Mars Wars?

A once mighty deity, perhaps now only remembered through a caramel layered confectionery bar.

Our nearest planet, and fantasised future earth colony – if the Sci-Fi classic Total Recall is anything to go by.

Whether the planet was named after the Roman deity or vice versa, either way they were both utterly synonymous with war, conflict and devastation.

Early 20th Century composer Gustav Holst’s stirring epic The Planets, showcasing the brooding Mars suite was debuted in August 1914, just days before the outbreak of World War One — a toltemic jinx of foreboding and general doom.

But what ancient British figure was an earlier incarnation of the character of the Roman God Mars?