.</ref> ''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.<ref>For the text of this vow, see [[Novensiles#The invocation of Decius Mus|The invocation of Decius Mus]].</ref>

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.<ref>[[Mary Beard (classicist)|Mary Beard]], J.A. North, and S.R.F. Price, ''Religions of Rome: A Sourcebook'' (Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 71ff. for examples of a bull offering, p. 153 on the ''suovetaurilia''.</ref> To ''Mars Pater'' other epithets were sometimes appended, such as ''Mars Pater Victor'' ("Father Mars the Victorious"),<ref>Beard ''et al.'', ''Religions of Rome'', p. 370.</ref> to whom the Roman army sacrificed a bull on March 1.<ref>Martin Henig, ''Religion in Roman Britain'' (London, 1984, 1995), p. 27, citing the military calendar from [[Dura-Europos]].</ref>

Although ''pater'' and ''mater'' were fairly common as honorifics for a deity,<ref>Gary Forsythe, ''A Critical History of Early Rome: From Prehistory to the First Punic War'' (University of California Press, 2005), p. 168.</ref> 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]].<ref>Newlands, ''Playing with Time'', p. 104.</ref>

=== 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:

<blockquote>
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.<ref>''Votum pro bubus, uti valeant, sic facito. Marti Silvano in silva interdius in capita singula boum votum facito. Farris L. III et lardi P.39 IIII S et pulpae P. IIII S, vini S.40 III, id in unum vas liceto coicere, et vinum item in unum vas liceto coicere. Eam rem divinam vel servus vel liber licebit faciat. Ubi [[res divina]] facta erit, statim ibidem consumito. Mulier ad eam rem divinam ne adsit neve videat quo modo fiat. Hoc votum in annos singulos, si voles, licebit vovere.'' [[Cato the Elder]], ''On Farming'' 83, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cato/De_Agricultura/E*.html#83 English translation] from the [[Loeb Classical Library]], Bill Thayer's edition at [[LacusCurtius]].</ref>
</blockquote>

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".<ref>Robert Schilling, "Silvanus", in ''Roman and European Mythologies'' (University of Chicago Press, 1992, from the French edition of 1981), p. 146; Peter F. Dorcey, ''The Cult of Silvanus: A Study in Roman Folk Religion'' (Brill, 1992), pp. 8–9, 49.</ref> Women were explicitly excluded from some cult practices of Silvanus, but not necessarily of Mars.<ref>Dorcey, ''The Cult of Silvanus'', pp. 9 and 105ff.</ref> [[William Warde Fowler]], however, thought that the wild [[Silvanus (mythology)|god of the wood Silvanus]] may have been "an emanation or offshoot" of Mars.<ref>[[William Warde Fowler]], ''The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic'' (London, 1908), p. 55.</ref>

=== Mars Ultor ===
[[File:Romanfortatbalmu00mill orig 0143 Mars.png|thumb|right|upright=0.5|A statue to Mars Ultor from [[Balmuildy]] on the [[Antonine Wall]] has been scanned and a video produced.<ref>{{cite web|title=Statue of Mars Ultor, Balmuildy|date=May 11, 2018|url=https://vimeo.com/269194099|access-date=19 May 2018}}</ref>]]
[[Augustus]] 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.<ref name="Augustus Assembles His Marble City">{{cite AV media | url=https://www.coursera.org/learn/roman-architecture/lecture/6whGG/9-4-augustus-assembles-his-marble-city | title=Augustus Assembles His Marble City | publisher=Yale University | people=Diana E. E. Kleiner | medium=Multimedia presentation}}</ref> 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.<ref>Michael Lipka, ''Roman Gods: A Conceptual Approach'' (Brill, 2009), p. 91.</ref> The goddess [[Ultio]], a divine personification of vengeance, had an altar and golden statue in his temple.<ref>Clark, ''Divine Qualities,'' pp. 23–24.</ref>

