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===Asia Minor=== | ===Asia Minor=== | ||
In some parts of Asia Minor, Ares was a prominent [[oracle|oracular deity]], something not found in any Hellennic cult to Ares or Roman cult to Mars. Ares was linked in some regions or polities with a local god or cultic hero, and recognised as a higher, more prestigious deity than in mainland Greece. His cults in southern Asia Minor are attested from the 5th century BC and well into the later Roman Imperial era, at 29 different sites, and on over 70 local coin issues.<ref>Gonzales, 2005, pp.263, 271, 280-283.</ref> He is sometimes represented on coinage of the region by the "Helmet of Ares" or carrying a spear and a shield, or as a fully armed warrior, sometimes accompanied by a female deity. In what is now western Turkey, the Hellenistic city of [[Metropolis (Anatolia)|Metropolis]] built a monumental temple to Ares as the city's protector, not before the 3rd century BC. It is now lost, but the names of some of its priests and priestesses survive, along with the temple's likely depictions on coins of the province.<ref>Millington, A.T. (2013) "Iyarri at the Interface: The Origins of Ares" in A. Mouton, I. Rutherford, & I. Yakubovich (eds.) ''Luwian Identities: Culture, Language and Religion Between Anatolia and the Aegean'' (Leiden) pp.555-557</ref> | In some parts of Asia Minor, Ares was a prominent [[oracle|oracular deity]], something not found in any Hellennic cult to Ares or Roman cult to Mars. Ares was linked in some regions or polities with a local god or cultic hero, and recognised as a higher, more prestigious deity than in mainland Greece. His cults in southern Asia Minor are attested from the 5th century BC and well into the later Roman Imperial era, at 29 different sites, and on over 70 local coin issues.<ref>Gonzales, 2005, pp.263, 271, 280-283.</ref> He is sometimes represented on coinage of the region by the "Helmet of Ares" or carrying a spear and a shield, or as a fully armed warrior, sometimes accompanied by a female deity. In what is now western Turkey, the Hellenistic city of [[Metropolis (Anatolia)|Metropolis]] built a monumental temple to Ares as the city's protector, not before the 3rd century BC. It is now lost, but the names of some of its priests and priestesses survive, along with the temple's likely depictions on coins of the province.<ref>Millington, A.T. (2013) "Iyarri at the Interface: The Origins of Ares" in A. Mouton, I. Rutherford, & I. Yakubovich (eds.) ''Luwian Identities: Culture, Language and Religion Between Anatolia and the Aegean'' (Leiden) pp.555-557</ref> | ||
===Crete=== | |||
A sanctuary of Aphrodite was established at [[Sta Lenika]], on [[Crete]], between the cities of [[Lato]] and [[Olus]], possibly during the [[Geometric period]]. It was rebuilt in the late 2nd century BC as a double-sanctuary to Ares and Aphrodite.<ref>Martha W. Baldwin Bowsky. "Portrait of a Polis: Lato Pros Kamara (Crete) in the Late Second Century B. C." Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, vol. 58, no. 3, The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1989, pp. 331–47, https://doi.org/10.2307/148222</ref> Inscriptions record disputes over the ownership of the sanctuary. The names of Ares and Aphrodite appear as witness to sworn oaths, and there is a Victory thanks-offering to Aphrodite, whom Millington believes had capacity as a "warrior-protector acting in the realm of Ares". There were cultic links between the Sta Lenika sanctuary, Knossos and other Cretan states, and perhaps with [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]] on the mainland.<ref>This refers to a double-temple to Aphrodite and Ares reported by Pausanias. Its cult practises are unknown. See Fusco, U. (2017). The Sanctuary of Aphrodite and Ares (Paus. 2.25.1) in the Periurban Area of Argos and Temples with a Double Cella in Greece. Tekmeria, 13, 97-124. doi:https://doi.org/10.12681/tekmeria.1073.</ref> While the Greek literary and artistic record from both the Archaic and Classical eras connects Ares and Aphrodite as complementary companions and ideal though adulterous lovers, their cult pairing and Aphrodite as warrior-protector is localised to Crete.<ref name="Millington, Alexander T. 2013, pp.555-557">Millington, Alexander T., "Iyarri at the Interface: The Origins of Ares" in A. Mouton, I. Rutherford, & I. Yakubovich (eds.) ''Luwian Identities: Culture, Language and Religion Between Anatolia and the Aegean'' (Leiden) 2013, pp.555-557</ref><ref name="discovery.ucl.ac.uk">Millington, Alexander T., ''War and the Warrior: Functions of Ares in Literature and Cult'', University College, London, 2013, pp. 101-105 [https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1427880/1/Alexander_Thomas_Millington_Ares_-_Full_PhD_Thesis_(corrected).pdf]</ref> | |||