March 15 – The Ides of March

nPostednon March 15, 2015

n
n

nEverynonce in a while, you hear about the Ides of March, or you hear anline: “Beware the Ides of March.” There is even a 2011 moviennamed The Ides of March.

n
n

nWhatnexactly ARE the Ides of March?

n
n

nItnis a day on the Ancient Roman calendar that corresponds to our modernnMarch 15. It was the date of some religious ceremonies, including anprocession with the “Ides sheep” and a sacrifice of the sheep.nThere was a feast and a festival to celebrate the the new year, andnlater on the holiday evolved to become the first day of a holy weeknthat ended with the date of the spring equinox (one of two days ofnthe year when day and night are equal in length).

n
n

nSo—whatnshould anyone “beware of” during all this feasting andnmerrymaking?

n
n

nThenIdes of March are now best known as the date on which Julius Caesar,none of the most influential rulers of Ancient Rome, was assassinatednin 44 BCE. He was assassinated in a very public way – stabbed tondeath at a meeting of the senate – and it was his as many as 60 ofnhis own “friends” and fellow statesmen who conspired against andnattacked him. n

n
n

nAccordingnto Greek historian Plutarch, who lived about a century after Caesarndied, Caesar was warned by a “seer” (someone who supposedlynpredicts the future) that he would be harmed no later than the Idesnof March. Shakespeare dramatized this prediction in his play JuliusnCaesar, and put in the seer’s mouth the famous words, “Bewarenthe Ides of March.”

n
n