Under theinfluence of Greek culture, Mars wasidentified with theGreek godAres,[7] whosemyths were reinterpreted inRoman literature andart 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 inGreek literature.[8] Mars's altar in theCampus Martius, the area of Rome that took its name from him, was supposed to have been dedicated byNuma, the peace-loving semi-legendary secondking of Rome; in Republican times it was a focus of electoral activities.Augustus shifted the focus of Mars's cult to within thepomerium (Rome's ritual boundary), and built a temple to Mars Ultor as a key religious feature ofhis new forum.[9]
Unlike Ares, who was viewed primarily as a destructive and destabilizing force, Mars represented military power as a wayto secure peace, and was a father(pater) of the Roman people.[10] In Rome's mythicgenealogy andfounding, Mars fatheredRomulus and Remus through his rape ofRhea Silvia. The wolf was the sacred animal of Mars, with theshe-wolf nursing the two founders as children. His love affair withVenus symbolically reconciled two different traditions of Rome's founding; Venus was the divine mother of the heroAeneas, credited byVergil as an earlier founder of Rome.
The wordMārs (genitiveMārtis),[11] which inOld Latin and poetic usage also appears asMāvors (Māvortis),[12] is cognate withOscanMāmers (Māmertos).[13] The oldest recorded Latin form,Mamart-, is likely of foreign origin.[14] It has been explained as deriving fromMaris, the name of anEtruscan child-god, though this is not universally agreed upon.[15] Scholars have varying views on whether the two gods are related, and if so how.[16] Latin adjectives from the name of Mars aremartius andmartialis, from which derive English "martial" (as in "martial arts" or "martial law") and personal names such as "Marcus", "Mark" and "Martin".[17][18]
Like Ares who was the son ofZeus andHera,[20] Mars is usually considered to be the son ofJupiter andJuno. InOvid's version of Mars's origin, he was the son of Juno alone. Jupiter had usurped the role of mother when he gave birth toMinerva directly from his forehead (or mind) without a female partner. Juno sought the advice of the goddessFlora on how in turn to produce a child without male intervention. Flora obtained a magic flower (Latinflos, pluralflores, amasculine word) and tested it on aheifer who became fecund at once. Flora ritually plucked a flower, using her thumb, touched Juno's belly, and impregnated her. Juno withdrew toThrace and theshore of Marmara for the birth.[21]
Ovid tells this story in theFasti, his long-form poetic work on theRoman calendar.[21] It may explain why theMatronalia, a festival celebrated by married women in honor of Juno as agoddess of childbirth, occurred on the first day of Mars's month, which is also marked on acalendar 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.[22] Ovid is the only source for the story. He may be presenting a literary myth of his own invention, or an otherwise unknownarchaic 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.[23]
Theconsort of Mars wasNerio or Neriene, "Valor." She represents the vital force(vis), power(potentia) and majesty(maiestas) of Mars.[24] Her name was regarded asSabine in origin and is equivalent to Latinvirtus, "manly virtue" (fromvir, "man").[25] In the early 3rd century BCE, the comic playwrightPlautus has a reference to Mars greeting Nerio, his wife.[26] A source fromlate antiquity says that Mars and Neriene were celebrated together at a festival held on March 23.[27] In the laterRoman Empire, Neriene came to be identified withMinerva.[28]
Nerio probably originates as a divinepersonification of Mars's power, as suchabstractions in Latin are generallyfeminine. Her name appears with that of Mars in an archaic prayerinvoking a series of abstract qualities, each paired with the name of a deity. The influence ofGreek mythology and itsanthropomorphic gods may have caused Roman writers to treat these pairs as "marriages."[29]
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 ofAres andAphrodite had been exposed to ridicule when her husbandHephaestus (whose Roman equivalent wasVulcan) 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 thelectisternium, a public banquet at which images oftwelve major gods of the Roman state were presented on couches as if present and participating.[30]
Scenes of Venus and Mars inRoman art often ignore the adulterous implications of their union, and take pleasure in the good-looking couple attended byCupid or multiple Loves(amores). Some scenes may imply marriage,[31] and the relationship was romanticized in funerary or domestic art in which husbands and wives had themselves portrayed as the passionate divine couple.[32]
The uniting of deities representing Love and War lent itself toallegory, especially since the lovers were the parents ofConcordia.[citation needed] The Renaissance philosopherMarsilio Ficino notes that "only Venus dominates Mars, and he never dominates her".[33] 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.[34]
Virility as a kind of life force(vis) or virtue(virtus) is an essential characteristic of Mars.[35] 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.[36]
The priesthood of theArval Brothers called on Mars to drive off "rust"(lues), with its double meaning ofwheat fungus and thered oxides that affect metal, a threat to both iron farm implements and weaponry. In thesurviving text of their hymn, the Arval Brothers invoked Mars asferus, "savage" or "feral" like a wild animal.[37]
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 bepropitiated.[38] In hisbook on farming,Cato invokesMars Silvanus for a ritual to be carried outin silva, in the woods, an uncultivated place that if not held within bounds can threaten to overtake the fields needed for crops.[39] Mars's character as an agricultural god may derive solely from his role as a defender and protector,[40] or may be inseparable from his warrior nature,[41] as the leaping of his armed priests theSalii was meant to quicken the growth of crops.[42]
It appears that Mars was originally a thunderer or storm deity, which explains some of his mixed traits in regards to fertility.[19] This role was later taken in the Roman pantheon by several other gods, such asSummanus orJupiter.