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.<ref name="Augustus Assembles His Marble City"/><ref>Robert Schilling, "Mars," ''Roman and European Mythologies'' (University of Chicago Press, 1992, from the French edition of 1981), p. 135; [[Mary Beard (classicist)|Mary Beard]], J.A. North, and S.R.F. Price, ''Religions of Rome: A Sourcebook'' (Cambridge University Press, 1998), p. 80.</ref> Some rituals previously conducted within the cult of Capitoline Jupiter were transferred to the new temple,<ref>For instance, during the [[Roman Republic|Republic]], the ''[[Roman dictator|dictator]]'' was charged with the ritual ''[[clavum fingere|clavi figendi causa]]'', driving a nail into the wall of the Capitoline temple. According to [[Cassius Dio]] (55.10.4, as cited by Lipka, ''Roman Gods'', p. 108), this duty was transferred to a [[Roman censor|censor]] under Augustus, and the ritual moved to the Temple of Mars Ultor.</ref> which became the point of departure for [[Roman magistrate|magistrates]] as they left for military campaigns abroad.<ref>Lipka, ''Roman Gods'', p. 109.</ref> Augustus required the [[Roman senate|Senate]] to meet at the temple when deliberating questions of war and peace.<ref>Harry Sidebottom, "International Relations," in ''The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare: Rome from the Late Republic to the Late Empire'' (Cambridge University Press, 2007), vol. 2, p. 15.</ref> 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.<ref>[[Cassius Dio]] 55.10.2; Nicole Belyache, "Religious Actors in Daily Life," in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'' p. 279.</ref>

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.<ref>Lipka, ''Roman Gods'', pp. 111–112.</ref> 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.<ref>''[[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum|CIL]]'' VI.1, no. 2086 (edition of Bormann and Henzen, 1876), as translated and cited by Charlotte R. Long, ''The Twelve Gods of Greece and Rome'' (Brill, 1987), pp. 130–131.</ref>

=== Mars Augustus ===
{{See also|Augustus (honorific)}}
[[File:Église Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul - Stèle Gallo-romaine 3.jpg|thumb|upright|Fragmentary dedication [[stele]] to Mars Augustus from [[Roman Gaul]]]]
''Augustus'' or ''Augusta'' was appended far and wide, "on monuments great and small,"<ref>Keith Hopkins, ''Conquerors and Slaves'' (Cambridge University Press, 1978), p. 230.</ref> to the name of gods or goddesses, including Mars. The honorific marks the affiliation of a deity with [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|Imperial cult]].<ref>A.E. Cooley, "Beyond Rome and Latium: Roman Religion in the Age of Augustus," in ''Religion in Republican Italy'' (Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 247; Duncan Fishwick, ''The imperial cult in the Latin West'' (Brill, 2005), ''passim''.</ref> 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]]''.<ref>Jonathan Edmondson, "The Cult of ''Mars Augustus'' and Roman Imperial Power at ''Augusta Emerita (Lusitania)'' in the Third Century A.D.: A New Votive Dedication," in ''Culto imperial: politica y poder'' («L'Erma» di Bretschneider, 2007), p. 562. These include an inscription that was later built into the castle walls at [[Sines]], Portugal; dedications at Ipagrum ([[Aguilar de la Frontera]], in the modern [[Province of Córdoba (Spain)|province of Córdoba]]) and at Conobaria ([[Las Cabezas de San Juan]] in the [[province of Seville]]) in Baetica; and a statue at Isturgi ''([[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum|CIL]]'' II. 2121 = ''[[Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae|ILS]]'' II<sup>2</sup>/7, 56). A ''magister'' of the "[[Lares]] of Augustus" made a dedication to Mars Augustus ''([[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum|CIL]]'' II. 2013 = ''[[Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae|ILS]]'' II<sup>2</sup>/5, 773) at Singili(a) Barba (Cerro del Castillón, [[Antequera]]).</ref> 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.<ref>Edmondson, "The Cult of ''Mars Augustus''," p. 563.</ref> As with other deities invoked as ''Augustus'', altars to Mars Augustus might be set up to further the well-being (''[[salus]]'') of the emperor,<ref>Edmondson, "The Cult of ''Mars Augustus''," p. 562.</ref> 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".<ref>''[[Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae|ILS]]'' 3160; Rudolf Haensch, "Inscriptions as Sources of Knowledge for Religions and Cults in the Roman World of Imperial Times," in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'' (Blackwell, 2007), p. 182.</ref>

