As most of us remember from our English classes, Julius Caesar was one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays. On Act I, Caesar blew off the soothsayer who told him to "beware the Ides of March." The word “Ides” comes from an old Latin verb, which means "to divide." It is the Roman term for the day that comes in the middle of each month. It refers to the first full moon of a specific month, which usually lands on the 15th of March, May, July, and October. It was marked as the day of betrayal by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus and the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. Julius Caesar’s death was so significant that various religious traditions had made this notorious day an unofficial holiday. Besides that, it is also a turning point in Roman history, as it is one of the events that marked the transition from the historical period known as the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire.
Even though March is the third month of our calendar, back then in the oldest Roman calendar it was the first month of the year. The holidays observed by the Romans from the first through the Ides often reflect their origin as new-year celebrations. Before, the Romans did not number days of a month in order from the first through the last day. But instead, they counted back from three fixed points of the month: the Nones (5th or 7th, depending on the length of the month), the Ides (13th or 15th), and the Kalends (1st of the following month). As mentioned before, the Ides occurred near the midpoint, on the 13th for most months, but on the 15th for March, May, July, and October.
From Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, the quote “Beware the Ides of March” was the soothsayer's cryptic warning to Julius Caesar of his inevitable death. The meaning of Ides being a dangerous date was just an expression that Shakespeare invented. Research after research, people found out that there was no real meaning to it. However, history has proven that this is a fairly unlucky day due to the tragedies that have occurred on this day.
Katerine Chung
beware
The Ides of March