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.[43]
Plutarch notes that the woodpecker(picus) is sacred to Mars because "it is a courageous and spirited bird and has abeak so strong that it can overturn oaks by pecking them until it has reached the inmost part of the tree."[44] As the beak of thepicus Martius contained the god's power to ward off harm, it was carried as amagic charm to preventbee stings andleech bites.[45] The bird of Mars also guarded a woodland herb(paeonia) used for treatment of thedigestive orfemale reproductive systems; those who sought to harvest it were advised to do so by night, lest the woodpecker jab out their eyes.[46] Thepicus Martius seems to have been a particular species, but authorities differ on which one: perhapsPicus viridis[47] orDryocopus martius.[48]
The woodpecker was revered by theLatin peoples, who abstained from eating its flesh.[49] It was one of the most important birds in Roman and Italicaugury, the practice of reading the will of the gods through watching the sky for signs.[50] The mythological figure namedPicus had powers of augury that he retained when he was transformed into a woodpecker; in one tradition, Picus was the son of Mars.[51] TheUmbriancognatepeiqu also means "woodpecker", and the ItalicPicenes were supposed to have derived their name from thepicus who served as their guide animal during a ritual migration(ver sacrum) undertaken as a rite of Mars.[52] In the territory of theAequi, another Italic people, Mars had anoracle of great antiquity where the prophecies were supposed to be spoken by a woodpecker perched on a wooden column.[53]
Mars's association with the wolf is familiar from what may be the most famous ofRoman myths, the story of how ashe-wolf(lupa) suckled his infant sons when they wereexposed by order ofKing Amulius, who feared them because he hadusurped the throne from their grandfather,Numitor.[54] The woodpecker also brought nourishment to the twins.[55]
The wolf appears elsewhere in Roman art and literature in masculine form as the animal of Mars. A statue group that stood along theAppian Way showed Mars in the company of wolves.[56] At theBattle of Sentinum in 295 BCE, the appearance of the wolf of Mars(Martius lupus) was a sign that Roman victory was to come.[57]
InRoman Gaul, the goose was associated with theCeltic 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.[58]
The procession of thesuovetaurilia, a sacrifice of a pig, ram, and bull, led by a priest with his headritually covered
Ancient Greek and Roman religion distinguished between animals that were sacred to a deity and those that were prescribed as the correctsacrificial 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 nottheirs to give. Since sacrificial meat was eaten at a banquet after the gods received their portion – mainly the entrails(exta) – it follows that the animals sacrificed were most often, though not always, domestic animals normally part of the Roman diet.[59] Gods often received castrated male animals as sacrifices, and the goddesses femalevictims; Mars, however, regularly received intact males.[60] Mars did receiveoxen under a few of his cult titles, such asMars Grabovius, but the usual offering was the bull, singly, in multiples, or in combination with other animals.[citation needed]
The two most distinctive animal sacrifices made to Mars were thesuovetaurilia, a triple offering of a pig(sus), ram(ovis) and bull(taurus),[61] and theOctober Horse, the onlyhorse sacrifice known to have been carried out in ancient Rome and a rare instance of a victim the Romans considered inedible.[62]
The earliest center in Rome for cultivating Mars as a deity was the Altar of Mars(Ara Martis) in theCampus Martius ("Field of Mars") outside the sacred boundary of Rome(pomerium). The Romans thought that this altar had been established by the semi-legendaryNuma Pompilius, the peace-loving successor of Romulus.[63] 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.[64] During theRoman 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 thePorta Fontinalis, near the office and archives of theRoman censors. Newly elected censors placed theircurule chairs by the altar, and when they had finished conducting the census, the citizens were collectivelypurified with a suovetaurilia there.[65] Afrieze from the so-called"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.[66]
The main Temple of Mars(Aedes Martis) in the Republican period also lay outside the sacred boundary[where?] and was devoted to the god's warrior aspect.[67] It was built to fulfill a vow(votum) made by a TitusQuinctius in 388 BCE during theGallic siege of Rome.[68] The founding day(dies natalis) was commemorated on June 1,[69] and the temple is attested by several inscriptions and literary sources.[70] The sculpture group of Mars and the wolves was displayed there.[71] Soldiers sometimes assembled at the temple before heading off to war, and it was the point of departure for a major parade ofRoman cavalry held annually on July 15.[72]
The Campus Martius continued to provide venues for equestrian events such aschariot racing during theImperial period, but under the first emperorAugustus 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 theObelisk of Montecitorio, imported fromEgypt to form the pointer(gnomon) of theSolarium Augusti, a giantsundial. With its public gardens, the Campus became one of the most attractive places in the city to visit.[74]
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 themurder of Julius Caesar and of the military disaster suffered at theBattle 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 theheliacal setting of the constellationScorpio, thesign of war.[75] The date continued to be marked withcircus games as late as the mid-4th century AD.[76]
A large statue of Mars was part of the short-livedArch of Nero, which was built in 62 CE but dismantled afterNero's suicide and disgrace(damnatio memoriae).[77]
InRoman art, Mars is depicted as either bearded and mature, or young and clean-shaven. Evennude 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.[79]