''Mars Augustus'' appears in inscriptions at sites throughout the Empire, such as [[Hispania Baetica]], [[Sagunto|Saguntum]],<ref>William Van Andringa, "Religions and the Integration of Cities in the Empire in the Second Century AD: The Creation of a Common Religious Language," ''A Companion to Roman Religion'', p. 86.</ref> and [[Emerita Augusta|Emerita]] ([[Lusitania]]) in Roman Spain;<ref>Edmondson, "The Cult of ''Mars Augustus''," pp. 541–575.</ref> [[Leptis Magna]] (with a date of 6–7 AD) in present-day [[Libya]];<ref>Ittai Gradel, ''Emperor Worship and Roman Religion'' (Oxford University Press, 2002), p. 238, note 11, citing Victor Ehrenberg and Arnold H.M. Jones, ''Documents Illustrating the Reigns of Augustus and Tiberius'' (Oxford University Press, 1955), no. 43.</ref> and [[Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa|Sarmizegetusa]] in the [[Roman Dacia|province of Dacia]].<ref>The chief priest of the three Dacian provinces dedicated an altar ''pro salute'', for the wellbeing of [[Gordian III]], at an [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|imperial cult]] center sometime between 238 and 244 AD; Edmondson, "The Cult of ''Mars Augustus''," p. 562.</ref>

===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]], 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.<ref>Miranda Green, ''Animals in Celtic Life and Myth'' (Routledge, 1992), p. 198.</ref> 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.<ref>Ton Derks, ''Gods, Temples, and Ritual Practices: The Transformation of Religious Ideas and Values in Roman Gaul'' (Amsterdam University Press, 1998), p. 79.</ref>

====Celtic Mars====
Mars is identified with a number of Celtic deities, some of whom are not attested independently.
[[File:Votivblech von Barkway 2.jpg|thumb|Votive plaque inscribed to Mars Alator from the Barkway hoard, Roman Britain]]

