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The Ides of March, associated with Julius Caesar’s assassination, was originally a normal day in the Roman calendar. It fell in the middle of the month and was considered auspicious. Caesar was warned to beware of it but chose to go to the Senate anyway.
The Ides of March falls on the 15th day of March, although the date has also been intimately associated with the assassination of Julius Caesar, assassinated in the Roman Senate on March 15, 44 BC. Because Caesar’s death marked a radical change in Roman society, the time is familiar to most students of Western history, along with Shakespeare fans, who recall the line “Beware the Ides of March,” from his play Julius Caesar. Nowadays, the date carries a sense of menace and doom, due to this association.
However, originally, the Ides of March had no special meaning; it was simply part of the Roman calendar. The days of each month were counted in relation to Calende, the first day of the month, None, the seventh day, and Ides, which fell in the middle of the month – somewhere between the 13th and 15th, depending on the month. Usually, the Ides fell on the full moon, and it was actually an auspicious day in Roman society. This may explain why Caesar did not heed the warning of an anonymous soothsayer. The terms Calende, Idi and None were used in various parts of Europe during the Renaissance before being abandoned, and Shakespeare’s original audience probably would not have found his phrase at all remarkable.
According to contemporary historical accounts, Julius Caesar was warned several times that he should “beware the Ides of March” by a soothsayer who prophesied that Caesar was in danger on that date. Given the complex plot surrounding Caesar’s assassination, it is possible that the soothsayer had good reason for choosing the time frame. By staying at home, Cesare could have avoided his fate in the Senate, but he chose to go there anyway, and legend has it that he last met the soothsayer just outside the Senate, with the soothsayer reiterating his warning of him.
While the Ides of March has taken on sinister implications in modern society, Caesar probably thought of it as just another normal day until he was stabbed 23 times and left to bleed to death in public. Caesar was at least clearly aware of growing civil unrest, and certainly pushed to the edges of Roman society and tradition. Had he used caution, he probably would have survived that assassination, but he might already have been doomed by his political decisions.
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