Mars (mythology) - Origins, Worship, Names and epithets

The Roman god of war, second only to Jupiter. The month of March is named after him. His mythology is borrowed from Ares, though various annual ceremonies at Rome indicate that he was originally an agricultural deity who guarded the fields.

Mars was the Roman god of war, the son of Juno and either Jupiter or a magical flower. Initially the Roman god of fertility and vegetation and a protector of cattle, fields and boundaries, Mars later became associated with battle (perhaps as the growing Roman Empire found it necessary to expand in order to feed itself) and identified with the Greek god Ares. He was also a tutelary god of Rome, and as the legendary father of its founder, Romulus, it was believed that all Romans were descended of Mars.

Origins

Mars was originally unrelated to the Roman god of war springing wholly from the Italian peninsula. Mars was the god of especially guarding against crop fields being invaded by locusts and other crop-destroying pests.

As the Romans often viewed themselves as "farmer-soldiers" because they had to fight for their land, Mars was transferred to the battlefield.

In the early years, Rome was constantly besieged by the, leading to an obsession with invasion, and hence the esteem of Mars. When Greek gods were encountered, the Romans grafted the previously cowardly and minor Greek god of war,into Juno, as the Romans often did with Greek God Zeus.

Worship

Mars, unlike his Greek counterpart, Ares the god of war, was more widely worshipped than any of the other Roman gods, probably in part because his sons by the Vestal Virgin Rhea Silvia, Romulus and Remus, were said to have founded Rome; the Romans called themselves the sons of Mars. Mars was also one of the three supreme Roman deities of the Archaic Triad, along with Jupiter and Quirinus.

In his agricultural aspect, Mars presided over springtime and crops in major festivals.

Mars had a succession of festivals in February, March and October, as well as one on June 1.

The Campus Martius ("Field of Mars") was dedicated to Mars, and was where soldiers and athletes trained.

Priests of Mars and Quirinus were called Salii ("jumpers").

Mars was sometimes associated with Quirinus, a Sabine deity said to be the Spirit of Romulus, the founder of Rome.

Temples of Mars

The primary temple to Mars, dedicated to Mars Gradivus (referring to Mars' role of preceding the army in battle) was on the northeast side of the Via Appia outside the Porta Capena, between the first and second milestones. As a result of the temple, this district came to be known as ad Martis ("to [the temple] of Mars"). The temple contained a statue of Mars and probably images of wolves.

Another major temple to Mars, shared with Jupiter and Quirinus, was on the Capitoline Hill. It was dedicated in 2 BC by Augustus, and paid tribute to Mars for supposedly aiding Augustus at the Battle of Philippi. Julius Caesar planned to build a titanic temple to Mars on the Naumachia, a lake used for mock sea battles, but the site was instead used as part of the location of the Pantheon.

Names and epithets

Mars was called Mavors in some poetry (Virgil VIII, 630), and Mamers was his Oscan name.

Like other major Roman deities, Mars had a large number of epithets representing his different roles and aspects. Many of Mars' epithets resulted from mythological syncretism between Mars and foreign gods. The most common and significant of these included:

Mars Alator, a fusion of Mars with the Celtic deity Alator (possibly meaning "Huntsman" or "Cherisher"), known from inscription found in England, on an altar at South Shields and a silver-gilt votive plaque at Barkway, Hertfordshire. Mars Albiorix, a fusion of Mars with the ancient Celtic deity Toutatis, using the epithet Albiorix ("King of the World"). Mars Albiorix was worshiped as protector of the Albici tribe of southern France, and was regarded as a mountain god. Mars Balearicus, statues of a warrior discovered in the Mallorca Island, associated by the archeologists to the Roman god Mars . Mars Belatucadrus, an epithet found in five inscriptions in the area of Hadrian's Wall in England, based on equating the Celtic deity Belatu-Cadros with Mars. Mars Braciaca, a synthesis of Mars with the Celtic god Braciaca. Mars Capriociegus, from an Iberian god who was linked to Mars. Mars Cocidius, a combination of Mars with the Celtic woodland hunting god Cocidius. He is referenced around northwest Cumbria and Hadrian's Wall, and was chiefly a war god only in instances where he was equated with Mars. Mars Condatis, who oversaw water and healing, is known from inscriptions near Hadrian's Wall, at Piercebridge, Bowes and Chester-le-Street.

The blood-red fourth planet in the Solar System, Mars, was also named after Mars; an adjective form of Mars, Martian (from Martianus), is most commonly used in reference to the planet. Another adjective form of Mars, Martial (from Martialis), is instead associated with war, as in martial law.

The planet Mars and the male sex are both commonly represented by the astronomical or gender symbol ♂, which originally represented the shield and spear of Mars and was popularized as the alchemical symbol for iron.Joesh♥Portia