Editing March (section)

== History ==
[[Image:Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry mars.jpg|right|thumb|March, from the {{lang|fr|[[Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry]]}}, a book of prayers to be said at [[canonical hours]]]]

The name of March comes from ''[[Martius (month)|Martius]]'', the first month of the earliest [[Roman calendar]]. It was named after [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]], the [[List of Roman deities|Roman god]] of war, and an ancestor of the Roman people through his sons [[Romulus and Remus]]. His month ''Martius'' was the beginning of the season for warfare,<ref>[[Mary Beard (classicist)|Mary Beard]], John North, and Simon Price, ''Religions of Rome'' (Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 47–48 and 53.</ref> and the [[Roman festivals|festivals]] held in his honor during the month were mirrored by others in October, when the season for these activities came to a close.<ref>Michael Lipka, ''Roman Gods: A Conceptual Approach'' (Brill, 2009), p. 37. The views of [[Georg Wissowa]] on the festivals of Mars framing the military campaigning season are summarized by C. Bennett Pascal, "October Horse," ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'' 85 (1981),  p. 264, with bibliography.</ref> ''Martius'' remained the first month of the Roman calendar year perhaps as late as 153 BC,<ref>[[H.H. Scullard]], ''Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic'' (Cornell University Press, 1981), p. 84; Gary Forsythe, ''Time in Roman Religion: One Thousand Years of Religious History'' (Routledge, 2012), p. 14 (on the uncertainty of when the change occurred).</ref> and several [[Religion in ancient Rome|religious observances]] in the first half of the month were originally [[new year]]'s celebrations.<ref>Scullard, ''Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic'', p. 85ff.</ref> Even in [[late antiquity]], [[Roman mosaic]]s picturing the months sometimes still placed March first.<ref>Aïcha Ben Abed, ''Tunisian Mosaics: Treasures from Roman Africa'' (Getty Publications, 2006), p. 113.</ref>

[[March 1]] began the numbered year in Russia until the end of the 15th century. [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and its colonies continued to use March 25 until 1752, when they finally adopted the Gregorian calendar (the fiscal year in the UK continues to begin on 6 April, initially identical to 25 March in the former Julian calendar). Many other cultures, for example in Iran, or Ethiopia, still celebrate the beginning of the New Year in March.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-15 |title=Nowruz is a celebration of springtime—and a brand new year |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/nowruz-ancient-festival-celebration-springtime-new-year |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318172150/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/nowruz-ancient-festival-celebration-springtime-new-year |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 18, 2021 |access-date=2022-06-29 |website=History |language=en}}</ref>

March is the first month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere (North America, Europe, Asia and part of Africa) and the first month of fall or autumn in the Southern Hemisphere (South America, part of Africa, and Oceania).

Ancient Roman observances celebrated in March include [[Agonalia#Agonium Martiale|Agonium Martiale]], celebrated on March 1, March 14, and March 17,  [[Matronalia]], celebrated on March 1, [[Junonalia]],  celebrated on March 7, [[Equirria]], celebrated on March 14, [[Mamuralia]], celebrated on either March 14 or March 15, [[Hilaria]] on March 15 and then through March 22–28, [[Argei]], celebrated on March 16–17, [[Liberalia]] and [[Bacchanalia]], celebrated March 17, [[Quinquatria]], celebrated March 19–23, and [[Tubilustrium]], celebrated March 23. These dates do not correspond to the modern [[Gregorian calendar]].