A Latin name in which can be seen traces of the italic name of Mars: Mamers. There are two legends in which a hero with this name appears.

  1. The first makes him a son of Pythagoras, nick-named Aemilius ('the courteous') because of the sweetness of his manners. This Mamercus Aemilius is said to have been the ancestor of the Gens Aemilia. A variation claimed that he was the son not of Pythagoras but of NUMA, whose connections with Pythagoras and Pythagoranism were well known.

  2. The second legend is in Plutarch and was obviously inspired by the myth of Meleager. Mars, disguised as a herdsman, had made Sylvia, the wife of Septimius Marcellus pregnant. He gave her a lance, with a note setting out the destiny of the unborn child attached to it. When this son was born he was called Mamers Mamercus. He fell in love with the daughter of Tuscinus who was later killed by Septimius, his mortal father. When Mamers Mamercus was out hunting he slew an enormous boar which had been sent by Ceres. He gave his lover the head and the feet, but his mother's two brothers, Scymbrathes and Muthias, were annoyed and snatched the trophies back. Mamercus then killed his uncles but to punish him Sylvia burned the lance and Mamercus died.

{E2 DICTIONARY OF CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY}

Table of Sources:
(1)
- Plutarch, Numa 13;
- Paul. ex. Fest. p. 23 M;
- Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 2,76.
(2)
- Plutarch, Parall. 26,312a.

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