*'''Mars Alator''' is attested in [[Roman Britain]] by an inscription found on an altar at [[South Shields]],<ref>''[[Roman Inscriptions of Britain|RIB]]'' 1055, as cited by Bernhard Maier, ''Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture'' (Boydell & Brewer, 1997, originally published in German 1994), p. 11.</ref> and a [[silver-gilt]] votive plaque that was part of the [[Barkway hoard]] from [[Hertfordshire]].<ref>''RIB'' 218, as cited by Maier, ''Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture'', p. 11.</ref> ''Alator'' has been interpreted variously as "Huntsman" or "Cherisher".<ref>Phillips, E.J. (1977). ''Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani'', ''Great Britain, Volume I, Fascicule 1''. ''Hadrian's Wall East of the North Tyne'' (p. 66). Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-725954-5}}.</ref><ref name="Ross">Ross, Anne (1967). ''Pagan Celtic Britain''. Routledge & Kegan Paul. {{ISBN|0-902357-03-4}}.</ref>
*'''Mars {{vanchor|Albiorix}}''' appears in an inscription from modern-day [[Sablet]], in the province of [[Gallia Narbonensis]].<ref>''[[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum|CIL]]'' 12.1300.</ref> ''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".<ref>Maier, ''Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture'', p. 11.</ref> The Saturnian moon [[Albiorix (moon)|Albiorix]] is named after this epithet.<ref>{{cite web| title=Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers| work=Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature| publisher=USGS Astrogeology| url=http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/append7.html| access-date=2010-05-01| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100527090504/http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/append7.html| archive-date= 27 May 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> 
*'''Mars Barrex''' is attested by a single dedicatory inscription found at [[Carlisle, Cumbria|Carlisle]], England.<ref>Maier, ''Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture'', p. 32.</ref> ''Barrex'' or ''Barrecis'' probably means "Supreme One"<ref name="Ross"/> ([[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] ''barro-'', "head").<ref>Xavier Delamarre, ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'' (Éditions Errance, 2003), p. 68.</ref>
*'''Mars Belatucadrus''' is named in five inscriptions<ref>''RIB'' 918, 948, 970, 1784, 2044, as cited by Maier, ''Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture'', p. 33.</ref> in the area of [[Hadrian's Wall]].<ref>Miranda Alhouse-Green, "Gallo-British Deities and Their Shrines," in ''A Companion to Roman Britain'' (Blackwell, 2004), p. 215.</ref> The Celtic god [[Belatucadros]], with various spellings, is attested independently in twenty additional inscriptions in northern England.<ref>Maier, ''Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture'', p. 33.</ref>
*'''Mars Braciaca''' appears in a single votive inscription at [[Bakewell]], [[Derbyshire]].<ref name="Ross"/><ref>''RIB'' 278, as cited by Maier, ''Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture'', pp. 42–43.</ref> The Celtic epithet may refer to [[malt]] or beer, though intoxication in Greco-Roman religion is associated with Dionysus.<ref>[[Eric Birley]], "The Deities of Roman Britain," ''Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt'' II.18.1 (1986), pp. 43, 68; Delamarre, entry on ''bracis'', ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'', p. 85. In discussing the Celtiberian Mars Neto, Macrobius associates Mars and [[Liber]], a Roman deity identified with Dionysus (''Saturnalia'' 1.19).</ref> A reference in Pliny<ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], ''Natural History'' 18.62.</ref> 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.<ref>In [[Galatian language|Galatian]], the form of Celtic spoken by the Celts who settled in [[Anatolia]], the word ''embrekton'' was a kind of beverage; Delamarre, ''Dictionnaire'', p. 85.</ref>
[[File:Mars breastplate MBA Lyon L101.jpg|thumb|upright|A bronze Mars from Gaul]]
*'''Mars Camulus''' is found in five inscriptions scattered over a fairly wide geographical area.<ref>''ILTG'' 351; ''CIL'' 13.3980; ''CIL'' 13.8701; ''CIL'' 13.11818; ''RIV'' 2166; Maier, ''Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture'', p. 57.</ref> The Celtic god [[Camulus]] appears independently in one votive inscription from Rome.<ref>''CIL'' 6.32574; Maier, ''Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture'', pp. 56–57.</ref>
*'''Mars Cocidius''' is found in five inscriptions from northern England.<ref>''RIB'' 602, 933, 1017, 2015, 2024; Maier, ''Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture'', p. 75.</ref> 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.<ref>''RIB'' 1578.</ref> He is depicted on two votive plaques as a warrior bearing shield and spear,<ref>''RIB'' 2007.</ref> and on an altar as a huntsman accompanied by a dog and stag.<ref>''RIB'' 986 and 987; Maier, ''Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture'', p. 75.</ref>
*'''Mars Condatis''' occurs in several inscriptions from Roman Britain.{{efn| See [[Condatis]] > [[Condatis#Archaeological evidence| Archaeological evidence]] }} The cult title is probably related to the place name ''Condate'', often used in Gaul for settlements at the confluence of rivers.<ref>Maier, ''Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture'', p. 80.</ref> The Celtic god [[Condatis]] is thought to have functions pertaining to water and healing.<ref name="Ross"/><ref>Jones, Barri & Mattingly, David (1990). ''An Atlas of Roman Britain'' (p. 275). Oxford: Basil Blackwell. {{ISBN|1-84217-067-8}}.</ref>
