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The soothsayer's warning to Julius Caesar, "Beware the Ides of March," has forever imbued that date with a sense of foreboding. But in Roman times the expression "Ides of March" did not necessarily evoke a dark mood—it was simply the standard way of saying "March 15." Surely such a fanciful expression must signify something more than merely another day of the year? Not so. Even in Shakespeare's time, sixteen centuries later, audiences attending his play Julius Caesar wouldn't have blinked twice upon hearing the date called the Ides.
The term Ides comes from the earliest Roman calendar, which is said to have been devised by Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome. Whether it was Romulus or not, the inventor of this calendar had a penchant for complexity. The Roman calendar organized its months around three days, each of which served as a reference point for counting the other days:
Kalends (1st day of the month)
Nones (the 7th day in March, May, July, and October; the 5th in the other months)
Ides (the 15th day in March, May, July, and October; the 13th in the other months)
The remaining, unnamed days of the month were identified by counting backwards from the Kalends, Nones, or the Ides. For example, March 3 would be V Nones—5 days before the Nones (the Roman method of counting days was inclusive; in other words, the Nones would be counted as one of the 5 days).
March 1 Kalends
March 2 VI Nones
March 3 V Nones
March 4 IV Nones
March 5 III Nones
March 6 Pridie Nones (Latin for "on the day before")
March 7 Nones
Used in the first Roman calendar as well as in the Julian calendar (established by Julius Caesar in 45 B.C.E.) the confusing system of Kalends, Nones, and Ides continued to be used to varying degrees throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance.
So, the Ides of March is just one of a dozen Ides that occur every month of the year. Kalends, the word from which calendar is derived, is another exotic-sounding term with a mundane meaning. Kalendrium means account book in Latin: Kalend, the first of the month, was in Roman times as it is now, the date on which bills are due.
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The soothsayer's warning to Julius Caesar, "Beware the Ides of March," has forever imbued that date with a sense of foreboding. But in Roman times the expression "Ides of March" did not necessarily evoke a dark mood—it was simply the standard way of saying "March 15." Surely such a fanciful expression must signify something more than merely another day of the year? Not so. Even in Shakespeare's time, sixteen centuries later, audiences attending his play Julius Caesar wouldn't have blinked twice upon hearing the date called the Ides.
The term Ides comes from the earliest Roman calendar, which is said to have been devised by Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome. Whether it was Romulus or not, the inventor of this calendar had a penchant for complexity. The Roman calendar organized its months around three days, each of which served as a reference point for counting the other days:
Kalends (1st day of the month)
Nones (the 7th day in March, May, July, and October; the 5th in the other months)
Ides (the 15th day in March, May, July, and October; the 13th in the other months)
The remaining, unnamed days of the month were identified by counting backwards from the Kalends, Nones, or the Ides. For example, March 3 would be V Nones—5 days before the Nones (the Roman method of counting days was inclusive; in other words, the Nones would be counted as one of the 5 days).
March 1 Kalends
March 2 VI Nones
March 3 V Nones
March 4 IV Nones
March 5 III Nones
March 6 Pridie Nones (Latin for "on the day before")
March 7 Nones
Used in the first Roman calendar as well as in the Julian calendar (established by Julius Caesar in 45 B.C.E.) the confusing system of Kalends, Nones, and Ides continued to be used to varying degrees throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance.
So, the Ides of March is just one of a dozen Ides that occur every month of the year. Kalends, the word from which calendar is derived, is another exotic-sounding term with a mundane meaning. Kalendrium means account book in Latin: Kalend, the first of the month, was in Roman times as it is now, the date on which bills are due.
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Julius Caesar was warned about the "ides of march' by a soothsayer. on this day he was assassinated on the steps of the senate in the forum bovarium. one of his friends, brutus, drove the last dagger in. Caesar famous last words were "et tu brute". this is latin for "you too brutus?"
marc antony then, with the military behind him, pretty much had control of Rome but he lost it in the whole Cleopatra mess when octavius- julius nephew- took the reins.
octavius became augustus caesar. Rome was a city of red brick and he left it a city of marble.
sundog
marc antony then, with the military behind him, pretty much had control of Rome but he lost it in the whole Cleopatra mess when octavius- julius nephew- took the reins.
octavius became augustus caesar. Rome was a city of red brick and he left it a city of marble.
sundog
Kell- there's a little saying about old Julius- it went something like "lock up your daughters and your sons" when he was in town. octavius went strictly for the boys. those caesars!! gotta love 'em!
yall should read the "twelve caesars" by suetonius!! it was the first dirty book I ever read! I was 12 years old when I made acquaintance with old Caligula- he was the very very worst perverted caesar! I thought it was gonna be a regular nice history book cuz it was from the public library. whew!!!
thank god mom didnt ever figure it out. I think I read it twice! bad bad little girl!!! naughty!
sundog the maimed
yall should read the "twelve caesars" by suetonius!! it was the first dirty book I ever read! I was 12 years old when I made acquaintance with old Caligula- he was the very very worst perverted caesar! I thought it was gonna be a regular nice history book cuz it was from the public library. whew!!!
thank god mom didnt ever figure it out. I think I read it twice! bad bad little girl!!! naughty!
sundog the maimed
HEHHEHEHEHEE
You're a naughty, naughty girl!! =) =)
If you read up on the Romans you'll find it wasn't just the Ceasars who were messed up. Most Romans had strange ideas of right and wrong. It wasn't uncommon to leave unwanted babies in the cities garbage dump to die. Slavery was rampant. You were either filthy rich or dirt poor. They had a very small middle class.
You're a naughty, naughty girl!! =) =)
If you read up on the Romans you'll find it wasn't just the Ceasars who were messed up. Most Romans had strange ideas of right and wrong. It wasn't uncommon to leave unwanted babies in the cities garbage dump to die. Slavery was rampant. You were either filthy rich or dirt poor. They had a very small middle class.