From a most auspicious Pi Day, to the famous annual green river, to bewaring the Ides of March, a full weekend this past one certainly has been– and it’s not even St. Patrick’s Day yet! Nevertheless, this annual trio of spirited occasions always deserves good mention, celebrated– in one unique way or another– as each might be.
“The Ides of March are come.”
“Ay, Caesar, but not gone.”
This ominous historical date has acquired a superstitious aura, akin to Friday the 13th.
The Ides of March marks the day of Julius Caesar’s assassination in 44 B.C., while coming to be known as a day to “beware.”
On the other hand, this line sums it up well: “But bad things happen every day– we just notice them more on days of heightened superstition.” (Judkis, WP Style Blog) In this case, fear not!
The 15th of March is always an occasion on which to ponder a much-remembered event of ancient history, while perhaps exercising an element of caution throughout our own day!
In modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date that Julius Caesar was killed in 44 B.C. Julius Caesar was stabbed (23 times) to death, led by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus and 60 other conspirators.
On his way to the Theatre of Pompey (where he would be assassinated), Caesar saw a seer who had foretold that harm would come to him not later than the Ides of March. Caesar joked, “Well, the Ides of March have come”, to which the seer replied “Ay, they have come, but they are not gone.” This meeting is famously dramatized in William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, when Caesar is warned to “beware the Ides of March”. (Read more on Wikipedia.)
The Ides have come, but not gone. Go forth and beware!
Ryan R. Sanderson 