Roman Marble Head of Ares

Collection of Edward Di Maggio, New York, New York. With Joseph Gerena Fine Art, New York, New York, 1980’s. Antiquities Christie’s New York, December 15th, 1994. New York art market. Private Collection, Orange County California.

The head overall is preserved in generally good condition. The youthful countenance is well preserved, with minor surface abrasions, wear and scattered areas of shallow pitting. Elements of the nose, mouth, and chin have been restored. The deeply carved hair survives extensively intact, with a number of projecting curls exhibiting minor chips, abrasions and losses, particularly to the lateral and lower locks. The helmet is substantially preserved with losses and abrasions to the projecting edges and brim; the crest is incomplete, with a significant loss to the plume. Broken at the neck, with additional localized losses to the hair and lower portion of the plume. The surface of the helmet, plume, and face display a warm, creamy patination, with areas of darker accumulation within the recesses of the carving and evidence of general wear consistent with age and exposure.

Ares was the Greek god principally associated with violent, terrifying, and chaotic aspects of warfare. He was one of the twelve Olympian gods and was traditionally believed to be the son of Zeus and Hera. He embodied war as an experience of bloodshed, fury, destruction, and physical conflict rather than warfare as disciplined military strategy or organized civic institution, which is more often associated with another Greek Goddess of War, Athena. This distinction is important because as the Greek Ares slowly became the Roman Mars, his role changed and expanded to include a multitude of traits often associated with Athena including military virtue, courage, protection of the (Roman) state, victory, and civic identity amongst others. Perhaps most importantly, Mars was considered one of the divine fathers of Rome itself.

Under the Romans, Mars acquired an extraordinarily prestigious political dimension. One of the most important manifestations was Mars Ultor, or "Mars the Avenger." Augustus dedicated the famous Temple of Mars Ultor in the Forum of Augustus following his victory over the assassins of Julius Caesar. Mars Ultor became associated with vengeance, restoration of justice, military victory, imperial authority, and the protection of Rome itself. It is this Mars that is often encountered in Roman imperial sculpture: mature, powerful, heavily armed, and often bearded. Coincidentally enough it is also a very different representation from the youthful Ares-like figure represented in our head from the same period.

Our sculpture seems to occupy an interesting middle ground between Greek Ares iconography and Roman sculptural practice. The face itself is very much in the Greek tradition of the idealized youthful male divinity, while the helmet establishes the martial identity, but the execution and technical rendering of the head rest squarely within the Roman sculptural canon. Ultimately what we have here is an extremely rare and unique representation of a youthful Ares that is executed in the Roman Imperial tradition and harkening back to the high classical period of Ancient Greece.

Simon, Erika. “Ares/Mars.” In Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, vol. II. Zürich/München: Artemis Verlag, 1984, pp. 505–559.