Since 1992
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By Barbara McAlister
Word of the Day: March
The month of March is named for the Roman god Mars, the god of war. In the early Roman calendar, March (or Martius) was the arrival of the new year for Romans. It was the start of new beginnings, a time when the melting winter frost was a time for farmers to start crops, animals to wake up from hibernation and troops to resume wars they were unable to wage during the cold winter months.
Because March was the start of spring, for many years it was considered the start of the new year in much of Europe. In fact, until 1752, Britain considered March 25 the beginning of the new year.
In the Southern Hemisphere, March is the same as September in the Northern Hemisphere. Each year March and June end on the same day of the week. March brings the first day of spring with the vernal equinox, which occurs on March 20. “Equinox,” from the Latin meaning “equal night,” is the time when the sun shines on the equator approximately equal times during the day and night, providing a day and night of nearly equal length. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox and so can occur any time between March 22 and April 25. This year, Easter falls on April 4.
The Ides of March is also from the Roman calendar. Ides refers to the midpoint of every month. In March it is the the 15th, a day when Shakespeare’s famous “Beware the ides of March” was the warning to Julius Caesar before he was murdered at a senate meeting by a group of conspirators. Perhaps fittingly, centuries later, the spot where Caesar was thought to have been assassinated in Rome is a protected no-kill cat sanctuary. Sheltered among historic temples today, volunteers protect and care for around 150 abandoned stray cats seven days a week.
