The Roman goddess of war often shown with Mars was Bellona.
Bellona embodied warfare, especially its violent, destructive, and blood-soaked aspects. Roman writers and artists associated her closely with Mars, the better-known god of war, though she was not simply a female version of him. She was also identified with the Greek goddess Enyo and, in some traditions, with the Sabine deity Nerio.
Her principal temple in Rome was founded near the Circus Flaminius in 296 BCE. It stood outside the sacred boundary of the city, the pomerium, because the site had important military and diplomatic functions. The Senate met there to discuss wars and triumphs, and foreign envoys could be received outside the formal city limits.
Near the temple stood the columna bellica, or war column. In the ritual declaration of war, a Roman fetial priest symbolically hurled a spear over it toward enemy territory. Bellona is therefore linked not only to battlefield fury but also to the official machinery by which Rome initiated and managed war. Her usual attributes included a helmet, spear, sword, shield, torch, or bloody whip.