Roman Bust of Mars Amulet
circa 1st-2nd Century A.D.
Bronze, measures approximately 3.3x2.3x1.2 centimeters
Weighs 17.68 grams

Helmeted head of Mars wearing helmet, with bare chest.

Amazing figure of Mars. What the likely purpose of this was for the praying of the ancient Roman soldier to the god of war Mars. Also the figure could also be interpreted as Virtus, or valor. In either case, the purpose of this piece likely would have been for the ancient soldier to keep with him to pray for victory. Being a soldier was a dangerous profession which did promise a lot on retirement and was a route social mobility. So a piece like this would also serve as an amulet of protection.

Provenance: From private collection in the United States of America.
Ownership History: From private collection in the United States, bought in private sale in the United States of America.

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An amulet (Latin amulētum) can be any object whose most important characteristic is its alleged power to protect its owner from danger or harm. Amulets are different from talismans as a talisman is believed to bring luck or some other benefit, though it can offer protection as well. Amulets are often confused with pendants —charms that hang from necklaces—any given pendant may indeed be an amulet, but so may any other charm which purports to protect its owner from danger.

Potential amulets include gems , especially engraved gems , statues , coins, drawings , pendants , rings , plants and animals ; even words in the form of a magical spell or incantation to repel evil or bad luck.

The word "amulet" comes from the Latin amuletum; the earliest extant use of the term is in Pliny 's Natural History , meaning "an object that protects a person from trouble".

Mars (Latin: Martis) was the  Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome . He was second in importance only to Jupiter , and he was the most prominent of the military gods in the religion of the Roman army . Most of his festivals were held in March, the month named for him (MartiusLatin ), and in October, which began and ended the season for military campaigning and farming.

Mars was identified with the Greek god Ares, whose myths were reinterpreted in Roman literature and art under the name of Mars. But the character and dignity of Mars differed in fundamental ways from that of his Greek counterpart, who is often treated with contempt and revulsion in Greek literature .Mars was a part of the Archaic Triad along with Jupiter and Quirinus , the latter of whom as a guardian of the Roman people had no Greek equivalent. Mars' altar in the Campus Martius , the area of Rome that took its name from him, was supposed to have been dedicated by Numa , the peace-loving semi-legendary second king of Rome . Although the center of Mars' worship was originally located outside the sacred boundary of Rome (pomerium), Augustus made the god a renewed focus of Roman religion by establishing the Temple of Mars Ultor in his new forum .

Although Ares was viewed primarily as a destructive and destabilizing force, Mars represented military power as a way to secure peace , and was a father (pater) of the Roman people. In the mythic genealogy and founding myths of Rome , Mars was the father of Romulus and Remus with Rhea Silvia . His love affair with Venus symbolically reconciled the two different traditions of Rome's founding; Venus was the divine mother of the hero Aeneas , celebrated as the Trojan refugee who "founded" Rome several generations before Romulus laid out the city walls.

The importance of Mars in establishing religious and cultural identity within the Roman Empire is indicated by the vast number of inscriptions identifying him with a local deity, particularly in the Western provinces .

Venus and Mars

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 of Ares and Aphrodite had been exposed to ridicule when her husband Hephaestus (whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan ) caught them in the act by means of a magical snare. Although not originally part of the Roman tradition, in 217 BC Venus and Mars were presented as a complementary pair in the lectisternium , a public banquet at which images of  twelve major gods of the Roman state were presented on couches as if present and participating.

Wall painting (mid-1st century AD) from which the House of Venus and Mars at Pompeii takes its name

Scenes of Venus and Mars in Roman art often ignore the adulterous implications of their union, and take pleasure in the good-looking couple attended by Cupid (amores). Some scenes may imply marriage, and the relationship was romanticized in funerary or domestic art in which husbands and wives had themselves portrayed as the passionate divine couple.

The uniting of deities representing Love and War lent itself to allegory , especially since the lovers were the parents of Harmonia . The Renaissance philosopher Marsilio Ficino notes that "only Venus dominates Mars, and he never dominates her".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.

Sacred animals

She-wolf and twins from an altar to Venus and Mars

Temples and topography

The earliest center in Rome for cultivating Mars as a deity was the Altar of Mars (Ara Martis) in the Campus Martius ("Field of Mars") outside the sacred boundary of Rome (pomerium). The Romans thought that this altar had been established by the semi-legendary Numa Pompilius , the peace-loving successor of Romulus. 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.^[49] During the Roman Republic (509–27 BC), the Campus was a largely open expanse. No temple was built at the altar, but from 193 BC a covered walkway connected it to the Porta Fontinalis , near the office and archives of the Roman censors . Newly elected censors placed their curule chairs by the altar, and when they had finished conducting the census, the citizens were collectively purified with a suovetaurilia there. A frieze 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.

The main Temple of Mars (Aedes Martis) in the Republican period also lay outside the sacred boundary and was devoted to the god's warrior aspect. It was built to fulfill a vow (votum) made by a Titus Quinctius in 388 BC during the Gallic siege of Rome .^[53] The founding day (dies natalis) was commemorated on June 1, and the temple is attested by several inscriptions and literary sources. The sculpture group of Mars and the wolves was displayed there.Soldiers sometimes assembled at the temple before heading off to war, and it was the point of departure for a major parade of Roman cavalry held annually on July 15.

A temple to Mars in the Circus Flaminius was built around 133 BC, funded by Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus from war booty. It housed a colossal statue of Mars and a nude Venus.

The Campus Martius continued to provide venues for equestrian events such as chariot racing during the Imperial period , but under the first emperor Augustus 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 the Obelisk of Montecitorio , imported from Egypt to form the pointer (gnomon) of the Solarium Augusti , a giant sundial . With its public gardens, the Campus became one of the most attractive places in the city to visit.

Augustus chose the Campus Martius as the site of his new Temple to Mars Ultor, a manifestation of Mars he cultivated as the avenger (ultor) of the murder of Julius Caesar and of the military disaster suffered at the Battle 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 the heliacal setting of the constellation Scorpio , the house of war. The date continued to be marked with circus games as late as the mid-4th century AD.

A large statue of Mars was part of the short-lived Arch of Nero , which was built in 62 AD but dismantled after Nero 's suicide and disgrace (damnatio memoriae).

Mars Quirinus

Mars celebrated as peace-bringer on a Roman coin issued by Aemilianus