Epona

In Gallo-Roman religion, Epona was a protector of horses, ponies, donkeys, and mules. She was particularly a goddess of fertility, as shown by her attributes of a patera, cornucopia, ears of grain and the presence of foals in some sculptures. She and her horses might also have been leaders of the soul in the after-life ride, with parallels in Rhiannon of the Mabinogion. The worship of Epona, "the sole Celtic divinity ultimately worshipped in Rome itself", was widespread in the Roman Empire between the first and third centuries AD; this is unusual for a Celtic deity, most of whom were associated with specific localities.

Etymology of the name

Although known only from Roman contexts, the name Epona ('Great Mare') is from the Gaulish language; it is derived from the inferred Proto-Celtic *ekwos 'horse' — which gives rise to modern Welsh ebol 'foal' — together with the augmentative suffix -on frequently, though not exclusively, found in theonyms (for example Sirona, Matrona) and the usual Gaulish feminine singular -a. In an episode preserved in a remark of Pausanias, an archaic Demeter Erinys (Vengeful Demeter) too had also been a Great Mare, who was mounted by Poseidon in the form of a stallion and foaled Arion and the Daughter who was unnamed outside the Arcadian mysteries. Demeter was venerated as a mare in Lycosoura in Arcadia into historical times.

Mare'

Mare' (Arabic: مارع‎, also spelled Marea) is a town 25 kilometers north of Aleppo in northern Syria. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of the Mare' nahiyah in the Azaz District of the Aleppo Governorate. Nearby localities include Shaykh Issa and Tell Rifaat to the west, A'zaz to the northwest, Dabiq to the northeast, al-Bab to the southeast, and Maarat Umm Hawsh and Herbel to the south. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, it had a population of 16,904 in the 2004 census, out of a total population in the Mare' nahiyah of 39,306.

Syrian Civil War

Mare' has been affected by the ongoing Syrian uprising against the government of Bashar al-Assad. The Ibn Walid brigade of the opposition Free Syrian Army was formed in the town in August 2012.

As of January 2015, Mare' is controlled by the Islamic Front.

The Mare' Operations Room is based around the town.

References

Mare

A mare is an adult female horse or other equine.

In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse age three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing a mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old, but the word can also be used for other female equine animals, particularly mules and zebras, though a female donkey is usually called a "jenny." A broodmare is a mare used for breeding. A horse's female parent is known as its dam.

An uncastrated adult male horse is called a stallion and a castrated male is a gelding. Occasionally the term "horse" is used in a restrictive sense to designate only a male horse.

Reproductive cycle

Mares carry their young (called foals) for approximately 11 months from conception to birth. (Average range 320–370 days.) Usually just one young is born; twins are rare. When a domesticated mare foals, she nurses the foal for at least four to six months before it is weaned, though mares in the wild may allow a foal to nurse for up to a year.

Mareš

Mareš (feminine Marešová) is a Czech surname. Notable people with the surname include: