'Beware the Ides of March.'
This is a famous line from William Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar. In the play, a soothsayer asks the Roman leader Julius Caesar to be wary on the 15th of March. He ignores the warning and ends up with 23 stabs on his back in the theatre of Pompeii.
Around 60 conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius, were involved in Caesar's assassination. The murder was a real-life event by mutinous senators, way back in 44 BC.
Ever since Caesar's assassination, the date has been considered unlucky. However, the date was known for better reasons back in the day. In Latin, the word "ides" means "in the middle of". The ides signified the middle of each month. March was the first month of the Roman calendar and the date of the first full moon of the year.
The death of Caesar not only etched the Ides of March in everyone's memories as an unlucky date -- somewhat on the lines of Friday, the 13th -- but also marked a key transition in Roman history when the ensuing political upheaval ended the Roman Republic. Thus began the age of the Roman Empire.
Twitter has been awash with interesting tidbits of the historical event.
There are facts:
To the #Romans, March was the start of the new year. The goddess of long life & renewal, Anna Perenna, was celebrated on the 15th, being the #IdesofMarch. Offerings were made to her in a joyful fertility festival. On this day #JuliusCaesar chose to be unwary. #FolkloreThursday pic.twitter.com/GaFaL1AVCU
— Maude Frome (@frome_maude) March 15, 2018
Today is The #IdesOfMarch: It was an important day on Roman Calendar to begin with but became infamous when Roman Senators, led by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus and Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus assassinated Julius Caesar near the Theatre of Pompey pic.twitter.com/BvphVnkBhq
— Stonewall Jackson (@1776Stonewall) March 15, 2018
"Hardly any of his assassins survived him for more than 3 years, or died a natural death.." ~ Suetonius, Life of Julius Caesar, 89. #IdesOfMarch pic.twitter.com/efQIPw4Kf9
— Tom Ljevar (@tomljevar) March 15, 2018
Julius Caesar was pronounced 'YOO-lee-us KYE-sahr' in ancient Rome. #IdesofMarch pic.twitter.com/x6utLo0toP
— Klaas Meijer (@klaasm67) March 15, 2018
There are figures:
One of the greatest works of art depicting the death of the #Roman statesman, Julius Caesar which occurred on the #IdesofMarch, 44 BC. Power is fleeting...to imagine that five years earlier, Caesar had crossed the Rubicon. (Artist: Vincenzo Camuccini (1798) @Capodimonte_mus) pic.twitter.com/MXCr50W5IA
— John Trikeriotis (@spartanwarriors) March 15, 2018
On the #IdesofMarch the Roman senate met in a makeshift curia at the theatre complex of Caesar’s old rival, Pompey. Caesar was assassinated in the hall at the end of the formal gardens. Reconstruction by Golvin #IdesofMarch pic.twitter.com/EKv79HmK9P
— Gareth Harney (@OptimoPrincipi) March 15, 2018
Caesar was assassinated at the Curia Pompeia, within the Theater of Pompey's complex. #IdesOfMarch The site where Julius Caesar was betrayed and killed in 44 BC is now a stray cat-sanctuary. ttps://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Theatre_of_Pompey_Sketch_up_model.png #Rome pic.twitter.com/fspYGg2gL5
— Ticia Verveer (@ticiaverveer) March 15, 2018
Beware the Ides of March!
