Mars
Mars is identified with the Greek war god Ares, but the two occupy almost opposite positions in their own religions: Ares is a disliked, secondary figure in Greek myth, while Mars ranks immediately behind Jupiter in Roman state religion. Mars fathered Romulus and Remus by the Vestal Rhea Silvia, giving him a direct genealogical stake in Rome's founding that Ares has in no Greek city, and the Campus Martius, Rome's military training ground, takes its name from him directly.
Mars, Roman god of war
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Core Myth
Roman tradition makes Mars the father of Romulus and Remus by Rhea Silvia, a Vestal Virgin forced into that role after her uncle usurped her father's throne; the twins' divine parentage, confirmed when they were suckled by a she-wolf after being abandoned, gave Rome's very founding a direct link to Mars rather than to any more senior god. This single fact reshapes Mars's whole position relative to his Greek counterpart: Ares fathers no city and enjoys no comparable prestige in Greek myth, where Athena, not a war god, is the model patron of a great city like Athens. Mars's civic role in Rome went well beyond mythology. The Campus Martius, "Field of Mars," was Rome's dedicated ground for military training, assemblies, and (for much of Roman history) the mustering of the army before campaign, taking its name and religious character directly from the god. He was served by the Salii, a twelve-member priesthood of patrician youths who dressed as archaic warriors and performed a ritual armed dance through the city each March, the month named for Mars himself and marking the traditional opening of the campaigning season.
Is Mars the same god as Ares?
Romans identified Mars with Ares and told similar stories about him as a war god, but their standing in their own religions is almost reversed: Ares is a relatively minor, often disliked figure in Greek myth, while Mars ranks second only to Jupiter in Roman state religion, with his own major priesthood and a direct role in the city's founding legend.
Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 1.4
How is Mars the father of Rome's founders?
Livy records that Mars fathered Romulus and Remus by Rhea Silvia, a Vestal Virgin who had been forced into that role after her uncle Amulius usurped her father Numitor's throne and wanted no rival heirs. The twins were exposed by the river, survived by being suckled by a she-wolf, and eventually reclaimed their grandfather's throne before Romulus went on to found Rome - giving Mars a direct genealogical link to the city that Ares has to no Greek city.
Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 1.4
What was the Campus Martius?
The Campus Martius, "Field of Mars," was a large open area in Rome set aside for military training, troop assemblies, and, for much of the Republic, the mustering point for the army before a campaign. It took its name and religious character directly from Mars, giving the god a specific, physical civic space in a way Ares had nowhere in Greek religion.
Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 2.5
Who were the Salii, and what did they do for Mars?
The Salii were a twelve-member priesthood of patrician youths dedicated in part to Mars, who dressed in archaic armor and performed a ritual armed dance through the city each March, the month that takes its own name from the god and traditionally opened the Roman campaigning season. No equivalent priesthood existed for Ares in Greek religion.
Cicero, De Natura Deorum 2.67
Why did Augustus build a temple to Mars Ultor?
"Mars Ultor," Mars the Avenger, commemorated the god's role in avenging the assassination of Julius Caesar; Augustus vowed the temple before the battle that punished the conspirators and completed it decades later as part of his own forum, tying Mars once again to a specific, contemporary Roman political event rather than only to abstract warfare.
Ovid, Fasti
Later Traditions
Mars's military importance only grew under the Empire: by the mid-third century CE he had become the foremost of the di militares, the specific set of gods worshipped by the legions in camp religion, a status with no real equivalent for Ares among Greek armies. Augustus built a major temple to Mars Ultor, "Mars the Avenger," to commemorate the avenging of Julius Caesar's assassination, tying the god once again to a specific, concrete Roman political event rather than to abstract war-making alone.
Lineage
See the full family tree1 recorded relation, each with the ancient line behind it.
Parents
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disputed
Ovid's Fasti gives Mars a distinctly Roman origin: Juno conceives him alone, using a fertility flower Flora gives her, after Jupiter fathers Minerva without a mother. This differs from the joint Zeus-and-Hera parentage assumed for the Greek Ares under interpretatio romana, and no surviving Roman-named source states that joint parentage explicitly.
Also Connected
2 recorded connections, each with the ancient line behind it.
Connected
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Mars's best-known Roman myth is his affair with Venus, discovered by the Sun and exposed when Venus's husband Vulcan trapped the pair in an unbreakable net before the assembled gods.
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Vulcan caught his wife Venus and her lover Mars together in a net of his own forging and summoned the other gods to see them exposed.
Where Accounts Differ
- Mars's standing compared to Ares
- Mars's stature relative to Ares is one of the clearest cases in Roman religion where interpretatio romana matched two gods by function while leaving their actual cultural standing completely different.
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Mythology
Equivalent Figures
Related Terms
Referenced By
Sources
- Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 1.4
- Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 2.5
- Cicero, De Natura Deorum 2.67
- Ovid, Fasti
- Georges Dumézil, Archaic Roman Religion (1970)