On theAltar of Peace(Ara Pacis), built in the last years of the 1st century BCE, Mars is a mature man with a "handsome,classicizing" face, and a short curly beard and moustache. His helmet is a plumedneo-Attic-type. He wears a military cloak(paludamentum) and acuirass ornamented with agorgoneion. Although therelief is somewhat damaged at this spot, he appears to hold a speargarlanded in laurel, symbolizing a peace that is won by military victory. The 1st-century statue of Mars found in theForum of Nerva (pictured at top) is similar. In this guise, Mars is presented as the dignified ancestor of the Roman people. The panel of theAra 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.[80]
Particularly in works of art influenced bythe Greek tradition, Mars may be portrayed in a manner that resembles Ares, youthful, beardless, and often nude.[81] In the Renaissance, Mars's nudity was thought to represent his lack of fear in facing danger.[82]
The spear is the instrument of Mars in the same way that Jupiter wields the lightning bolt,Neptune the trident, andSaturn the scythe or sickle.[83] Arelic orfetish called the spear of Mars[84] was kept in asacrarium at theRegia, the former residence of theKings of Rome.[85] The spear was said to move, tremble or vibrate at impending war or other danger to the state, as was reported to occur before theassassination of Julius Caesar.[86] 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 ofAemilianus.[87]
The high priest of Mars in Roman public religion was theFlamen Martialis, who was one of the three major priests in the fifteen-membercollege offlamens. Mars was also served by theSalii, 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, andpatrician birth was required.[88]
The festivals of Mars cluster in his namesake month of March (Latin: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, sinceMartius was originally the first month of theRoman calendar.[89]
Denarius, issued 88 BCE, depicting the helmeted head of Mars, withVictory driving a two-horse chariot (biga) on the reverse
Mars was also honored by chariot races at theRobigalia andConsualia, though these festivals are not primarily dedicated to him. From 217 BCE onward, Mars was among the gods honored at thelectisternium, a banquet given for deities who were present as images.[citation needed]
Roman hymns(carmina) are rarely preserved, but Mars is invoked in two. TheArval Brothers, or "Brothers of the Fields", chanted a hymn to Mars while performing their three-step dance.[91] TheCarmen Saliare was sung by Mars's priests the Salii while they moved twelve sacred shields(ancilia) throughout the city in a procession.[92] In the 1st century AD,Quintilian remarks that the language of the Salian hymn was so archaic that it was no longer fully understood.[93]
The so-calledMars of Todi, anEtruscan bronze of the early 4th century BCE, probably depicting a warrior[94]
InClassical Roman religion, Mars was invoked under several titles, and the first Roman emperor Augustus thoroughly integrated Mars intoImperial cult. The 4th-century Latin historianAmmianus Marcellinus treats Mars as one of several classical Roman deities who remained "cultic realities" up to his own time.[95] Mars, and specifically Mars Ultor, was among the gods who received sacrifices fromJulian, the only emperor to reject Christianity after the conversion ofConstantine I. In 363 AD, in preparation for theSiege 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 andexamined, producedill 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.[96]
Gradivus was one of the gods by whom a general or soldiers might swear an oath to be valorous in battle.[97] His temple outside thePorta Capena was where armies gathered. The archaic priesthood of Mars Gradivus was theSalii, the "leaping priests" who danced ritually in armor as a prelude to war.[98] His cult title is most often taken to mean "the Strider" or "the Marching God", fromgradus, "step, march."[99]
The poetStatius addresses him as "the most implacable of the gods,"[100] butValerius Maximus concludes hishistory by invoking Mars Gradivus as "author and support of the name 'Roman'":[101] Gradivus is asked – along with Capitoline Jupiter andVesta, as the keeper of Rome's perpetual flame – to "guard, preserve, and protect" thestate of Rome, the peace, and theprinceps (the emperorTiberius at the time).[102]
A source fromLate Antiquity says that the wife of Gradivus wasNereia, the daughter ofNereus, and that he loved her passionately.[103]
Mars celebrated as peace-bringer on a Roman coin issued byAemilianus
Mars Quirinus was the protector of theQuirites ("citizens" or "civilians") as divided intocuriae (citizen assemblies), whose oaths were required to make a treaty.[104] As a guarantor of treaties, Mars Quirinus is thus a god of peace: "When he rampages, Mars is calledGradivus, but when he's at peaceQuirinus."[105]
The deifiedRomulus was identified with Mars Quirinus. In theCapitoline Triad ofJupiter, Mars, andQuirinus, however, Mars and Quirinus were two separate deities, though not perhaps in origin. Each of the three had his ownflamen (specialized priest), but the functions of theFlamen Martialis andFlamen Quirinalis are hard to distinguish.[106]
Mars is invoked asGrabovius in theIguvine Tablets, bronze tablets written inUmbrian that record ritual protocols for carrying out public ceremonies on behalf of the city and community ofIguvium. 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.[107] Tables I and VI describe a complex ritual that took place at the three gates of the city. After theauspices were taken, two groups of threevictims were sacrificed at each gate. Mars Grabovius received three oxen.[108]
"Father Mars" or "Mars the Father" is the form in which the god is invoked in the agricultural prayer of Cato,[109] and he appears with this title in several other literary texts and inscriptions.[110]Mars Pater is among the several gods invoked in the ritual ofdevotio, by means of which a general sacrificed himself and the lives of the enemy to secure a Roman victory.[111]
Father Mars is the regular recipient of thesuovetaurilia, the sacrifice of a pig(sus), ram(ovis) and bull(taurus), or often a bull alone.[112] ToMars Pater other epithets were sometimes appended, such asMars Pater Victor ("Father Mars the Victorious"),[113] to whom the Roman army sacrificed a bull on March 1.[114]
