Minerva or Bellona?

Despite the Roman association between Minerva and Athena and the frequent depiction of both goddesses with armor, unlike Athena, Minerva was not considered a war goddess in the Roman pantheon. The Romans had their own war goddess Bellona, originally an ancient Sabine goddess of war identified with Nerio, the consort of the war god Mars, and later with the Greek war goddess Enyo. 

Bellona's main attribute is the military helmet that was worn on her head much like Athena.  Bellona  is often depcicted holding a sword, spear, or shield, and brandishing a torch or whip as she rides into battle in a four-horse chariot. 

Bellona had a temple near the Theatre of Marcellus dedicated in 296 BCE near the Circus Flaminius by Appius Claudius Caecus, during the war with the Etruscans and Samnites. The Roman Campus Martius area, in which Bellona’s temple was situated, had extraterritorial status. Ambassadors from foreign states, who were not allowed to enter the city proper, stayed in this complex. Since the area of the temple was outside the pomerium, the Senate met there with ambassadors and received victorious generals prior to their triumphs. Beside the temple was the war column (columna bellica), which represented non-Roman territory. To declare war on a distant state, a javelin was thrown over the column by one of the priests concerned with diplomacy (fetiales) toward the direction of the enemy land. This symbolic attack was considered the opening of war.

Bellona's festival was celebrated on June 3, and her priests were known as Bellonarii and used to wound their own arms or legs as a blood sacrifice to her. These rites took place on March 24, called the day of blood (dies sanguinis), after the ceremony. In consequence of this practice, which was similar to the rites of Cybele in Asia Minor, both Enyo and Bellona became identified with her Cappadocian aspect, Ma.

In the military cult of Bellona, she was associated with Virtus, the personification of valour. Her worship by the legions extended her cult into the provinces. Temples to Bellona have been recorded in France, Germany, Britain, and North Africa.

In art, Bellona and Minerva have been frequently confused.  French artist Augustin Pajou created a sculpture between 1775-1785 that he dubbed Minerva but bearing the attributes of Bellona.  I was surprised on reading the J. Paul Getty Museum's entry for the sculpture stating Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom (a shared attribute with Athena) and war (??), striding forward to protect Painting, Sculpture, Music, Justice, and Medicine, the attributes of which lie at her feet.  But she wears the helmet and carries the torch of Bellona. A beautiful ancient Roman relief in the Carthage National Museum, however, clearly illustrates the difference between the two deities.  In this relief, Minerva stands beside a collection of a warrior's armor (although not the goddess of war, Minerva was considered a patron of warriors) but does not wear a helmet or brandish a weapon or torch.

Roman relief of Minerva at the Carthage National Museum courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Mourad Ben Abdallah (digitally enhanced).

"Minerva" by Augustin Pajou at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California courtesy of the museum. 

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Etruscan panoply of the late 5th to early 4th century BCE

 This panoply comprises a matching ensemble of helmet, cuirass, and greave (shin guard), which are rare Etruscan works exemplifying the finest qualities of the form and decoration that characterize the greatest armors made in Etruria during the Classical period. In addition to exhibiting originality of design and exceptional workmanship, this ensemble occupies an important place in the historical development of Etruscan armor. It includes one of the finest Etruscan cuirasses known to survive and a helmet that has no parallels in the Ancient World. Very few Etruscan panoplies appear to have ever included anatomical cuirasses, and among the few specimen known to remain, many are extensively damaged or restored, unlike this example. The helmet, with its delicate embossed, chased, and engraved ornament, and its striking bronze and silver appliqués, is one of the most luxurious examples of a type found only in Etruria, and by far the best preserved representative of this exclusive group. It is most important, however, for its unparalleled construction with hinged cheekpieces that would have completely enclosed the wearer's face, and for the subtle modeling of the corresponding plates to follow the contours of the nose, cheekbones, and jaw. No other helmet with comparable features is known to exist. - The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This armor could have been worn during the Roman-Etruscan Wars of the early 4th century BCE.  After the Gauls defeated Rome at the Battle of the Allia, the Etruscans, the Volsci and the Aequi all raised armies in hope of exploiting this blow to Roman power. According to Livy the leading men of all of Etruria gathered at the sanctuary of Voltumna to form a hostile alliance against Rome.  Beset by dangers on all sides, the Romans appointed Marcus Furius Camillus dictator. Camillus inflicted crushing victories against the Volsci and the Aequi, then turned his attention to the Etruscans. Livy, Plutarch, and Diodorus Siculus detail the struggle in which the Etruscans laid siege to Sutrium, a Roman ally. The Sutrines sent for aid and Camillus marched to their relief. But, before help could arrive the Sutrines were forced into a conditional surrender, being allowed to leave without weapons and only one garment apiece. Meeting the exiled Sutrines later that same day, Camillus ordered the baggage left behind and marched his now unencumbered army to Sutrium where he found the enemy still dispersed and busy plundering the city. Camillus ordered all the gates closed and attacked before the Etruscans could concentrate their forces. The now trapped Etruscans at first intended to fight to the end, but when hearing that their lives would be spared, they surrendered in great number. Livy says Camillus,  having won three simultaneous wars, returned to Rome in triumph. The Etruscan prisoners were publicly sold. After the gold owed to Rome's matrons had been repaid (they had contributed their gold to ransom Rome from the Gauls), enough was left for three golden bowls inscribed with the name of Camillus and placed in the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus before the feet of the statue of Juno.

In 387, however, Livy tells us the Etruscans again attacked Sutrium and the border stronghold of Nepete. By the time Camillus and his colleague, Valerius, arrived at Sutrium, the Etruscans had taken half the city, the Sutrines desperately defending the rest behind street barricades. Camillus divided his army into two and ordered his colleague to attack the walls on the side the enemy was holding. Attacked from both within and without the city, the Etruscans fled in panic and were killed in great numbers. Having recaptured Sutrium, the Roman army marched to Nepete, which by that time had surrendered to the Etruscans after treachery from some of the townsmen. Camillus first attempted to convince the Nepesines to throw out the Etruscans. When they refused, he captured the city by storm. All the Etruscans and those who had sided with them were killed and a Roman garrison put in place.

Images: Etruscan panoply of the late 5th to early 4th century BCE consisting of a helmet of the Italo-Chalcidian Type, an anatomical cuirass, and a left greave, probably from Vulci, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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Mars: The Roman God of War

Mars was one of the more important gods of the Roman pantheon. Numerous temples, shrines, and altars were dedicated to him in Rome and throughout the Empire. As the god of war, he had many of the same attributes as the Greek god Ares, but he was also closely associated with the imperial cult, since the emperor's power and popularity depended heavily on the army and its military successes. Mars was therefore often depicted on monuments celebrating imperial victories, notably on triumphal arches, a distinctively Roman type of public building. This fragment presumably comes from one such monument, perhaps even from the now lost Portico of Septimius Severus in Rome. Mars is represented in the canonical guise of an older, bearded man wearing a Corinthian helmet tipped back on his head. - The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Image: Mars fragment possibly from the Portico of Septimius Severus courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Colossal statue of Mars found in the forum of Nerva photographed at the Capitoline Museum

Colossal statue of Mars found in the forum of Nerva photographed at the Capitoline Museum

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