Bellona

ANcient goddess of war, her name is linked to the word "bellum." Compared to Mars, lord of heroic and disciplined war, Bellona is a much wilder deity, as she loves blood and enjoys pain as creative forces. She crosses the battlefield as one of the Furies, with her hair loose and her eyes full of fire, armed with a spear, sword, or whip. SOmetimes she carries a torch, to symbolize the life that she can put out as she pleases. Her priests, the bellonarii, during ceremonies open wounds on their own arms and legs. Her most ancient temple is in Rome, in the Campus Martius. Next to it there is the columna bellica, a consecrated column from which a javelin is thrown when Rome starts a war. Bellona is very loved by soldiers, who have rought her cult to the most remote regions of the Empire.