Romans began their year in March, a month dedicated to Mars, the god of war. (Greek? Ares.) So, it makes sense that if they’re going to taint the zodiac, they’re going to put their mark all over it by starting the wheel with Aries, the sun sign associated with Mars and Greek for Mars.
Yay for warmongers.
Apparently, though, Mars was originally a nature god. It probably makes sense if all dieties began as nature gods, but I’m still going to look into this more. Why would Mars, a nature god, become a god of war? That’s a pretty radical switch. I’m sure it’s political, but I want specifics.
While researching Roman calendars, I keep finding that Romans originally began their new year on what we consider March 25th, the date they equated with the vernal equinox. (They would have considered it March 1st.) That is around the beginning of Aries. It all fits together beautifully, doesn’t it?
We have so much to thank the Romans for.
on Apr 27th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Fascinating.
I just saw on Wiki that the Romans were also the ones who changed the calendar to have January be first. Janus- the god of openings, doors, beginnings and endings.