Althoughpater andmater were fairly common as honorifics for a deity,[115] any special claim for Mars as father of the Roman people lies in the mythic genealogy that makes him the divine father ofRomulus and Remus.[116]
In the section of his farming book that offers recipes and medical preparations, Cato describes avotum to promote the health of cattle:
Make an offering to Mars Silvanus in the forest(in silva) during the daytime for each head of cattle: 3 pounds of meal, 4½ pounds of bacon, 4½ pounds of meat, and 3 pints of wine. You may place theviands 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.[117]
ThatMars Silvanus is a single entity has been doubted.Invocations of deities are often list-like,without connecting words, and the phrase should perhaps be understood as "Mars and Silvanus".[118] Women were explicitly excluded from some cult practices of Silvanus, but not necessarily of Mars.[119]William Warde Fowler, however, thought that the wildgod of the wood Silvanus may have been "an emanation or offshoot" of Mars.[120]
A statue to Mars Ultor fromBalmuildy on theAntonine Wall: a reconstructed version can be viewed in a three-dimensionalvideo[121]
Augustus created the cult of "Mars the Avenger" to mark two occasions: his defeat of theassassins of Caesar atPhilippi in 42 BCE, and the negotiated return of theRoman battle standards that had been lost to theParthians at theBattle of Carrhae in 53 BCE.[122] 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.[123] The goddessUltio, a divine personification of vengeance, had an altar and golden statue in his temple.[124]
The Temple of Mars Ultor, dedicated in 2 BCE in the center of theForum of Augustus, gave the god a new place of honor.[122][125] Some rituals previously conducted within the cult of Capitoline Jupiter were transferred to the new temple,[126] which became the point of departure formagistrates as they left for military campaigns abroad.[127] Augustus required theSenate to meet at the temple when deliberating questions of war and peace.[128] The temple also became the site at which sacrifice was made to conclude therite of passage of young men assuming thetoga virilis ("man's toga") around age 14.[129]
On variousImperial holidays, Mars Ultor was the first god to receive a sacrifice, followed by theGenius of the emperor.[130] Aninscription from the 2nd century records avow to offer Mars Ultor a bull with gilded horns.[131]
Augustus orAugusta was appended far and wide, "on monuments great and small,"[132] to the name of gods or goddesses, including Mars. The honorific marks the affiliation of a deity withImperial cult.[133] InHispania, many of the statues and dedications to Mars Augustus were presented by members of the priesthood orsodality called theSodales Augustales.[134] These vows(vota) were usually fulfilled within a sanctuary of Imperial cult, or in a temple or precinct (templum) consecrated specifically to Mars.[135] As with other deities invoked asAugustus, altars to Mars Augustus might be set up to further the well-being (salus) of the emperor,[136] but some inscriptions suggest personal devotion. An inscription in theAlps records the gratitude of aslave who dedicated a statue to Mars Augustus asconservator corporis sui, the preserver of his own body, said to have been vowedex iussu numinis ipsius, "by the order of thenumen himself".[137]
In addition to his cult titles at Rome, Mars appears in a large number ofinscriptions in theprovinces of theRoman Empire, and more rarely in literary texts,identified with a local deity by means of anepithet. Mars appears with great frequency inGaul among theContinental Celts, as well as inRoman Spain andBritain. In Celtic settings, he is often invoked as a healer.[142] 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.[143]
MarsAlbiorix appears in an inscription from modern-daySablet, in the province ofGallia Narbonensis.[148]Albiorix probably means "King of the Land" or "King of the World", with the first element related to the geographical nameAlbion andMiddle Welshelfydd, "world, land".[149] The Saturnian moonAlbiorix is named after this epithet.[150]
Mars Barrex is attested by a single dedicatory inscription found atCarlisle, England.[151]Barrex orBarrecis probably means "Supreme One"[147] (Gaulishbarro-, "head").[152]
Mars Belatucadrus is named in five inscriptions[153] in the area ofHadrian's Wall.[154] The Celtic godBelatucadros, with various spellings, is attested independently in twenty additional inscriptions in northern England.[155]
Mars Braciaca appears in a single votive inscription atBakewell,Derbyshire.[147][156] The Celtic epithet may refer tomalt or beer, though intoxication in Greco-Roman religion is associated with Dionysus.[157] A reference in Pliny[158] suggests a connection to Mars's agricultural function, with the Gaulish wordbracis referring to a type of wheat; a medieval Latingloss says it was used to make beer.[159]
A bronze Mars from Gaul
Mars Camulus is found in five inscriptions scattered over a fairly wide geographical area.[160] The Celtic godCamulus appears independently in one votive inscription from Rome.[161]
Mars Cocidius is found in five inscriptions from northern England.[162] About twenty dedications in all are known for the Celtic godCocidius, mainly made by Roman military personnel, and confined to northwestCumbria and along Hadrian's Wall. He is once identified with Silvanus.[163] He is depicted on two votive plaques as a warrior bearing shield and spear,[164] and on an altar as a huntsman accompanied by a dog and stag.[165]
Mars Condatis occurs in several inscriptions from Roman Britain.[a] The cult title is probably related to the place nameCondate, often used in Gaul for settlements at the confluence of rivers.[166] The Celtic godCondatis is thought to have functions pertaining to water and healing.[147][167]
Mars Corotiacus is an equestrian Mars attested only on a votive from Martlesham inSuffolk.[168] A bronze statuette depicts him as a cavalryman, armed and riding a horse which tramples a prostrate enemy beneath its hooves.[169]
Mars Lenus, or more oftenLenus Mars, had a major healing cult at the capital of theTreveri (present-dayTrier). Among the votives are images of children offering doves.[170] His consortAncamna is also found with the Celtic godSmertrios.
