this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2025
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Nah, not exactly. The Romans gave a decidedly "own" twist to their mythologies and religion. Many of their deities are parallels of the Greek ones, but, well, different. Mars, as a god of war, was decidedly less barbaric and more cunning than his Greek counterpart Ares. It also mattered what archetype they invoked; Mars Ultor was specifically "Mars the avenger", whom was invoked when on a campaign of revenge against for example the Parthians who had stolen several Eagle standards.
Others are uniquely Roman and don't even have a direct Greek counterpart. Janus, the two-faced god of doors and new beginnings, was such a god. He was supremely important in all Roman religious cults and was invoked first, even before Jupiter, since he was held to be the "door to all deities".
Janus was originally Culsan, who they stole from the Etruscans. Looks like Rome treated gods like the English treated spices
Athena was goddess of warfare, presumably the less barbaric, kind to the Greeks. Minerva still has the strategic warfare thing, but her non-military side is more pronounced.