FACTOID #151: The five countries with the highest coffee consumption are also the five countries whose citizens trust one another the most. Coincidence? Probably.
In the Roman calendar, March was sacred to Mars. The "jumping priests," or Salii started out the Festival of the Salii on March 23 with a purification of the sacred trumpets that the Romans carried off to war. That date was originally the new year because it was the start of the growing and campaign season. The Salii were Roman priests of Mars. ... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). ...
On March 21, the Salii marched to the regium. And they took the bronze ancilia, the sacred shields that had fallen down form heaven, and they processed with them. They danced through the streets carrying in their left hands poles with the shields mounted on them. With their other hand, they banged the shields with a drumstick. Even in the time of Cicero, the hymns they sang were so ancient that Cicero could not understand them. March 21 is the 80th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (81st in leap years). ... Marcus Tullius Cicero (standard English pronunciation ; Classical Latin pronunciation ) (January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC) was an orator and statesman of Ancient Rome, and is generally considered the greatest Latin orator and prose stylist. ...
At the end of each night, they would stop at a place to be feasted before starting up again the next day.
This festival would end on March 24 when they would return to the regia and return the shields. March 24 is the 83rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (84th in Leap years). ...
Thus in March a Roman would see the Salii all over the city.
SALII, the "dancers," an old Italian priesthood, said to have been instituted by Numa for the service of Mars, although later tradition derived them from Greece.
They were originally twelve in number, called Salii Palatini to distinguish them from a second college of twelve, Salii Agonales or Collini, said to have been added by Tullus Hostilius; the Palatini were consecrated to Mars, the Collini to Quirinus.
On the 1st, they marched in procession through the city, dressed in an embroidered tunic, a brazen breastplate and a peaked cap; each carried a sword by his side and a short staff in his right hand, with which the shield, borne on the left arm, was struck from time to time.
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