Mars Loucetius. The Celtic godLoucetios, Latinized as-ius, appears in nine inscriptions in present-day Germany and France and one in Britain, and in three asLeucetius. TheGaulish andBrythonictheonyms likely derive fromProto-Celtic*louk(k)et-, "bright, shining, flashing," hence also "lightning,"[171] alluding to either a Celtic commonplacemetaphor between battles and thunderstorms (Old Irishtorannchless, the "thunder feat"), or the aura of a divinized hero (thelúan ofCú Chulainn). The name is given as an epithet of Mars. The consort of Mars Loucetius isNemetona, whose name may be understood as pertaining either to "sacred privilege" or to thesacred grove(nemeton),[172] and who is also identified with the goddessVictoria. At theRomano-British site inBath, a dedication to Mars Loucetius as part of this divine couple was made by a pilgrim who had come from the continentalTreveri ofGallia Belgica to seek healing.[173]
Mars Medocius Campesium appears on a bronze plaque at aRomano-Celtic temple atCamulodunum (modernColchester; see Mars Camulus above). The dedication[174] was made between 222 and 235 CE by a self-identifiedCaledonian,[175] jointly honoring Mars and theVictoria (Victory)[176] ofSeverus Alexander. A Celto-Latin nameMedocius orMedocus is known,[177] and a link between Mars's epithet and the Irish legendary surgeonMiodhach has been conjectured.[178]Campesium may be an error forCampestrium, "of the Campestres", the divinities who oversaw the parade ground,[179] or "of the Compeses" may refer to a local place name orethnonym.[180]
Mars Mullo is invoked in twoArmorican inscriptions pertaining toImperial cult.[181] The name of the Celtic godMullo, which appears in a few additional inscriptions, has been analyzed variously as "mule" and "hill, heap".[182]
Mars Neton orNeto was a Celtiberian god at Acci (modernGuadix). According toMacrobius, he wore aradiant crown like a sun god, because the passion to act with valor was a kind of heat. He may be connected to IrishNeit.[183]
Mars Nodens has a possible connection to the Irish mythological figureNuada Airgetlám. The Celtic godNodens was also interpreted as equivalent to several other Roman gods, includingMercury and Neptune. The name may have meant "catcher", hence a fisher or hunter.[184]
Mars Ocelus had an altar dedicated by a junior army officer atCaerwent, and possibly a temple. He may be a local counterpart to Lenus.[185]
Mars Olloudius was depicted in a relief from Roman Britain without armor, in the guise of aGenius carrying a doublecornucopia and holding a libation bowl(patera).Olloudius is found also atOllioules in southern Gaul.[186]
Mars Rigisamus is found in two inscriptions, the earliest most likely the one atAvaricum (present-dayBourges, France) in the territory of theBituriges.[187] At the site of avilla atWest Coker, Somerset, he received a bronze plaquevotum.[188] The Gaulish elementrig- (very common at the end of names as-rix), found in later Celtic languages asrí, iscognate with Latinrex, "king" or more precisely "ruler".Rigisamus orRigisamos is "supreme ruler" or "king of kings".[189]
Mars Rigonemetis ("King of the Sacred Grove"). A dedication to Rigonemetis and thenumen (spirit) of the Emperor inscribed on a stone was discovered atNettleham (Lincolnshire) in 1961. Rigonemetis is only known from this site, and it seems he may have been a god belonging to the tribe of theCorieltauvi.[169]
Mars Segomo. "Mars the Victorious" appears among the CelticSequani.[190]
Mars Smertrius. At a site within the territory of theTreveri,Ancamna was the consort of Mars Smertrius.[191]
Mars Teutates. A fusion of Mars with the Celtic god Teutates (Toutatis).
Mars Thincsus. A form of Mars invoked atHousesteads Roman Fort atHadrian's Wall, where his name is linked with two goddesses called theAlaisiagae.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.[169]
Mars Visucius. A fusion of Mars with the Celtic godVisucius.
