Mars
The Roman god of war, agriculture, and the state — father of Romulus, guardian of boundaries, and the most Roman of deities.
Overview
Mars (Latin: Mārs) was the most important Roman deity after Jupiter — the god of war, agriculture, and the protector of the Roman state. Unlike the Greek Ares (whom the Greeks themselves barely respected), Mars was honored, central, and foundational: he was the father of Romulus and Remus, the divine ancestor of the Roman people, and the patron of the Roman army that conquered the Mediterranean world.[3]
Mars was quintessentially Roman in a way few deities were. While much of Roman religion was borrowed or adapted from Greek and Etruscan sources, Mars’s character — combining agricultural guardian with military protector — reflects an Italic deity whose profile was shaped by Rome’s own evolution from farming village to imperial capital.[1]
Mars vs. Ares
The contrast between Mars and his Greek “equivalent” Ares is revealing:[2]
| Feature | Ares (Greek) | Mars (Roman) |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Despised by other gods; a brute | Second only to Jupiter; honored |
| Domain | Battle frenzy, bloodshed | War, agriculture, civic order |
| Role | Agent of destruction | Father of Rome; state protector |
| Month | None dedicated | March (Martius): first month of the old Roman calendar |
| Cult | Minor; few temples | Major; one of Rome’s three original gods |
The equation Mars ≈ Ares obscures Mars’s broader Italic profile.[5]
Agricultural Functions
Mars’s oldest function was as a guardian of fields and boundaries. The Carmen Arvale — one of the oldest Latin texts surviving (perhaps 6th century BCE) — invokes Mars as a protector of crops:[1]
“Enos Marmor, iuvato! … Satur fu, fere Mars, limen sali, sta berber!” (“Help us, Mars! … Be satisfied, fierce Mars, leap over the threshold, stand guard!”)[1]
The Suovetaurilia — the sacrifice of a pig (sus), sheep (ovis), and bull (taurus) — was performed in Mars’s name to purify agricultural land. This rite, depicted on Trajan’s Column, remained central to Roman religion throughout the imperial period.[1]
Mars and the Roman Army
Mars Gradivus (“The Strider”) was the war god of the legions:
- Soldiers swore oaths by Mars before battle
- The standards (signa) of the legions were sacred to Mars
- Spoils of war (spolia opima) were dedicated to Mars when a Roman commander killed an enemy commander in single combat — an honor achieved only three times in Roman history
- The Campus Martius (“Field of Mars”) — where the army assembled and trained — was his sacred ground
The Salii and Sacred Shields
The Salii (“Leapers”) — twelve priests of Mars — performed one of Rome’s most ancient rituals each March: wearing archaic armor and carrying figure-eight shields (ancilia), they danced through the streets chanting the Carmen Saliare, leaping and beating their shields. One of the ancilia was believed to have fallen from heaven as a pledge of Rome’s destiny; King Numa had eleven copies made so the original could not be identified and stolen.
Mars Pater: Father of Rome
Mars fathered Romulus and Remus through the Vestal Virgin Rhea Silvia — making the Roman people literally the descendants of the war god. This divine paternity was not mere legend; it was the theological foundation of Roman military destiny and the justification for imperialism: the Romans conquered because they were Mars’s children, and Mars willed it.
Augustus exploited this theology dramatically. His Forum of Augustus (dedicated 2 BCE) centered on a temple to Mars Ultor (“Mars the Avenger”), built to house the standards recovered from Parthia and to avenge Julius Caesar’s assassination. The forum’s iconographic program traced Rome’s history from Aeneas through Romulus to Augustus — with Mars as the divine thread.
Key Temples
- Temple of Mars Ultor (Forum of Augustus, 2 BCE) — Augustus’s greatest religious monument
- Altar of Mars (Campus Martius) — The ancient open-air altar where the army sacrificed
- Temple of Mars outside the Porta Capena (on the Via Appia) — Where generals paused to pray before campaigns
Sacred Animals and Symbols
- Wolf (lupus) — The she-wolf who nursed Romulus and Remus was Mars’s animal
- Woodpecker (picus) — Sacred to Mars in Italic tradition (the Piceni were named for it)
- Horse — War-horse sacrificed at the October Horse festival (October 15)
- Spear (hasta) — The ancient symbol of Mars; a trembling spear in his temple was an omen of war
Primary Sources
- Carmen Arvale — Ancient agricultural hymn to Mars
- Carmen Saliare — Chant of the Salii (fragments)
- Livy 1.20 (Salii), 1.4 (Romulus’s birth) — Foundation legends
- Ovid, Fasti 3 — March festivals of Mars
- CIL — Votive inscriptions to Mars across the empire
See also: Roman Pantheon · Cybele · Mithras and Sol Invictus · Roman Republic · Roman Empire