March was originally the first month of the Roman calendar and March 1 used to be the celebration of the new year. So happy new year to any Roman time travellers or neglected ancient deities who may be reading. Juno and Mars were particularly honored on this day during the time of the Roman Empire. Matronalia was in honor of Juno and Feriae Marti was in honor of Mars, but both holidays were on the same day, so I suppose employers did not have to let people off work for more than a long weekend.
Juno was the consort of the god at the top of the food chain. Mars the Roman god of war was Juno’s son. Mars was initially the god of fertility, vegetation, and cattle protection. Somehow this evolved to being the god of war. Maybe all mamma’s boys grow up to be warlike. Perhaps he was pissy at being given such a large number of unglamourous responsibilities and decided to do battle over it.
March is named for Mars. Make of this what you will.
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