god
Mars
also: Mars, Marte
The Roman god of war; 'free Mars' (libero Marte) is a metonymy for open combat in the training-field exercises Pliny describes.
Reading notes
- The Letters §7.9.11 Mars
The Roman god of war, named among the figures a sculptor's hand might shape.
- Panegyric to Trajan §13 free combat
Translating libero Marte, 'with Mars unconstrained' — the war-god's name standing by metonymy for open fighting, here in training exercises.