The Ides of March is n’t exactly top when it occur to well - known appointment on the calendar , but thanks to a slaying in ancient Rome and a play written by William Shakespeare , the great unwashed are still proclaim " mind the Ides of March . " This notorious twenty-four hour period has become synonymous with betrayal , turn a loss loyalty and unwelcome surprise . So , what is the Ides of March , and should it really make us suspicious ?
A Day of Division and Debt
Ancient Romans , those canny folks who brought us aqueducts and amphitheaters , also developed the harbinger to our modern calendar . The name they developed for the first day of each calendar month , Kalends , eventually led to the modern word " calendar . " AncientRomansalso determined that one mean solar day each month would be cognize as " Ides , " a daytime that often corresponded with religious observances .
According to this calendar , the Ides lessen on the 13th day of the month , with the elision of October , July , May and March , when the Ides fall out on the 15th . It was theIdes of Marchthat became a veridical stickler : It presented a deadline on which citizen were expected tosettle all of their debts . It became a twenty-four hours of celebration for those who received payment and a 24-hour interval of woefulness for those who paid . For some , it was likely both .
The concept of Ides was close tie to the way the people of ancient Rome tracked the passage of time . The Latin roots of " ide " mean " to divide , " and in keeping with this sentiment , the Ides ask place about Battle of Midway through each calendar month .
The Ides also agree with the rise of the full moonshine . This wreak well for a while , as the lunar cycle and the calendar months matched up as expected . finally , however , this impression of tracking time based on lunar outcome created a mismatch between the calendar dates and the full moon .
A solution was presented in about 45 B.C.E. , when days were added or remove so the calendar would remain in sync with astronomical season , such assolsticesandequinoxes . The resultingJulian calendar , named posthumously for the military general and politicianJulius Caesarwho declared himself ruler of the Roman Republic in 43 B.C.E. , was based on Earth ’s revolutions around the sun . It was a 365 - day year part into 12 month with an extra sidereal day added every four year to resync the calendar — an consequence now know as a Leap Year .
" What is interesting is that the modification came about after Caesar had spent some time in Egypt , specifically in the city of Alexandria , " saysKelly - Anne Diamond , Ph.D. , a visiting helper professor in the history section at Villanova University , in an email . " The Egyptians had developed previously a calendar of 365 days . However , they did not sum up that special 1/4 day , so the Egyptian calendar drifted one day every four year . "
Through ancient writings , let in those of the philosopherPlutarch , it was register that Caesar seek help from expert mathematician — such as the astronomerSosigenesof Alexandria — in adjusting the calendar .
" This is crucial to note , because ancient Egypt does not always welcome the quotation it deserves as part of the innovation of westerly civilization , " Diamond read . " normally the story begin and ends with Julius Caesar , and relegated to the footnote is the fact that the Egyptians were technologically savvy and pass by on their wiseness to the Roman humanity . "
For a time , this Julian calendar seemed to propose an ideal result — until the great unwashed realized that an spare day every four old age was too many , and a modifiedGregorian calendarwas developed in 1582 . The Gregorian calendar is now used as the official civilian time - tracker in most parts of the world .
Even so , the Ides of March from the Julian calendar are still part of our corporate consciousness , thanks in large part to Caesar ’s untimely death and a Shakespeare play that immortalized it . Since Caesar ’s assassination , the centre of March has become synonymous with spoiled word , unwished-for omen and cataclysm .
A Day to Beware
In 44 B.C.E. , about one year into Julius Caesar ’s rule of Rome , things seemed to be go well . Caesar had a identification number of military victories under his belt after taking over parts of Belgium , France , Germany , Spain and Switzerland , and he was loosely quite popular among his constituent . Caesar had appointed several political leaders that comprised Rome ’s senate , but tensions were establish .
Members of the Senate occupy that with Caesar ’s mounting popularity and his recent self - engagement of " dictator in sempiternity " would take to adisastrous political outcomefor Rome . Members of the Senate fear Caesar would disband the Senate and principle of his own accord without their input .
The brewing opposition to Caesar ’s ruler came to a head on the Ides of March — March 15 — in 44 B.C.E. when about 40 Roman senatorsstabbed Caesarto decease as the group was on its way to a sporting issue at the Theatre of Pompey in Rome . The confederacy , led by Gaius Cassius Longinus andMarcus Junius Brutus , was keep under wrapper by the dozens of senators involved .
" Julius Caesar … managed to anger enough citizenry that he was take on out by his own Senate for the expectant good , " says Kate Wiswell , historical hobbyist andauthor , in an email audience . " deplorably , his removal did not usher in the revolution citizenry had hoped for , because they agitate so much about how to replace him that they terminate up with yet another empirical Caesar just like him . "
After a period of public outrage and a serial of civil wars , Caesar ’s nephew Octavian began calling himselfCaesar Augustusand claimed rule of what would become the Roman Empire , ending ancient Rome ’s brushwood with a administration ruled by representatives of the masses .
