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The ancient peoples did not understand the sky as we do. For them, the Earth was a stationary platform in the ‘center’ of the universe. The sky and all other things revolved around the Earth, more specifically, around humankind. The sky was an empyrean realm, changeless, an abode of gods and legendary figures. Among these figures reigned Ares (Greek) or Mars (Roman) the fearsome god of war. So vital was this god’s good will, that the ancient Romans actually started their calendar with a month of ‘Mars,’ our ‘March.’ (Check the etymology of the word March). It was only later, when the calendar underwent its first major reform (Julius Caesar, 46 B.C.), that Mars (March) moved to the position it now occupies, and September (and all the rest) moved along with it. The necessity of calendar reform at various times in Western history derived from the a lack of precise knowledge of the length of the tropical year (365.2422 days).
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