Unless your name is Julius Caesar, there’s no need beware the Ides of March.
Today is March 15, or the equivalent of the Ides of March, which is actually just the middle of the month. The Romans had a different way of marking days within months. They tended to just mark things generally, with the Nones, which is somewhere around the 5 to 7 of a month, the Ides, which was around the 13 to the 15, and the Kalends, which is actually the start of the next month.
So the Ides of March was actually just the middle of the month. For March, it was around the 15th. But it was also supposed to mark the full moon of any given month, so dated could vary.
But about the only real reason to fear the Idea of March might be if you owed someone money. The Ides of March were supposed to be the name when all debts were settled. Which might have been the bad news for Caesar. There was some serious debt settling going on.
March was also the start of the new year for the Romans, so be the middle of the month, there was still some celebrating and partying going on. And then you had the spring equinox coming up the following week. On top of all that, someone decided that Caesar had to go, so a bunch of people did him in.
Caesar was apparently warned to beware the Ides of March, but he didn’t and paid the price. Which meant, for him, that he likely didn’t get to wrap up his New Years party for the year, didn’t get to see the full moon, and didn’t get to celebrate the arrival of spring.
But for most of us, the Ides of March are just another day. Unless your name is Julius Caesar. Then you might want to watch your back.
