Ides of March
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The Ides of March (Template:Lang-la) is the name of the date 15 March in the Roman calendar. The term ides was used for the 15th day of the months of March, May, July, and October.[1] In Roman times, the Ides of March was a festive day dedicated to the god Mars and a military parade was usually held. In modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date that Julius Caesar was assassinated, in 44 BC, the story of which was famously dramatized in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar.[2]
Etymology
The term idūs (ides) is thought to have originally been the day of the full moon. The Romans considered this an auspicious day in their calendar. The word ides comes from Latin, meaning "half division" (of a month) but is probably of non-Indoeuropean origin.[3]
==Assassination of Julius Caesari hate this bith suck ma dick er warned Caesar to be on his guard against a great peril on the day of the month of March which the Romans call the Ides, and when the day had come and Caesar was on his way to the senate-house, he greeted the seer with a jest and said: "The Ides of March has come", to which the seer replied: "Aye Caesar, but not gone".[4]As the Senate convened, Caesar was attacked and stabbed to death by a group of senators who called themselves the Liberatores ("Liberators"); they justified their tyrannicide on the grounds that they were preserving the Republic from Caesar's alleged monarchical ambitions.
Usage in modern popular culture
In music
| Band/Artist | Album | Song | Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Ides of March | – | – | |
| Thee Mighty Caesars | Beware the Ides of March | – | 1985 |
| Iron Maiden | Killers | The Ides of March | 1981 |
| Silverstein | Discovering the Waterfront | Ides of March | 2005 |
| Codeine | The White Birch | Ides | 1994 |
| On Thin Ice | – | The Ides Of March | 2005 |
In print, film, television and theatre
- A paperback reprint of material from MAD Magazine, from the late 1950s, is titled The Ides of MAD.
- A 1970 Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch entitled "Julius Caesar On an Aldis Lamp" had the seer sending the message "Beware the Ides of March" to Caesar using Morse code.
- An episode in the fourth season of Xena: Warrior Princess is entitled "Ides of March", wherein Caesar is murdered.
- A social commentary play, written by Duncan Ley, was entitled "The Ides of March" and premiered at The White Bear Theatre in London, UK, on 28 November 2008.
Observances
- The internet group Anonymous used the phrase "beware the Ides of March" when referring to its then-upcoming March 15th, 2008 mass protest against the Church of Scientology.
- The Ides of March are celebrated every year by the Rome Hash House Harriers with a toga run in the streets of Rome, in the same place where Julius Caesar was killed.
- The Atlanta Chapter of the Dagorhir Battle Games Association hosts an annual spring event at Red Horse Stables on the weekend closest to the 15th of March. The event is appropriately named "The Ides of March".