Roman God Mars and Planet Mars – Manchester, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 28.851 W 002° 14.140
30U E 550722 N 5926035
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System and named after the Roman god of war.
Waymark Code: WMDTX4
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/24/2012
Views: 1
The Planet Mars
Mars is often called the red planet because it’s surface has a high proportion of iron oxide which gives it a reddish appearance.
In the 18th Century improvements in the resolution of telescopes led people to believe there was a series of straight lines on the planet. It was believed that these channels could be rivers or canals. This led to much speculation about the possibility of life on Mars.
This speculation fuelled many science fiction stories, the most famous probably being The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.
As telescopes improved it became obvious that the channels were an optical illusion and that currently there is no free flowing water on Mars. However with the advent of unmanned missions to Mars the current theories point to many of the planet’s features were indeed formed by flowing water or glaciers in the distant past.
In addition there is believed to be a layer of permafrost on some parts of the planet still in existence. Both the U.S.A. and Russia have investigated the possibility of a manned mission to Mars. If this ever comes to fruition it will be necessary to make use of this water when the mission makes its landing
The planet has a diameter about half the size of Earth and 2 small moons orbiting it named Phobos and Deimos.
The Roman God Mars
He was one of the most important of the Roman gods and an entire month of the year was dedicated to him. We know the month as March, the first month of spring and the month that the Romans started military campaigns.
He is characterized as the god who took a savage delight in slaughter, and the hordes of slain upon the battlefield filled him with a fierce joy.
The word martial, pertaining to war, came from Mars, the god of war.
I can understand why Mars is present on this statue dedicated to such a successful military campaigner, however I’m not sure Wellington would necessarily wanted to have been thought of as someone took savage delight in slaughter.
http://www.wordsources.info/mars.html
The Statue
The Roman God Mars is one of four allegorical figures at each corner of the base of the main statue of the Duke of Wellington.
The statue was unveiled on 30th August 1856 to commemorate the life of the Duke of Wellington.
The Duke had been a hugely successful military commander who had fought in 60 different battles. He was especially loved in the UK for his defeat of the French and especially Napoleon Bonaparte.
In recognition of his successes in battle he won many awards and tiles both in the UK and in other countries in Europe. His highest titles were Duke of Wellington in the U.K., Duke of Vitoria in Portugal, Duke of Ciudad Rodrigo in Spain and Prince of Waterloo in The Netherlands.
He was also one of those rare people who went on after a successful military career to also have a successful political career. He was Prime Minister of the U.K. twice and then went on to become a Peer in the UK’s upper house, the House of Lords.
The city of Manchester had decided within 4 days of Wellington’s death that they wished to erect a statue and announced a competition.
The chosen design by Matthew Noble shows Wellington as a Politician giving a speech with 4 allegorical figures, representing four aspects of his life.
Website of the Extraterrestrial Location: [Web Link]
Website of location on Earth: [Web Link]
Celestial Body: Mars
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