“Beware the Ides of March.”
The phrase from William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar,
is a famous one. On the Roman calendar, it corresponds to March 15. The
reason we know the day is because on March 15 associated with the date
of Caesar’s assassination in 44 B.C.
Conspirators stabbed the dictator to death before
the Roman senate. Marcus Junius Brutus, who was a part of Caesar’s inner
circle, led the approximately 60 conspirators involved. Caesar’s death
triggered the civil war.
Caesar ruled Rome until that date and he had
replaced the traditional Republican government with a temporary
dictatorship. He wished to make it permanent and that led to the
conspiracy to have him killed.
Nevertheless, the Ides of March have been associated
with prophecies of doom ever since.
This is an awesome column! :)
ReplyDelete