Ides of March

:This entry is about the date. For the '70s band, see The Ides of March.

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In the Roman calendar the ides of March fell on the 15th day of the Roman month of Martius (although it should be noted that this would correspond to March 14 today, due to differences in the way that the months were calculated). The Ides was an auspicious day in the Roman calendar, falling on the 15th of March, May, July and October and on the 13th of the other months.

Related Topics:
Roman calendar - March 14

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The date is famous because Julius Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March, 44 BC. According to the Roman writer Plutarch, Caesar had been warned of the danger but had disregarded the warning:

Related Topics:
Julius Caesar - 44 BC - Plutarch

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:What is still more extraordinary, many report that a certain soothsayer forewarned him of a great danger which threatened him on the Ides of March, and that when the day was come, as he was going to the senate-house, he called to the soothsayer, and said, laughing, "The Ides of March are come"; to which the soothsayer answered, softly, "Yes; but they are not gone."

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The Ides was one of only three named days in the Roman calendar, each of which served as a reference point for counting the other days:

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• Kalends (1st day of the month)
• Nones (the 7th day in March, May, July, and October; the 5th in the other months)
• Ides (the 15th day in March, May, July, and October; the 13th in the other months)

The remaining, unnamed days of the month were identified by counting backwards from the Kalends, Nones, or the Ides. For example, March 3 would be V Nones ? 5 days before the Nones (the Roman method of counting days was inclusive; in other words, the Nones would be counted as one of the 5 days).

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Although the Roman calendar was eventually displaced by the modern days of the week around the 3rd century AD, the Ides continued to be used in a vernacular sense for centuries afterwards. When Shakespeare wrote the famous line "Beware the Ides of March!" in his play Julius Caesar in 1599, he did so in the reasonable assumption that his audience would have a good idea of what the Ides were.

Related Topics:
Days of the week - 3rd century - Shakespeare - Julius Caesar - 1599

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