Feriae Marti (kal. mar. = Jan. 1): The Birthday of Mars

In early Roman times, March marked the beginning of both agricultural activities [i] and the campaigning season [ii], so it is no surprise that this month was sacred to Mars, the Roman God of war and agriculture.

Photographs taken at (from left to righ): Oudheidkundig Museum Leiden (Netherlands), Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, LVR-RömerMuseum Xanten and Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln (Germany)

The English “March” derives from Latin “Martius mensis” [iii], meaning “the Month of Mars”. On the first day of the month, celebrations were held in His honour [iv].

Apparently, women played an important role in these celebrations , even though He, being a war God, generally tended to get more attention from men. The following story was told to explain why women celebrated March 1:

During the reign of King Romulus, the Romans abducted and married women from a neighbouring tribe called the Sabines (Latin: Sabini), as there was a shortage of women among the Romans. When the Sabines were about to attack in retaliation, the now happily married Sabine women were put in a difficult position, because depending on who would won, they would either lose their Sabine fathers or their Roman husbands.

On the day when the confrontation between the Romans and the Sabine men was supposed to take place, the Sabine women suddenly showed up on the battle field. With loose hair and dressed in funeral clothing, they held their half-Roman children and stood between the two parties that were about to attack one another. Their attempt to deescalate the situation by showing off their adorable, innocent infants was successful and the Sabines and the Romans made peace. The important role women played in preventing this war was reflected in their role during the Feriae Marti, the festivities in honour of Mars.

The Matronalia in honour of Iuno Lucina were also celebrated on March 1, making it a busy day for women. [iv]

Woodblock print from: Smith, William (1868) A Smaller Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. London: John Murray: p326.

Throughout the month of March, a  group of 12 priests called the “Salii” ( “leaping priests”) would carry 12 shields from the temple of Mars in a procession across Rome.

One of these shields was the mythical ancile, the bronze shield that was supposed to have fallen from the sky during the reign of king Numa. As the success of Rome was believed to be linked to the Ancile, just like the success of Troy was linked to the Palladium, it needed to be protected. Following the advice of the Nymph Egeria, king Numa had 11 identical-looking shields made. They were kept together with the original to confuse enemies who would want to cause the fall of Rome by stealing the shield, just like Ulixes had symbolically caused the fall of Troy by stealing the Palladium. [iv]

King Numa gave the shields to the Salii along with instructions for a song they had to sing.  

Mamurius, the maker of the 11 fake ancilia, was rewarded with an honourable mention at the end of the song. [iv]

References:

[i] Daly, Kathleen N. & Marian Rengel (2009) Greek and Roman Mythology, A to Z. Infobase Publishing: p89.
[ii] Phang, Sara Elise (2008) Roman Military Service: Ideologies of Discipline in the Late Republic and Early Principate. Cambridge University Press: p89.
[iii] Harper, Dougrlas. "March" <http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=march> (accessed: March 6, 2017).
[iv] Ovid. Fasti. Book III: March 1.