Mars Vorocius. A Celtic healer-god invoked at the curative spring shrine atVichy (Allier) as a curer of eye afflictions. On images, the god is depicted as a Celtic warrior.[169]
"Mars Balearicus" is a name used in modern scholarship for small bronze warrior figures fromMajorca (one of theBalearic Islands) that are interpreted as representing the local Mars cult.[192] These statuettes have been found withintalayotic 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 ofImhotep, the legendaryEgyptian 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 theconstellationCentaurus.[193]
Mars gave his name to the third month in theRoman calendar,Martius, from which EnglishMarch derives. In the most ancient Roman calendar,Martius was the first month. Theplanet Mars was named for him, and in some allegorical and philosophical writings, the planet and the god are endowed with shared characteristics.[194] In many languages,Tuesday isnamed for the planet Mars or the god of war: In Latin,martis dies (literally, 'Mars's Day'), survived inRomance languages asmarte (Portuguese),martes (Spanish),mardi (French),martedì (Italian),marți (Romanian), anddimarts (Catalan). In Irish (Gaelic), the day isAn Mháirt, while inAlbanian it ise Marta. The English wordTuesday derives fromOld EnglishTiwesdæg and means 'Tiw's Day',Tiw being the Old English form of the Proto-Germanic war god *Tîwaz, orTýr in Norse.[195]
^Chapter 3, Charles E. Bennett (1907)The Latin Language – a historical outline of its sounds, inflections, and syntax. Allyn & Bacon, Boston.
^Mary Beard, J.A. North, and S.R.F. Price,Religions of Rome: A History (Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 47–48.
^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.
^Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia,The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215.
^Kurt A. Raaflaub,War and Peace in the Ancient World (Blackwell, 2007), p. 15.
^Paul Rehak and John G. Younger,Imperium and Cosmos: Augustus and the Northern Campus Martius (University of Wisconsin Press, 2006), pp. 11–12.
^Isidore of Seville calls MarsRomanae gentis auctorem, the originator or founder of the Roman people as agens (Etymologiae 5.33.5).
^Mallory, J. P.;D. Q. Adams (1997).Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. pp. 630–631.ISBN1-884964-98-2.; some of the older literature assumes an Indo-European form closer to *Marts, and see a connection with the Indic wind gods, theMaruts"Māruta". Archived fromthe original on July 24, 2011. RetrievedJuly 8, 2010. However, this makes the appearance ofMavors and the agricultural cults of Mars difficult to explain.
^Michiel de Vaan,Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Brill, 2008, p. 366.
^Larissa Bonfante, Etruscan Life and Afterlife: A Handbook of Etruscan Studies (Wayne State University Press, 1986), p. 226.
^Massimo Pallottino, "Religion in Pre-Roman Italy", inRoman and European Mythologies (University of Chicago Press, 1992, from the French edition of 1981), pp. 29, 30;Hendrik Wagenvoort, "The Origin of theLudi Saeculares", inStudies in Roman Literature, Culture and Religion (Brill, 1956), p. 219et passim;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.
^Albert Dauzat,Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de famille et prénoms de France, Larousse, Paris 1980. p. 420. New completed edition byMarie-Thérèse Morlet.
^abYork, Michael. Romulus and Remus, Mars and Quirinus. Journal of Indo-European Studies 16:1 & 2 (Spring/Summer, 1988), 153–172.
^William Warde Fowler,The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic (London, 1908), p. 35f., discusses this interpretation in order to question it.
^Carole E. Newlands,Playing with Time: Ovid and the Fasti (Cornell University Press, 1995), pp. 105–106.
^Aulus Gellius,Attic Nights 13.23. Gellius says the wordNerio orNerienes isSabine and is supposed to be the origin of thenameNero as used by theClaudian family, who wereSabine in origin. The Sabines themselves, Gellius says, thought the word wasGreek in origin, from νεῦρα(neura), Latinnervi, meaning the sinews and ligaments of the limbs.
^Robert E.A. Palmer,The Archaic Community of the Romans (Cambridge University Press, 1970, 2009), p. 167.
^Porphyrion,Commentum in Horatium Flaccum, onEpistula II.2.209.
^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.
^Robert Schilling, "Venus", inRoman and European Mythologies (University of Chicago Press, 1992, from the French edition of 1981), p. 147.
^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
^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.
^Ficino,On Love, speech 5, chapter 8, as summarized in the entry on "Mars",The Classical Tradition (Harvard University Press, 2010), p. 564.
^Entry on "Mars" inThe Classical Tradition, p. 564.
^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 Latinmas, 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 tovita, "life." Varro (De lingua latina 5.64, quotingLucilius) notes thatvis isvita: "vis drives us to do everything."
^On the relation of Mars's warrior aspect to his agricultural functions with respect to Dumézil'sTrifunctional hypothesis, see Wouter W. Belier,Decayed Gods: Origin and Development of Georges Dumézil's 'idéologie tripartie' (Brill, 1991), pp. 88–91online.
^Schilling, "Mars", inRoman and European Mythologies, p. 135; Palmer,Archaic Community, pp. 113–114.
^Gary Forsythe,A Critical History of Early Rome (University of California Press, 2005), p. 127; Fowler,Religious Experience, p. 134.
^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).
