From the Roman calendar month Martius, named for the god Mars, March was the original beginning of the year, and the time for the resumption of war. Mars is the Roman god of war. He is identified with the Greek god Ares. Most of us are familiar with March as the month with the ominous soothsayer's warning to Gaius Julius Caesar about the Ides. The first day of the Roman month was the Kalends. In March, the Kalends coincided with the beginning of spring and New Year's Day.