Note 61 — MENSIS MARTIUS.

See Nissen, Italienische Landeskunde, i. 404; Ovid, Fasti, 3. 235—

Quid, quod hiems adoperta gelu tunc denique cedit,

Et pereunt victae sole tepente nives,

Arboribus redeunt detonsae frigore frondes,

Uvidaque in tenero palmite gemma tumet:

Quaeque diu latuit, nunc se qua tollat in auras,

Fertilis occultas invenit herba vias.

Nunc fecundus ager: pecoris nunc hora creandi,

Nunc avis in ramo tecta laremque parat.

Tempora iure colunt Latiae fecunda parentes

Quarum militiam votaque partus habet.

Here we have the fertility of man, beast, and crop, all brought together: the poet is writing of March 1. The Romans reckoned spring from Favonius (Feb. 7) to about May 10 (Varro, R. R. 1. 38); March 1 would therefore usually be a day on which its first effects would be obvious to every one.