^Plutarch,Roman Questions 21.Athenaeus lists the woodpecker among delicacies on Greek tables (Deipnosophistae 9.369).
^Plautus,Asinaria 259–261;Pliny,Natural History 10.18. Named also in theIguvine Tables (6a, 1–7), asUmbrianpeiqu; Schilling, "Roman Divination", inRoman and European Mythologies (University of Chicago Press, 1992), pp. 96–97 and 105, note 7.
^Dionysius of Halicarnassus 1.31; Peter F. Dorcey,The Cult of Silvanus: A Study in Roman Folk Religion (Brill, 1992), p. 33.
^John Greppin, entry on "woodpecker",Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture (Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997), p. 648.
^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.
^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. SeeT.P. Wiseman,Remus: A Roman Myth (Cambridge University Press, 1995), p. xiii, 73ff.et passim.
^Miranda Green,Animals in Celtic Life and Myth (Routledge, 1992), p. 126.
^Nicole Belayche, "Religious Actors in Daily Life: Practices and Related Beliefs", inA Companion to Roman Religion (Blackwell, 2007), p. 283; C. Bennett Pascal, "October Horse",Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 85 (1981), pp. 268, 277.
^As did Neptune, Janus and theGenius;John Scheid, "Sacrifices for Gods and Ancestors", inA Companion to Roman Religion (Blackwell, 2007), p. 264.
^Mary Beard, J.A. North, and S.R.F. Price,Religions of Rome: A Sourcebook (Cambridge University Press, 1998), p. 153.
^C. Bennett Pascal, "October Horse",Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 85 (1981), pp. 263, 268, 277.
^Lawrence Richardson,A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992), p. 245.
^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.
^Robert Schilling, "Mars", inRoman and European Mythologies (University of Chicago Press, 1992, from the French edition of 1981), p. 135online. The figure is sometimes identified only as a warrior.
^Jonathan Williams, "Religion and Roman Coins", inA Companion to Roman Religion, p. 143.
^Paul Rehak and John G. Younger,Imperium and Cosmos: Augustus and the Northern Campus Martius (University of Wisconsin Press, 2006), p. 114.
^Quintilian,Institutiones 1.6.40, as cited by Frances Hickson Hahn, in "Performing the Sacred", inA Companion to Roman Religion, p. 236.
^Guiliano Bonfante andLarissa 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 toA History of Roman Art (Wadsworth, 2007, 2010 "enhanced edition"),p. xl.
^R.L. Rike,Apex Omnium: Religion in theRes Gestae of Ammianus (University of California Press, 1987), p. 26.
^Ammianus Marcellinus 24.6.17; Rike,Apex Omnium, p. 32.
^CompareGradiva. The second-century grammarianSextus 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 wordkradainein; others locate the origin of Gradivus in the grass(gramine), because theGrass 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 toAeneid 12.119).
^Mars enim cum saevit Gradivus dicitur, cum tranquillus est Quirinus:Maurus Servius Honoratus, note toAeneid 1.292, atPerseus. AtAeneid 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 histemple 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."
^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.
^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", inA Companion to Roman Religion (Blackwell, 2007), p. 49. It has also been argued that Vofionus corresponds toJanus, because an entry inSextus Pompeius Festus (204, edition of Lindsay) indicates there was a Roman triad of Jupiter, Mars, and Janus, each havingquirinus 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).
^Celia E. Schultz, "Juno Sospita and Roman Insecurity in the Social War", inReligion in Republican Italy (Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 217, especially note 38.
^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 thesuovetaurilia.
^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. Ubires 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,English translation from theLoeb Classical Library, Bill Thayer's edition atLacusCurtius.
^Robert Schilling, "Silvanus", inRoman 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.
^Robert Schilling, "Mars,"Roman and European Mythologies (University of Chicago Press, 1992, from the French edition of 1981), p. 135;Mary Beard, J.A. North, and S.R.F. Price,Religions of Rome: A Sourcebook (Cambridge University Press, 1998), p. 80.
^For instance, during theRepublic, thedictator was charged with the ritualclavi figendi causa, driving a nail into the wall of the Capitoline temple. According toCassius Dio (55.10.4, as cited by Lipka,Roman Gods, p. 108), this duty was transferred to acensor under Augustus, and the ritual moved to the Temple of Mars Ultor.
^Harry Sidebottom, "International Relations," inThe Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare: Rome from the Late Republic to the Late Empire (Cambridge University Press, 2007), vol. 2, p. 15.
^Cassius Dio 55.10.2; Nicole Belyache, "Religious Actors in Daily Life," inA Companion to Roman Religion p. 279.
^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.
^Keith Hopkins,Conquerors and Slaves (Cambridge University Press, 1978), p. 230.
^A.E. Cooley, "Beyond Rome and Latium: Roman Religion in the Age of Augustus," inReligion in Republican Italy (Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 247; Duncan Fishwick,The imperial cult in the Latin West (Brill, 2005),passim.
