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MAIN Arrow to Home Life Home Life Arrow to Home Life - Holidays Holidays & Observances Arrow to Ides of March Ides of March

Beware the Ides of March!

Abuse of power has its pitfalls, with a day of reckoning just up ahead. Beware...


Julius Caesar: The Ides of March
What is the "Ides of March" and why should anyone beware the date holding such bad news and omens?

The warning was first given to the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar, whose empire stretched throughout the known world. As Caesar's power grew, so did the number of his enemies who secretly plotted the emperor's fatal comeuppance.

The date they chose was March 15th, the Ides of March 44 BC.

Why the "Ides"?

The word ides comes from a Latin word that means "to divide" and marked the halfway point in Roman months. "The ides", then, is simply the middle of the month. It was only in 44 BC that dark clouds began to form around the middle of March as the famous plot to assasinate Caesar drew near ...

Caesar gets a warning

Death of Julius Caesar, Ides of March 44 BC
Death of Julius Caesar, by Italian artist Vincenzo
Camuccini, depicts the fateful day in 44 BC.

 

Today, historians think the plot had already begun to buzz around Rome when soothsayer Titus Vestricius Spurinna famously warned Caesar ...“beware the Ides of March.” The terrible forecast, therefore, may have been based more on Rome's worst kept secret than any special physic powers on the part of the seer.

Alas, at the end of the day it didn't matter.

A swaggering, over-confident Julius Caesar met his terrible fate when he ignored the advice.

A famous line from Shakespeare

Besides the "ides", warnings against pride and arrogance were given before and since in countless literary works. ("pride goeth before a fall" first sounded the general alarm in that ancient book of wisdom, the Bible.)




Ides of March - Beware!
Related Web Resources:

Ides of March? Why Worry?

Roman Empire - Ides of March


However, the lesson of Julius Caesar may have been lost to history had it not been for William Shakespeare, who wrote the very popular play Julius Caesar, where the famous line is quoted for generations to come in in Act I, Scene II.

Today, theater-goers worldwide know that Caesar will die a horrible death because he is too proud to see the signs of impending doom. And, as always, audience reaction remains the same : "Caesar, don't go inside the Senate! "Listen up! You're about to get whacked!" — but, again, always too late.

The moral of the story? Abuse of power has its pitfalls, with a day of reckoning just up ahead. Beware...

also see in Society & Superstitions -> Friday the 13th


 

 

 

More about Ancient Rome:

Ancient Roman History

Art History

Play Scripts

Roman Colosseum

Italy Tourist Attractions

Rome Tourist Attractions

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