Beware the Ides of March?

     Did the death of Caesar curse the day, or was it just Shakespeare’s mastery of language that forever darkened an otherwise normal box on the calendar? If you look through history, you can certainly find enough horrible things that happened on March 15, but is it a case of life imitating art? Or art imitating life?

   The Ides of March actually has a non-threatening origin story. Kalends, Nones and Ides were ancient markers used to reference dates in relation to lunar phases. Ides simply referred to the first full moon of a given month, which usually fell between the 13th and 15th. In fact, the Ides of March once signified the new year, which meant celebrations and rejoicing.

Drawing from history, the quote from Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar (1599) is a warning uttered by a soothsayer who is letting Roman leader Julius Caesar know that his life is in danger, and he should probably stay home and be careful when March 15th, the Ides of March, rolls around. 

   In 44 BC, March 15th did become notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar which made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history. Talk about a rough day in politics....Ceaser is stabbed to death in the Roman Senate house by 60 conspirators led by Marcus Junius Brutus (here we also get the term et tu Brute from Shakespeare meaning "even you Brutus")

                        So beware or be square, 
                   or just don't care, it's up to you!