— Following Hadrian (@carolemadge) March 15, 2018
Julius Caesar was assassinated #onthisday in 44 BC. #IdesOfMarch
(image: The so-called Green Caesar from Egypt, a posthumous bust showing Caesar as a statesman dressed in a toga) pic.twitter.com/Y4vPPKhg3B
Brilliant! Just Brilliant! #IdesofMarch ideas! pic.twitter.com/OLjsiDxraO
— Jonathan Fernandez (@just1doctorwala) March 11, 2018
There are pictures:
This is Torre Argentina in Rome, the spot near where Julius Caesar was stabbed #onthisday in 44 BC.#IdesOfMarch pic.twitter.com/JNi6izBM6o
— Following Hadrian (@carolemadge) March 15, 2018
Flowers left on the altar that marks the site of the funeral pyre in the Forum Romanum where Julius Caesar's body was cremated #IdesOfMarch pic.twitter.com/1lTyOc4PFs
— Following Hadrian (@carolemadge) March 15, 2018
Coins that mark the historical event:
Here's one of my preciouses. A portrait coin of Caesar as a priest, minted shortly before the Ides of March, and at a time when minting the portraits of living people was a scandalous novelty in the Roman republic, smacking altogether of monarchy... #IdesOfMarch pic.twitter.com/dkWN8l6NPE
— Tom Holland (@holland_tom) March 15, 2018
Julius #Caesar was assassinated by his own senators #onthisday in 44 B.C. This coin commemorates the act, with a portrait of #Brutus on the front and "Eid Mar," or #IdesOfMarch, emblazoned on the back along with two daggers and a liberty cap. #TodayInHistory pic.twitter.com/bIkQ8DhbeW
— Museum of Fine Arts (@mfaboston) March 15, 2018
Caesar's Comet, said to have shone for 7 days in 44 BC, was interpreted as a sign of the deification of recently assassinated Julius Caesar. It appears on the reverse of this Augustus coin c. 19 BC along with the words Divvs Ivlivs, meaning Divine Julius. #IdesOfMarch pic.twitter.com/HNYHI9hN0Y
— Ashmolean Museum (@AshmoleanMuseum) March 15, 2018
Quotes:
“Cowards die many times before their deaths,
— ShakespeareArgentina (@ShakespeareArg) March 15, 2018
The valiant never taste of death but once” JC 2.2 #IdesofMarch #Shakespeare
“If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.” #IdesofMarch #JuliusCaesar #OTD pic.twitter.com/K32CROFNhk
— Heather Lyons (@HezTalk) March 15, 2018
As Shakespeare once so beautifully wrote,
— Rebekah (@rebekahxdiane) March 15, 2018
"Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars
But in ourselves, that we are underlings." #IdesOfMarch
Music:
It's the #IdesofMarch Music Lovers - the day & the band! Watch "Vehicle - The Ides Of March 1970" on YouTube - https://t.co/koMSA4wsvJ
— Bill deTurk (@Intoxicologyst) March 15, 2018
Poetry too:
C.P. Cavafy, “The Ides of March”, translated by @DMendelsohn1960 #poetry #Greece #IdesOfMarch pic.twitter.com/vaJxqAakwG
— C.P. Cavafy (@CCavafy) March 15, 2018
And here come the jokes and memes:
Used to spend a lot of time in courtrooms. One judge, whenever something was scheduled for March 15, would tell the accused "Beware the #IdesOfMarch."
— Kevin Crush (@KevinCrush) March 15, 2018
In 4 years, I never saw one accused get it. They just looked puzzled.
So this Roman centurion goes into a bar and orders a martinus.
— Ro Pi (@TheRAP1966) March 15, 2018
The bartender asks, “Do you mean a martini?”
The centurion says, “Look, if I wanted a double I’d tell you!”#idesofmarch
Beware the eiders of March. #IdesOfMarch
— US Fish and Wildlife (@USFWS) March 15, 2018
(Though they’re pretty steller) pic.twitter.com/b1uyrmKwpN
Don't turn your back on those dozens today! Beware the #IdesofMarch pic.twitter.com/ZBZEUPdmO8
— krispykreme (@krispykreme) March 15, 2018
So far no one's noticed ominous #IdesOfMarch sign I added to newsroom trashcan pic.twitter.com/nVQ07mfMHa
— David Nelson (@DavidNelsonNews) March 15, 2018
You got this. #Shakespeare #IdesOfMarch #ThursdayThoughts #ThursdayThrowback #tbt pic.twitter.com/FaIo7tK3g1
— Strand Book Store (@strandbookstore) March 15, 2018
Yon Cassius had a lean & hungry look, so Caesar told him to go across the Rubicon & get a salad. #IdesOfMarch #FracturedFairyTales
— Bob Hepburn (@BobHepburn1) March 15, 2018
Caesar salads should be 1/2 off today, but only if you eat it with a knife.#ThursdayThoughts #IdesOfMarch
— Abraham Lopez (@AbeLopezAuthor) March 15, 2018
Et tu, Brute? #IdesOfMarch pic.twitter.com/RClBDbvNXI
— Pamela Dollak (@acpresspamela) March 15, 2018
“Beware the Tides with starch.” Not good for your clothes. #IdesOfMarch
— Charles Osborne (@AStarOsborne) March 15, 2018
