Also: March is named after the Roman god of war, Mars.

This is because March is when they would begin to mobilize armies for campaigns. The timing is chosen by when winter wheat will be ready for harvest, so soldiers will have nearby high-calorie foot to pilfer while on campaign.

One tricky part of pre-industrial armying is that you can mostly only bring what food you can carry. Things that carry food (e.g. donkeys) require food themselves. So then you have to bring feed as well, which requires more donkeys… etc.

Instead, they would “forage” local areas. If they got there too soon, there is nothing en masse to take!