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The Romans were a people who were defined by war. They regarded themselves as a warrior people who were entrusted with a divine mission to bring civilization and peace to the world. Mars, the God of War, was essential in Rome. This deity was so much more than a War-God, who granted victory. He was also the guardian of Rome and agriculture and central to the city-state's public religion that eventually conquered much of the known world. The myths and fables surrounding God are crucial for any student of Roman history, especially its social and political history.

It has been theorized that Mars was originally an old fertility god who became the titular deity of battle and conflict. The symbols for this divine figure were the wolf and the lance. It is reported that at an early date that the Romans sacrificed humans to the god of war. These were mainly prisoners of war and they were offered to Mars to thank him for granting, victory on the battlefield. This is a practice that was observed among many ancient peoples.

Mars was the second most important god in the Roman Pantheon. His worship went back to the earliest day of Rome when it was only a small settlement overlooking the Tiber. There were many festivals and celebrations held in his honor. These were mainly held in March which was the month that marked the end of the agricultural season and the campaigning seasons. Indeed the month of March is named after the War-God. Among the festivities held in the honor of the god were chariot races and one known as the Armilustrium, when the soldiers' arms were purified before they were put away for the winter.<ref>Hornblower, et al, p 117</ref>

The Romans had a much higher regard for Mars than the Greeks ever had for Ares. Augustus, as part of his policy of restoring Rome, placed a greater emphasis on Rome. He patronized various cults of Mars and built a new temple to the god, Temple of Mars Ultor in the center of Rome. He ordered its construction inside the sacred boundary of the city and this signified a greater emphasis on the god. Augustus also developed a new aspect of the deity, Mars Ultor. Increasingly Augustus associated the deity with the Imperial Cult. Mars was celebrated throughout the Roman Empire until it was Christianized in the 4th century AD.<ref>Hornblower et al, p 203</ref>

[[File: Mars Three.jpg |200px|thumb|left|A temple to Mars in Rome]]

This God, sometimes also referred to as Mamers, as Jupiter and Juno's son, was the King and the Queen of the Roman Pantheon. He became the second most powerful of all the supreme beings in the state religion of the Romans. From an early date, this god was associated with the wolf. This is important when it comes to the foundation myth of Rome. According to most sources, Mars was the father of Romulus and Remus, the two brothers who founded the city on the Seven Hills. The legend states that Mars raped their mother, who was the daughter of the deposed King of Alba Longa.

Mars had many children and included Phobos, who personified ‘Fear’ and Deimos, the personification of ‘Terror.’ In Roman art, the deity of war and the protector of agriculture are often shown in Bellona.<ref> Morford et al., p. 115</ref> She was the personification of the spirit of battle. In many of the stories about Mars, he is portrayed as an argumentative and even brutal character. However, while he was portrayed often with a spear dipped in blood, he was believed to use his power to protect his people and only favored those who fought a just war. Moreover, Mars was also a protector and often promoted peace.

The Romans, like other ancient peoples, regarded their gods as superhumans or personifications of natural forces. For them, the son of Jupiter was the personification of war and all its attributes. They believed that if they honored him, he would protect them through rites and sacrifices and win the battle. Mars symbolized the warlike character of the Romans, and they saw themselves as a martial race. The essence of the Roman War God was energy and life force, and this represented the violence of war and also the battle against nature, a feature of his role as an agricultural guardian.

Augustus initiated many religious reforms as he established the Imperial system. He began to erect buildings and commissioned artworks that portrayed Mars as his personal protector. He also developed the cult of Mars Ultor, the avenger.<ref>Suetonius, Life of Augustus, vii</ref> This was to demonstrate that anyone who threatened the Emperor's life would face the wrath of the son of Jupiter. Mars was incorporated into the Imperial cult, that was used to legitimize the Imperial system and to protect the person of the Emperor. Rome’s legions brought the cult of the God all over the Mediterranean World and by the 1st century BC, there were temples to the old Italian war god all over the Empire.

The myths of Mars are based on early Italic stories about fertility and war gods. He was fundamental in Roman mythology and religion. Their conception of the son of Jupiter changed over time and this was mainly as a result of the influence of the Greeks. However, he remained a uniquely Roman God and was very different from Ares. He was also the guardian of agriculture. For the Latins, he was their protector in war and peace.

====Further Reading====

Roman, Luke, and Monica Roman. Encyclopedia of Greek and Roman mythology. Infobase Publishing, 2010.

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