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{{Short description|War goddess, wife of Mars in Roman mythology}}
In  [[Religion in ancient Rome|ancient Roman religion]] and [[Roman mythology|myth]], '''Nerio''' (or '''Neriene''')<ref>Dexter, Miriam Robbins. ''Whence the goddesses: a source book''. The Athene Series. New York and London: [[Teachers College Press]], Teachers College, Columbia University. 1990. p. 154. {{ISBN|0-8077-6234-2}}.</ref> was an ancient war goddess and the personification of [[Courage|valor]]. She was the partner of [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]] in ancient cult practices, and was sometimes identified with the goddess [[Bellona (goddess)|Bellona]], and occasionally with the goddess [[Minerva]]. Spoils taken from enemies were sometimes dedicated to Nerio by the Romans. Nerio was later supplanted by mythologized deities appropriated and adapted from other religions.<ref>Grimal, p. 308.</ref>

==Cult role==
Ancient Roman literature seems to have pointed Nerio as one of two wives of war god Mars, the other being ''Moles''.<ref>Woodard, Roger D. "The Minor Capitoline Triad". In: ''Indo-European Sacred Space: Vedic and Roman Cult''. University of Illinois Press, 2006. pp. 21 and 112-114. Accessed September 17, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/j.ctt1xcmv6.5.</ref>

==Etymology==
The name of the goddess is thought to derive from a [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] root ''*h₂nḗr-'', related to [[Ancient Greek language|Ancient Greek]] ''ἀνήρ'', and both pertaining to the semantic field of masculine attributes, such as strength, vigour, valor.<ref>Mallory, J. P.; Adams, Douglas Q. (1997). ''Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture''. Taylor & Francis. p. 596. {{ISBN|978-1-884964-98-5}}.</ref>

Aulus Gellius, in his book ''Attic Nights'', remarked that her name was a [[Sabines#Language|Sabine]] word meaning 'strength and fortitude'.<ref>Dexter, Miriam Robbins. ''Whence the goddesses: a source book''. The Athene Series. New York and London: [[Teachers College Press]], Teachers College, Columbia University. 1990. p. 154. {{ISBN|0-8077-6234-2}}.</ref>

==References==
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==Sources==
*Grimal, Pierre. ''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology''. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986. {{ISBN|0-631-20102-5}}

{{Roman religion|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Roman goddesses]]
[[Category:War goddesses]]
[[Category:Personifications in Roman mythology]]
[[Category:Minerva]]
[[Category:Bellona (goddess)]]

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