^Jonathan Edmondson, "The Cult ofMars Augustus and Roman Imperial Power atAugusta Emerita (Lusitania) in the Third Century A.D.: A New Votive Dedication," inCulto imperial: politica y poder («L'Erma» di Bretschneider, 2007), p. 562. These include an inscription that was later built into the castle walls atSines, Portugal; dedications at Ipagrum (Aguilar de la Frontera, in the modernprovince of Córdoba) and at Conobaria (Las Cabezas de San Juan in theprovince of Seville) in Baetica; and a statue at Isturgi(CIL II. 2121 =ILS II2/7, 56). Amagister of the "Lares of Augustus" made a dedication to Mars Augustus(CIL II. 2013 =ILS II2/5, 773) at Singili(a) Barba (Cerro del Castillón,Antequera).
^ILS 3160; Rudolf Haensch, "Inscriptions as Sources of Knowledge for Religions and Cults in the Roman World of Imperial Times," inA Companion to Roman Religion (Blackwell, 2007), p. 182.
^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.
^Edmondson, "The Cult ofMars Augustus," pp. 541–575.
^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.
^The chief priest of the three Dacian provinces dedicated an altarpro salute, for the wellbeing ofGordian III, at animperial cult center sometime between 238 and 244 AD; Edmondson, "The Cult ofMars Augustus," p. 562.
^Miranda Green,Animals in Celtic Life and Myth (Routledge, 1992), p. 198.
^Ton Derks,Gods, Temples, and Ritual Practices: The Transformation of Religious Ideas and Values in Roman Gaul (Amsterdam University Press, 1998), p. 79.
^RIB 1055, as cited by Bernhard Maier,Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture (Boydell & Brewer, 1997, originally published in German 1994), p. 11.
^RIB 218, as cited by Maier,Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture, p. 11.
^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.ISBN0-19-725954-5.
^abcdRoss, Anne (1967).Pagan Celtic Britain. Routledge & Kegan Paul.ISBN0-902357-03-4.
^Maier,Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture, p. 32.
^Xavier Delamarre,Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise (Éditions Errance, 2003), p. 68.
^RIB 918, 948, 970, 1784, 2044, as cited by Maier,Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture, p. 33.
^Miranda Alhouse-Green, "Gallo-British Deities and Their Shrines," inA Companion to Roman Britain (Blackwell, 2004), p. 215.
^Maier,Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture, p. 33.
^RIB 278, as cited by Maier,Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture, pp. 42–43.
^Eric Birley, "The Deities of Roman Britain,"Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II.18.1 (1986), pp. 43, 68; Delamarre, entry onbracis,Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise, p. 85. In discussing the Celtiberian Mars Neto, Macrobius associates Mars andLiber, a Roman deity identified with Dionysus (Saturnalia 1.19).
^Xavier Delamarre,Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise (Éditions Errance, 2003), 2nd edition, p. 200.
^Gaulishnemeton was originally asacred grove or space defined for religious purposes, and later a building:Bernhard Maier,Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture (Boydell Press, 1997, 2000, originally published 1994 in German), p. 207.
^Helmut Birkham, entry on "Loucetius," inCeltic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia, edited by John Koch (ABC-Clio, 2006), p. 1192.
^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]").
^Martin Henig,Religion in Roman Britain (Taylor & Francis, 1984, 2005), p. 61.
^Duncan Fishwick, "Imperial Cult in Britain,"Phoenix 15.4 (1961), p. 219.
^A Saint Medocus is recorded in the early 16th century as theeponym for St. Madoes inGowrie; Molly Miller, "Matriliny by Treaty: The Pictish Foundation-Legend," inIreland in Early Mediaeval Europe (Cambridge University Press, 1982), p. 159.
^John Ferguson,The Religions of the Roman Empire (Cornell University Press, 1970, 1985), p. 212.
^Perhaps related to Campesie Fells inStirlingshire; Fishwick, "Imperial Cult in Britain," p. 219.
^CIL 13.3148 and 3149 atRennes;Paganism and Christianity, 100–425 C.E.: A Sourcebook, edited byRamsay MacMullen and Eugene N. Lane (Augsburg Fortress, 1992), pp. 76–77.
^CIL 13.3096 (Craon),CIL 13.3101 and 3102, atNantes,ILTG 343–345 (Allones); Maier,Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture, p. 200.
^Macrobius,Saturnalia 1.19; David Rankin,Celts and the Classical World (Routledge, 1987), p. 260.
^Maier,Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture, p. 209.
^John Wacher,The Towns of Roman Britain (University of California Press, 1974), p. 384.
^Green,Symbol and Image in Celtic Religious Art, p. 115.
^CIL 1190 =ILS 4581; E. Birley, "Deities of Roman Britain," p. 48.
^Anthony Birley,The People of Roman Britain (University of California Press, 1979), p. 141.
^Delamarre, entry onrix,Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise, pp. 260–261; Green,Symbol and Image in Celtic Religious Art, p. 113.
^Lesley Adkins and Roy A. Adkins,Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome (Facts on File, 1994, 2004), p. 297.
^Miranda Green,Celtic Myths (University of Texas Press, 1993, 1998), p. 42.
^G. Llompart, "Mars Balearicus,"Boletín del Seminario de Estudios de Arte y Arqueología 26 (1960) 101–128; "Estatuillas de bronce de Mallorca: Mars Balearicus," inBronces y religión romana: actas del XI Congreso Internacional de Bronces Antiguos, Madrid, mayo-junio, 1990 (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1993), p. 57ff.
^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)pdf.
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