The Roman goddess of war often shown with a sword and associated with Mars was Bellona.
Bellona represented warfare, particularly its destructive, violent, and blood-soaked aspects. Her name developed from an older Latin form, Duellona, related to duellum, an early word for war. In art she commonly appears in armor or a plumed helmet, carrying weapons such as a sword, spear, or shield.
Bellona was closely connected with Mars, Rome’s principal war god. The first-century poet Silius Italicus portrayed her holding the reins of Mars’s chariot, an image that helps explain descriptions of her accompanying him. She was also identified with the Greek war goddess Enyo and, in some traditions, with the Sabine war deity Nerio.
Her temple near the Circus Flaminius was dedicated in 296 BCE. It became an important setting for military and political ceremonies: the Senate could meet there to discuss war, and Roman rituals for declaring war were associated with the temple’s sacred boundary. Bellona should not be confused with Minerva, whose martial character was tied more to strategy and civic wisdom, or Victoria, who personified victory rather than war itself.