2nd -3rd Century
Bronze
Inventory sheet
This small statuette represents the god Mars, god of war in Roman mythology corresponding to the Greek god, Ares. The figure is represented in Roman military dress with a Corinthian helmet and an anatomical breastplate over a tunic. It appears to replicate the Mars presented as a soldier found in the temple of the god Mars Ultor (the Avenger) in Rome (now in the Vatican Museum).
It is not possible to know what the figure would have held in his raised right hand and flexed left arm (perhaps a spear and a shield, respectively). This statuette was acquired by Soares dos Reis National Museum with the indication that it had been found in the Herdade da Pombinha in Campo Maior.
A similar statuette is now in Penafiel Museum, having been found during the construction of the Sanctuary of Nossa Senhora da Piedade e Santos Passos – Sameiro Church, in 1886.