*'''Mars Corotiacus''' is an equestrian Mars attested only on a votive from Martlesham in [[Suffolk]].<ref>''RIB'' 213; Maier, ''Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture'', p. 82.</ref> A bronze statuette depicts him as a cavalryman, armed and riding a horse which tramples a prostrate enemy beneath its hooves.<ref name="Green">Miranda J. Green. "Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend" (p. 142.) Thames and Hudson Ltd. 1997</ref>
*'''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.<ref>Green, ''Animals in Celtic Life and Myth'', p. 216.</ref> 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,"<ref>Xavier Delamarre, ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'' (Éditions Errance, 2003), 2nd edition, p. 200.</ref> 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]])'',<ref>[[Gaulish]] ''[[nemeton]]'' was originally a [[sacred grove]] or space defined for religious purposes, and later a building: [[Bernhard Maier (religious studies professor)|Bernhard Maier]], ''Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture'' (Boydell Press, 1997, 2000, originally published 1994 in German), p. 207.</ref> 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.<ref>Helmut Birkham, entry on "Loucetius," in ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'', edited by John Koch (ABC-Clio, 2006), p. 1192.</ref>
* '''Mars Medocius Campesium''' appears on a bronze plaque at a [[Romano-Celtic temple]] at [[Camulodunum]] (modern [[Colchester]]; see Mars Camulus above). The dedication<ref>''RIB'' 191: DEO MARTI MEDOCIO CAMPESIVM ET VICTORIE ALEXANDRI PII FELICIS AVGVSTI NOSI DONVM LOSSIO VEDA DE SVO POSVIT NEPOS VEPOGENI CALEDO ("To the god of the battlefields Mars Medocius, and to the victory of [Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Severus] Alexander Pius Felix Augustus, Lossius Veda the grandson of Vepogenus Caledos, placed [this] offering out of his own [funds]").</ref> was made between 222 and 235 CE by a self-identified [[Caledonia]]n,<ref>Martin Henig, ''Religion in Roman Britain'' (Taylor & Francis, 1984, 2005), p. 61.</ref> jointly honoring Mars and the ''Victoria'' (Victory)<ref>Duncan Fishwick, "Imperial Cult in Britain," ''Phoenix'' 15.4 (1961), p. 219.</ref> of [[Severus Alexander]]. A Celto-Latin name ''Medocius'' or ''Medocus'' is known,<ref>A Saint Medocus is recorded in the early 16th century as the [[eponym]] for St. Madoes in [[Gowrie]]; Molly Miller, "Matriliny by Treaty: The Pictish Foundation-Legend," in ''Ireland in Early Mediaeval Europe'' (Cambridge University Press, 1982), p. 159.</ref> and a link between Mars's epithet and the Irish legendary surgeon [[Miach|Miodhach]] has been conjectured.<ref>Fishwick, "Imperial Cult in Britain," p. 219.</ref> ''Campesium'' may be an error for ''Campestrium'', "of the Campestres", the divinities who oversaw the parade ground,<ref>John Ferguson, ''The Religions of the Roman Empire'' (Cornell University Press, 1970, 1985), p. 212.</ref> or "of the Compeses" may refer to a local place name or [[ethnonym]].<ref>Perhaps related to Campesie Fells in [[Stirlingshire]]; Fishwick, "Imperial Cult in Britain," p. 219.</ref>
*'''Mars Mullo''' is invoked in two [[Armorica]]n inscriptions pertaining to [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|Imperial cult]].<ref>''CIL'' 13.3148 and 3149 at [[Rennes]]; ''Paganism and Christianity, 100–425 C.E.: A Sourcebook'', edited by [[Ramsay MacMullen]] and Eugene N. Lane (Augsburg Fortress, 1992), pp. 76–77.</ref> 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".<ref>''CIL'' 13.3096 ([[Craon, Mayenne|Craon]]), ''CIL'' 13.3101 and 3102, at [[Nantes]], ''ILTG'' 343–345 (Allones); Maier, ''Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture'', p. 200.</ref>
*'''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]].<ref>Macrobius, ''Saturnalia'' 1.19; David Rankin, ''Celts and the Classical World'' (Routledge, 1987), p. 260.</ref>
*'''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.<ref>Maier, ''Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture'', p. 209.</ref>
*'''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.<ref>John Wacher, ''The Towns of Roman Britain'' (University of California Press, 1974), p. 384.</ref>
*'''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.<ref>Green, ''Symbol and Image in Celtic Religious Art,'' p. 115.</ref>
*'''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]].<ref>''CIL'' 1190 = ''[[Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae|ILS]]'' 4581; E. Birley, "Deities of Roman Britain," p. 48.</ref> At the site of a [[Roman villa|villa]] at [[West Coker]], Somerset, he received a bronze plaque ''[[votum]]''.<ref>Anthony Birley, ''The People of Roman Britain'' (University of California Press, 1979), p. 141.</ref> The Gaulish element ''rig-'' (very common at the end of names as ''-rix''), found in later Celtic languages as ''[[rí]]'', is [[cognate]] with Latin ''rex'', "king" or more precisely "ruler".  ''[[Rigisamus]]'' or ''Rigisamos'' is "supreme ruler" or "king of kings".<ref>Delamarre, entry on ''rix,'' ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'', pp. 260–261; Green, ''Symbol and Image in Celtic Religious Art,'' p. 113.</ref>
*'''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]].<ref name="Green"/>
*'''Mars Segomo'''. "Mars the Victorious" appears among the Celtic [[Sequani]].<ref>Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins, ''Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome'' (Facts on File, 1994, 2004), p. 297.</ref>
* '''Mars Smertrius'''. At a site within the territory of the [[Treveri]], [[Ancamna]] was the consort of Mars Smertrius.<ref>Miranda Green, ''Celtic Myths'' (University of Texas Press, 1993, 1998), p. 42.</ref>
*'''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.<ref name="Green"/>
*'''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.<ref name="Green"/>

