March is thought of as the first month of spring. In the ancient Roman calendar it was the first month of the year until the year 450BC when January became the first month, February the second, and March the third.
But where did March get its name? From the Roman name for this month, Martius, which was named after the Roman god of war, Mars.
Mars was one of the strongest and most important of the Roman gods. He was the father of the twins Romulus and Remus who founded Rome, and he was also a protector of farms and cattle.
Spring was a good time for the Romans to go to war. Their enemies had only a little food left after the winter and were busy farming, so the strong Romans took this chance to win many victories and gain more land. But the Romans also needed to work on their own farms to feed themselves, so it’s easy to see why Mars was such an important god at this time of year.
One piece of trivia is that March and November always begin on the same day of the week (this year it’s Thursday), so every day of March and November is the same, except that March has 31 days and November 30.
