Depeynted was the slaughtre of Julius,
Of grete Nero, and of Antonius;
Al be that thilke tyme they were unborn,
Yet was hir deth depeynted ther-biforn.
– Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales, The Knight’s Tale. Depicted at the temple to the god of war Mars are the slaughter of great men in history like Caesar, Nero and Marc Antony. Their deaths were preordained even before they were born by this powerful god. This forewarns of a death among the knights Arcite and Palamon, in the tournament they will engage in in the stadium housing the temple.