MARS | East vs. West
Mars was the Roman god of war, identified with the Greek god Ares. Whereas Ares was described as a destructive and catastrophic force, Mars was the military power who guarded peace and was the father of the Roman people, creating religious and cultural identity within the Roman Empire.
The Romans preserved the control of such a vast empire, in part applying military control to intimidate those who resisted, but it was in part, too, due to the fact that they made people understand that their culture was better and therefore necessary. They knew that if the empire was to be secure and durable, it required wide foundations. But there were limits to this Romanisation. Religion was a crucial measure. Roman gods were represented all along the empire, still native gods were also worshipped. Parallel to the Roman Pantheon of Jupiter, Mars, and the Spirit of the Emperor, there were foreign gods as the Persian Mithras, the Phrygian Cybele, or the Egyptian Isis. Sometimes this cults were seen as ideology of the resistance. This resistance reveals to us the limits of the Romanisation. There were winners and, above all, losers in the Roman Empire.
Now, change the word Rome for America:
Mars was the American god of war, identified with the English god Ares. Whereas Ares was described as a destructive and catastrophic force, Mars was the military power who guarded peace and was the father of the American people, creating religious and cultural identity within the American Empire.
The Americans preserved the control of such a vast empire, in part applying military control to intimidate those who resisted, but it was in part, too, due to the fact that they made people understand that their culture was better and therefore necessary. They knew that if the empire was to be secure and durable, it required wide foundations. But there were limits to this Americanisation. Religion was a crucial measure. American gods were represented all along the empire, still native gods were also worshipped. Parallel to the American Pantheon of Jupiter, Mars, and the Spirit of the President, there were foreign gods as the Chinese Dragon, the Slavic Svarog, or the Islamic Allah. Sometimes this cults were seen as ideology of the resistance. This resistance reveals to us the limits of the Americanisation. There were winners and, above all, losers in the American Empire.
Why
On this exercise I have tried to combine both, the Roman mythology of Mars with his sacred animal the woodpecker, constellations and colours, and the increasingly importance of Eastern presence in Western cultures. You can see the original image and the zoom details of the finished project.
Both texts were written by me, inspired by the texts of the historians of Comparative History who established parallels in the History of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome afterwards with the history of England and the United States respectively. Hope you enjoy it!