===="Mars Balearicus"====
[[File:Mars Balearicus cropped.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|Bronze statuette of 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.<ref>G. Llompart, "Mars Balearicus," ''Boletín del Seminario de Estudios de Arte y Arqueología'' 26 (1960) 101–128; "Estatuillas de bronce de Mallorca: Mars Balearicus," in ''Bronces y religión romana: actas del XI Congreso Internacional de Bronces Antiguos, Madrid, mayo-junio, 1990'' (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1993), p. 57ff.</ref> 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]].<ref>Jaume García Rosselló, Joan Fornés Bisquerra, and Michael Hoskin, "Orientations of the Talayotic Sanctuaries of Mallorca," ''Journal of History of Astronomy, Archaeoastronomy Supplement'' 31 (2000), pp. 58–64 (especially note 10) [http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?2000JHAS...31...58G&defaultprint=YES&filetype=.pdf pdf.]</ref>

==On the calendar==
Mars gave his name to the third month in the [[Roman calendar]], ''[[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.<ref>"Mars," ''The Classical Tradition'', p. 565.</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Tuesday Online Etymology Dictionary.]</ref>

==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===
{{notelist}}
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Mars (deity)|author=Fowler, William Warde|author-link=William Warde Fowler|volume=17|pages=760–761}}
* [https://iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/category/vpc-taxonomy-000163 The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (images of Mars)]

{{Roman religion}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mars (Mythology)}}
[[Category:Mars (mythology)| ]]
[[Category:Deities in the Aeneid]]
[[Category:Roman gods]]
[[Category:War gods]]
[[Category:Mythological rapists]]
[[Category:Tutelary deities]]
[[Category:Agricultural gods]]
[[Category:Animal gods]]
[[Category:She-wolf (Roman mythology)]]
[[Category:Martian deities]]
[[Category:Planetary gods]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses characters]]
[[Category:Umbri]]
[[Category:Dii Consentes]]
[[Category:Bear deities]]
[[Category:Horse deities]]
[[Category:Cattle deities]]
[[Category:Sabine gods]]