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The Ides of March (; la, Idus Martiae,
Late Latin Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in t ...
: ) is the 74th day in the
Roman calendar The Roman calendar was the calendar used by the Roman Kingdom and Roman Republic. The term often includes the Julian calendar established by the reforms of the dictator Julius Caesar and emperor Augustus in the late 1stcenturyBC and some ...
, corresponding to 15 March. It was marked by several religious observances and was notable in Rome as a deadline for settling debts. In 44 BC, it became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar, which made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history.


Ides

The Romans did not number each day of a month from the first to the last day. Instead, they counted back from three fixed points of the month: the Nones (the 5th or 7th, nine days ''inclusive'' before the Ides), the Ides (the 13th for most months, but the 15th in March, May, July, and October), and the Kalends (1st of the following month). Originally the Ides were supposed to be determined by the
full moon The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180°). This mea ...
, reflecting the lunar origin of the Roman calendar. In the earliest calendar, the Ides of March would have been the first full moon of the new year.


Religious observances

The Ides of each month were sacred to
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...
, the Romans' supreme deity. The Flamen Dialis, Jupiter's high priest, led the "Ides sheep" () in procession along the Via Sacra to the , where it was sacrificed. In addition to the monthly sacrifice, the Ides of March was also the occasion of the Feast of Anna Perenna, a goddess of the year (Latin ) whose festival originally concluded the ceremonies of the new year. The day was enthusiastically celebrated among the common people with picnics, drinking, and revelry. One source from
late antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English h ...
also places the Mamuralia on the Ides of March. This observance, which has aspects of scapegoat or ancient Greek ritual, involved beating an old man dressed in animal skins and perhaps driving him from the city. The ritual may have been a new year festival representing the expulsion of the old year. In the later Imperial period, the Ides began a "holy week" of festivals celebrating Cybele and Attis, being the day ("The Reed enters"), when Attis was born and found among the reeds of a Phrygian river. He was discovered by shepherds or the goddess Cybele, who was also known as the ("Great Mother") (narratives differ). A week later, on 22 March, the solemn commemoration of ("The Tree enters") commemorated the death of Attis under a pine tree. A college of priests, the ("tree bearers") annually cut down a tree, hung from it an image of Attis, and carried it to the temple of the with lamentations. The day was formalized as part of the official Roman calendar under Claudius ( 54 AD). A three-day period of mourning followed, culminating with celebrating the rebirth of Attis on 25 March, the date of the vernal equinox on the
Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandri ...
.


Assassination of Caesar

In modern times, the Ides of March is best known as the date on which
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...
was assassinated in 44 BC. Caesar was stabbed to death at a meeting of the Senate. As many as 60 conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius, were involved. According to Plutarch, Plutarch, '' Parallel Lives'', Caesar 63 a seer had warned that harm would come to Caesar on the Ides of March. On his way to the Theatre of Pompey, where he would be assassinated, Caesar passed the seer and joked, "Well, the Ides of March are come", implying that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied "Aye, they are come, but they are not gone." This meeting is famously dramatised in
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's play ''
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...
'', when Caesar is warned by the
soothsayer Soothsayer may refer to: * One practicing divination, including: ** Fortune-telling ** Haruspex ** Oracle ** Prophet ** Precognition Music * Soothsayers (band), a London-based Afrobeat and reggae group * ''The Soothsayer'', an album by Wayne ...
to "beware the Ides of March." The Roman biographer Suetonius identifies the "seer" as a haruspex named Spurinna. Caesar's death was a closing event in the
crisis of the Roman Republic The crisis of the Roman Republic refers to an extended period of political instability and social unrest from about 134 BC to 44 BC that culminated in the demise of the Roman Republic and the advent of the Roman Empire. The causes and attribute ...
, and triggered the civil war that would result in the rise to sole power of his adopted heir Octavian (later known as
Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
). Writing under Augustus,
Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom ...
portrays the murder as a sacrilege, since Caesar was also the of Rome and a priest of Vesta. On the fourth anniversary of Caesar's death in 40 BC, after achieving a victory at the siege of Perugia, Octavian executed 300 senators and equites who had fought against him under Lucius Antonius, the brother of
Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the au ...
. The executions were one of a series of actions taken by Octavian to avenge Caesar's death. Suetonius and the historian
Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...
characterised the slaughter as a religious sacrifice,
Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...
br>48.14.2.
noting that it occurred on the Ides of March at the new altar to the deified Julius.


See also

* ''The Ides of March'', a novel by Thornton Wilder * ''The Ides of March'', a film by George Clooney,
Beau Willimon Pack Beauregard Willimon (born October 26, 1977) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He helped develop the American version of the series '' House of Cards'' and served as showrunner for the first four seasons. In 2018, Willimon created t ...
and Grant Heslov * '' The Ides of March'', a music album by Myles Kennedy * ''The Ides of March'', an American musical group


References


External links


Plutarch, The Parallel Lives, The Life of Julius Caesar


{{DEFAULTSORT:Ides Of March Julius Caesar (play) Assassination of Julius Caesar March observances Shakespearean phrases Roman calendar Jupiter (mythology)