Thrace, Philippopolis; Antoninus Pius

Antoninus Pius. Thrace, Philippopolis;
Ares

In Greek mythology, Ares ("battle strife") is the god of war and son of Zeus (king of the gods) and Hera. The Romans identified Mars, the god of war (whom they had inherited from the Etruscans) with Hellenic Ares, but among them, Mars stood in much higher esteem. Among the Hellenes, Ares was always mistrusted: his birthplace and true home was placed far off, among the barbarous and warlike Thracians (Iliad 13.301; Ovid); to Thrace he withdrew after he was discovered on a couch with Aphrodite ( Odyssey 8.361).

Although important in poetry, Ares was only rarely the recipient of cult worship, save at Sparta, where he was propriated before battle, and in the founding myth of Thebes, and he appeared in few myths (Burkert 1985, p.169). At Sparta there was a statue of the god in chains, to show that the spirit of war and victory was never to leave the city. At Sparta young dogs and even humans were sacrificed to him. The temple to Ares in the agora of Athens that Pausanias saw in the 2nd century AD had only been moved and rededicated there during the time of Augustus; in essence it was a Roman temple to Mars. The Areopagus, the "hill of Ares" where Paul preached, is sited at some distance from the Acropolis; from archaic times it was a site of trials. Its connection with Ares, perhaps based on a false etymology, may be purely etiological. Ares s throne at Mount Olympus is said to be covered with human skin.

Antoninus Pius AE18 of Philippopolis, Thrace. AVT AI ADRIA ANTWNEIN, bare head right / FILIPPOPOLEITWN, Ares standing left, holding spear in left hand, shield leaning against him at right. BMC 10.

Collection : Roman Provincial Coins