The Ides of March – Sharing History

You may have heard the famous phrase penned by William Shakespeare in his play Julius Caesar: “Beware the ides of March.” What are the ides of March, and why should we be wary of them?

According to the ancient Roman calendar, the ides were the 13-15^th day of each month. The calendar the Romans were using was extremely inconsistent. The calendar was on a four-year cycle with 12 months in the first and third years and 13 months in the second and fourth. The months could have anywhere from 23-31 days in them. To provide some uniformity, the months had three important days: the first day, called kalends, the fifth or seventh day (depending on how many days in the month), called nones, and the thirteenth or fifteenth day, called the ides. It was Julius Caesar himself who adjusted the calendar after coming into power. The Julian calendar he created had 365 days and 12 months.

Now that you know what the ides are, why should you beware them? Shakespeare’s line refers to the fact that Caesar was murdered on the 15 of March 44 BCE. Caesar had risen to power in the government of the Roman Republic over the last 20 years. He made himself prominent as a lawyer and invaluable as a military leader before appointed to the office of consul, the highest in their government. As such he pursued an expansion of the empire and became its dictator. A group of senators conspired to kill Caesar, hoping that they could restore the republic. They attacked Caesar on the ides of March, stabbing 23 times. Unfortunately, the assassination didn’t yield the hoped-for results. Instead, it caused a civil war from which Caesar’s heir apparent, Augustus Caesar, emerged the leader. This was the official beginning of the Roman Empire and the death of the Roman Republic. The ides of March turned out to be unlucky for both Caesar and the Roman Republic. Thus, Shakespeare’s warning against the ides of March.

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“Beware the Ides of March”