a.d. VII Id. Mart.
March 9 in Ancient Rome
The Salii carry the sacred shields
Shields that fell from the sky
festivalRepublic & Empire (annual)
Roman calendar date
The Calendar of 354 notes that on this day "the arms, the ancilia, are moved": the leaping priests of Mars paraded the sacred shields through Rome.
Background
In March, the month of Mars, Rome prepared for the campaigning season. One of the oldest rituals belonged to the Salii, a college of priests of Mars named, Ovid says, from their leaping (saltus). Dressed as archaic warriors, they danced through the city carrying bronze shields and singing a hymn so old that later Romans could barely understand it.
The shields had a legend. Ovid tells how, under King Numa, a shield fell from a cloudless sky after three claps of thunder. It was called the ancile because it was "cut away" all round, with no corners. Since the empire's fate was said to depend on it, Numa had the smith Mamurius make eleven identical copies so that no thief or traitor could tell which was the real one. Asked to name his reward, Mamurius asked only that his name be sung at the end of the Salian hymn legend, per Ovid.
The Calendar of 354 still marks the moving of the arms on 9 March, centuries after Numa. Ovid adds a practical warning for ordinary families: while the shields were being carried, it was a bad time for a wedding. A girl eager to marry, he advises, should wait per Ovid.
Ancient source: Calendar of 354 (VII Id. Mart.: ARMA ANCILIA MOVENT); Ovid, Fasti 3.259–392 · Reference
Sources
☁ Rome today (1991–2020 avg): 14°/5°C (57°/41°F) · rain 26% of days
Rome in MarchMarch, once the first month of the year, reopened the seasons of war and…
Fields & crops
Columella calls March the best time for pruning vines and the first digging of vineyards; spring crops like millet were readied per Columella 11.2.
Courts & law
Legal and public business resumed in full after winter. At the Liberalia (17 Mar.) many boys put on the plain toga of manhood and were enrolled as adult citizens, with a family procession to the Forum per Ovid, Fasti 3.771–88.
Senate & politics
From c. 222 to 153 BC the consuls entered office on the Ides of March; Livy records it for 217 BC, and the starting year is a modern reconstruction per Livy 22.1.4. From 153 BC they took office on the Kalends of January per Livy, Per. 47. Caesar was killed at a Senate meeting on the Ides of March 44 BC per Suetonius, Velleius.
Military
The month of Mars opened the campaign season. The Salii carried the sacred shields, and the Tubilustrium (23 Mar.) purified the war trumpets per Varro and Ovid.
Festivals & religion
Matronalia (1 Mar.), Liberalia (17 Mar.), when boys often took the man's toga, and the Quinquatrus of Minerva (19–23 Mar.), a holiday for craftsmen, teachers and doctors per Ovid, Fasti 3.
Daily life
March, once the first month of the year, reopened the seasons of war and sailing. The Salii, Mars' leaping priests, danced through the city. On the Kalends (Matronalia), married women received gifts and in turn served a meal to the household's enslaved people per Macrobius 1.12.7; Ovid, Fasti 3. Columella treats March as prime time for pruning vines and digging per Columella 11.2.
For soldiers, the campaign season began; for traders, sea routes reopened and grain ships from Egypt and Africa could sail again, easing city food supplies.
Sources: Ovid, Fasti 3 · Varro, De Lingua Latina 6 · Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.12 · Livy 22.1.4 (Latin) · Livy, Periochae 47 (Latin) · Livy, Periochae 116 (Latin) · Suetonius, Divus Iulius 80–81 (Latin) · Velleius Paterculus 2.56 (Latin)
All days in March →
LATIN LINE OF THE DAY
Nec tecum possum vivere, nec sine te.
“I can't live with you, nor without you.”
Martial, Epigrams 12.46 · translation ours (literal)
