Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-31481772-20180410105724

Hello friends! Sorry for the long delay. The goddess for this week is... Bellona! Bellona is the Roman goddess of war.

Named Duellona in the Italic languages, Bellona was originally an ancient Sabine goddess of war, identified with Nerio, the consort of the war god Mars, and later, with her Greek equivalent Enyo. The Roman Campus Martius area, in which Bellona’s temple was sited, had extraterritorial status. Ambassadors from foreign states, who were not allowed to enter the city proper, stayed in this complex.

Bellona's name comes from the Latin word "bellum" meaning "war", which comes from the older Latin "duellum" having the same meaning. "Duellum" is the source of Italian "duello", Spanish "duelo" and English "duel", all meaning "fight". "Bellum" is the source of the English words "bellicose" and "belligerent", meaning "aggressive". It is also the source of the word "postbellum" used in American history to describe post-Civil War conditions. In other languages, we have Italian"bellicoso/bellicosa", French "belliqueux" and Spanish "bellicoso".

"Duellum" is derived from PIE "dehws" meaning "to burn". We also have Greek "due", meaning "to burn", from the same source. 