There will be at least two marches this March: the International Woman’s Day March on March 5 and the César Chávez March for Justice on March 26. It’s not an accident that we march in March. The confusing convergence of terms is explained by the very meaning of the words.

March—the walking march—is derived from the Middle English marchen, literally “to mark out”: to walk steadily and rhythmically forward in step with others. The same etymology also denotes a boundary. It can mean a frontier, a border or a disputed territory. We see it in the word demarcation, in the noble title marquis and in the English Marches, the borderland between England and Wales.

The month of March, Martius to the Romans, refers to Mars, the god of war. It heralded the beginning of spring and hence the start of the military campaigning season, which lasted through October.

Mars embarked on his battles with his sister Eris (strife) and two of his children, Phobos and Deimos (panic and rout.) His traditional color is red—Mars is the red planet, of course — a reference to spilled blood.

In the Roman tradition, weapons, horses and war-trumpets were purified from March 19, the Quinquatrus, through March 23, the Tubilustrium. These festivals also honored the goddess Minerva, who ruled over war and wisdom.

Mars got his start as the god of agriculture but as Rome evolved from an agrarian society to an empire he abandoned the plow and took up the sword.

The twists and turns of this linguistic labyrinth eventually lead us to a common center. read more…