a.d. XVI Kal. Apr.
March 17 in Ancient Rome
Liberalia: boys put on the toga of manhood
The day a Roman boy became a man
festivalRepublic & Empire (annual)
Roman calendar date
At the festival of Liber, god of wine and freedom, old women sold honey cakes and Roman boys often received the toga virilis, the gown of adulthood.
Background
A Roman boy wore the toga praetexta, with a purple border, and a protective amulet called the bulla. Somewhere around the age of fifteen or sixteen ages varied by family, he put these away and took the plain white toga virilis, the "gown of manhood". The ceremony ended with his family and friends escorting him to the Forum, where he was enrolled as a citizen.
Many families chose the Liberalia for this, and Ovid wonders why. Perhaps, he suggests, because Liber, the Italian god identified with Bacchus, always looks young; or because a father entrusts his son to a father-god; or because, as Liber, the god suits the "gown of liberty" and a freer life. He also offers a historical reason: in old times, when farmers came into the city for the god's games, the day guaranteed a crowd to celebrate the new citizen per Ovid, offering possibilities.
The street side of the festival is described by Varro: all over the town, old women crowned with ivy sat as priestesses of Liber with cakes and a little hearth, making an offering on behalf of each buyer per Varro. Ovid explains the details: the god loved honey, and ivy was his favourite plant. For one day the Forum smelled of honey and wine, and families marked a child's passage into adult life.
Ancient source: Ovid, Fasti 3.713–790 · Reference
Sources
Read moreBattle of Munda: Caesar’s last battle
Battle of Munda: Caesar’s last battle
“This time I fought for my life”
politics45 BC
Julian date · ≈ Mar 15 on our calendar
Near Munda in southern Spain, Caesar defeated the army of Pompey’s sons in a desperate battle fought on the feast of Liber.
Julius Caesar
Background
Pompey the Great had been killed in Egypt in 48 BC, and his allies crushed in Africa in 46. But his sons, Gnaeus and Sextus Pompeius, raised a large army in southern Spain, where their father had many clients. Caesar, now consul for the fourth time, marched against them himself in the winter of 46–45 BC.
The decisive battle was fought near the town of Munda. Plutarch says Caesar's army was hard pressed and wavering, until he ran through the ranks shouting at his soldiers whether they were not ashamed to hand him over to boys. With great difficulty the line was restored and the enemy broken; Plutarch gives 30,000 enemy dead against 1,000 of Caesar's best men per Plutarch; ancient casualty figures are often inflated. Afterwards Caesar told friends that he had often fought for victory, but this was the first time he had fought for his life.
Plutarch adds that the battle fell on the feast of Bacchus, the same day on which Pompey had left Italy for the war four years before. Gnaeus was hunted down and killed; Sextus escaped and fought on for years at sea. Caesar's triumph over fellow Romans displeased many, Plutarch says. It was his last war.
Ancient source: Plutarch, Caesar 56 · Reference
Sources
☁ Rome today (1991–2020 avg): 16°/6°C (61°/43°F) · rain 20% of days
Rome in MarchMarch, once the first month of the year, reopened the seasons of war and…
Columella
The sun enters Aries; west wind or north-west wind. (De Re Rust. 11.2)
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
Non est vivere, sed valere vita est.
“Life is not just being alive, but being well.”
Martial, Epigrams 6.70 · translation ours (literal)
