As mid-March approaches, you’ll no doubt hear the oft-repeated saying “Beware the ides of March.” It’s a strangely archaic phrase that doesn’t make much sense to modern ears without knowing some important historical context, as well as the ins and outs of ancient moon-based calendars — what are “ides,” anyway? Here are six amazing facts about this famous phrase, and its relation to arguably one of the most important moments in Western history.
The Phrase Comes From William Shakespeare
In Act 1, Scene 2 of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Roman politician (and future assassin) Marcus Junius Brutus and the play’s eponymous character are approached through a crowd by a soothsayer who has a warning — “Beware the ides of March.” The two Romans dismiss the fortuneteller as a “dreamer” and go about their business as usual. Of course, the warning proved deadly accurate; for the Romans, the “ides” was the middle of the month, and Julius Caesar was famously assassinated on March 15, 44 BCE.
Roman historians say that in reality (not just Shakespeare’s fictionalized version), the soothsayer’s name was Spurinna. He was Etruscan, an ancient people often associated with divination, and served as a haruspex — someone who inspects the entrails of sacrificed animals for clues about the future. However, there’s no record of Spurinna pinpointing the ides of March specifically; instead, he warned Caesar to be wary of the next month generally, a period that would end on March 15. Scholars believe this was likely just a calculated guess, as Roman politicians were already turning against Caesar, who had been named dictator for life, and the famed military leader was leaving the capital for another military campaign on March 18. If Caesar was going to be assassinated, it would likely be in the month of March.
The “Ides” Were Part of Rome’s Archaic Lunar Calendar
Although the phrase “the ides of March” carries with it a sinister connotation because of the bloody business done on that day two millennia ago, the ides — along with the nones and kalends — are simply ancient markers of the moon’s phases that were part of Rome’s lunar calendar. “Kalends” referred to the new moon (or first of the month), “ides” meant the middle of the month (the 13th in some months and the 15th in others), and “nones” referred to the quarter moon. For a time, the ides of March was actually the beginning of the new year in Rome.
Caesar Himself Got Rid of Ides Entirely
Although the ides of March is closely related to Julius Caesar, the famous Roman leader was directly responsible for tossing out the old, lunar-based calendar entirely. In 45 BCE, Caesar — after consulting top mathematicians and astronomers — instituted the solar-based Julian calendar, a timekeeping system remarkably similar to the calendar we use today.
To implement the new system, Caesar created what has since become known as “the year of confusion,” in which the year 46 BCE lasted for 445 days so the new Julian calendar could begin on January 1. One scholar even argues that this drastic change could’ve been seen by conspiratorial senators as an attack on Roman tradition, and the assassins might’ve purposefully selected the “ides of March” as a symbolic gesture against Caesar and his reforms.
Every Year Romans Reenact Caesar’s Assassination on March 15
Every year (barring worldwide pandemics) Romans reenact the murderous drama that unfolded near the Curia of Pompey two millennia ago. (A curia is a structure where Roman senate members would meet.) However, it wasn’t until 2015 when members of the Roman Historical Group got the chance to recreate Caesar’s final moments on the exact spot where it happened, after finally getting access to the ruins of the curia itself.
The reenactment generally unfolds in three parts — first with the senators’ accusations, followed by Caesar’s actual assassination, and then concluding with speeches from both Brutus and Mark Antony justifying their actions. In an interview with NBC News, the Caesar impersonator said this annual bit of theater is about honoring the ancient leader, because “Rome wouldn’t have been as great without him.”
Caesar Was Deified as a Roman God
Although the Roman pantheon was largely borrowed from ancient Greece, Rome added a few deified originals of its own. One of the most important was the two-headed Janus, the god of doorways and transitions and the namesake of the month of January. But Rome also deified many of its most important leaders, and named months after some of them. After Caesar’s death on the ides of March, a Roman cult known as divus Julius pushed for Caesar’s official divinity. Caesar’s adopted heir, Octavian (known to history as Augustus), later became Rome’s first emperor and similarly received the divinity treatment. The effects of this Roman imperial cult can be seen in today’s calendar, as July and August are named for the two ancient rulers.
The Location of Caesar’s Murder Is Now a Cat Sanctuary
The Curia of Pompey used to be home to the hustle and bustle of toga-wearing senators going about the business of empire, but it’s now the domain of cats. First excavated during the reign of Benito Mussolini in 1929, the Largo di Torre Argentina houses the remains of the curia where Caesar met his end, as well as the ruins of several temples. However, today the Colonia Felina di Torre Argentina takes care of more than 100 cats that prowl the ancient grounds. Although visitors can glimpse the ruins from street level some 20 feet above ground, only cats are usually allowed to slink among the grounds where the ides of March earned its infamous reputation.