Tag Archives: ides of march

History

Beware The Ides of March! The Assassination of Julius Caesar (15 March 44 BC)

 

The Death of Julius Caesar,Vincenzo Camuccini (1771–1844).
Public Domain

The assassination of Julius Caesar on 15 March 44 BC shocked Rome. The conspirators believed the Roman Republic would be restored. Instead, civil war followed, and the Roman Empire became firmly established.

In ancient Rome the Ides of March were part of a series of days of three grouped by the ancient Romans. The ides occurred on the fifteenth of March, May, July, and October and in other months started on the thirteenth day. Since the early Romans used a lunar calendar, sometimes the ides might be a time of foreboding and omens. However, since March was the beginning of the new year on the old Roman calendar, there were festivals to welcome the new year. On this Ide, Jupiter (Greek Zeus) and other deities were being honored. However, this time of festivity in March would be forever changed by the assassination of Julius Caesar.

Caesar had created enemies over his actions. He defied the senate in 49 BC by crossing the Rubicon without disbanding his army sparking a civil war he decisively won. He assumed the office of dictatorship at first just annually then for life. While he did many noteworthy things such as providing land for veterans and overseeing the creation of a new calendar (the Julian), his centralization of power undermined republican institutions. Proclaiming himself perpetual dictator and accepting king like honors upset many in the senate. The leaders of the plot to kill him were Marcus Juinius Brutus and Gaius Cassius, but sixty senators in total were in support.

According to Plutarch, Caesar was warned of his death by a soothsayer. Shakespeare in his famous play Julius Caesarused this by having his soothsayer utter: “beware the ides of March.” Caesar went to attend a meeting of senators at the Curia of Pompey within the Theatre of Pompey in Rome. After he entered, he was ambushed. Marc Antony, who was going to enter behind him, was delayed by another conspirator and thus was not there to prevent the assassination. One of the first attackers only wounder Caesar, who took the knife and stabbed him. However, the other attackers thrust their daggers into him stabbing 23 times though not all wounding him. He would end dying under the Pompey statue. His last words are disputed, but Suetonious reports he said to Brutus “You to, child?” Shakespeare rewrote that into the famous “Et tu, Brute.”

Rome was stunned by the assassination. The conspirators thought they would he hailed as heroes for killing the tyrant Caesar. Instead, they were treated coldly, and few places would let them in. Caesar’s body would be taken home by his slaves where it was prepared for funeral. At the funeral, Marc Antony gave a eulogy that stirred the people against Brutus and the other conspirators. Caesar’s death created a power vacuum in Rome and various factions now jostled for power. Brutus and Cassius fled, each to different places to recruit supporters for the coming confrontation. Gaius Octavius, Caesar’s 18-year-old grand-nephew and designated heir under the will, came into conflict with Marc Antony over who was to rule.

Aftermath

Civil war between Octavius and Antony gave both Brutus and Cassius the opportunity to attack Rome. However, both Octavius and Antony made peace and turned their full armies against them. At the Battle of Phillippi on 3 October 42 BC, Brutus defeated Octavius forces, but Antony defeated Cassius. Cassius, assuming Brutus was dead, killed himself. The second battle on 23 October resulted in Brutus’ defeat and him fleeing to the hills where he killed himself. Antony treated his body with respect wrapping in expensive purple mantle. However, Octavius had his head cut off to be taken and displayed in Rome. It would never arrive as the box it was in fell into the Mediterranean Sea during a storm on the way to Rome. His body was cremated and remains sent to his mother. None of the other conspirators would survive. Senators who had participated, knew of the plot, and others who had assisted, were tracked down and executed. While some were able to flee to distant lands, they were eventually tracked down and killed, sometimes by bounty hunters.

Instead of restoring the republic, the assassination achieved the opposite. Rome became an empire with power centralized into one person and the offices that answered to him. The Senate would continue to exist to pass laws but could not overrule him. The Praetorian Guard was created to protect an emperor from being assassinated. The Roman Empire expanded and the entire Mediterranean came under Roman rule. Rome became not just a city, but the name for the world that was ruled by it.

Sources

“The Assassination of Julius Caesar (44 BC): Causes, Conspirators, and Consequences – History Rome.” SolarAndalucia, January 18, 2026. https://history-rome.com/the-assassination-of-julius-caesar-44-bc-causes-conspirators-and-consequences/.

Klein, Christopher. “Julius Caesar’s Assassination: Fall of the Roman Republic | HISTORY.” HISTORY. Last modified March 4, 2026. https://www.history.com/articles/julius-caesar-assassination-fall-roman-republic.

Toynbee, Arnold Joseph. “Julius Caesar.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified March 6, 2026. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Julius-Caesar-Roman-ruler.

Videos

Historia Civilis. “The Assassination of Julius Caesar (the Ides of March, 44 B.C.E.).” Video. YouTube, October 19, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XBxMk_plhA.

History Unleashed. “How The Senators Who Stabbed Julius Caesar Died | Rome’s Revenge.” Video. YouTube, January 10, 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up6zZ3tgNio.

Arik Elman. “Charlton Heston Mark Antony Speech ‘Julius Caesar’ (1970).” Video. YouTube, February 25, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bi1PvXCbr8.

History

Welcome To March

March, from the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, a book of prayers to be said at canonical hours. Manuscript illumination from Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry Folio 3, verso: March. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

 

Welcome to March! March, named for the Roman deity Mars (Greek Ares), is the third month. It begins spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Since military campaigns would start once winter ended, the Romans considered it appropriate to name the month after the god of war. Festivals honoring him and seeking his blessing were held in ancient Rome.

On the meteorological calendar, March 1 marks the start of spring (or autumn in the Southern Hemisphere), but astronomically it begins with the March equinox. This falls between March 19 and 21, when the Sun shines directly on the equator, making night and day almost equal in length. The March equinox is celebrated as a time of rebirth, with new plants emerging—leading to the phrase “spring forth,” now simply “spring.” Increased warmth causes snowmelt, swelling rivers and replenishing water supplies for people and nature. Areas with little or no snow may see spring up to a month earlier, while far northern regions may not experience it until May.

George Hodan (publicdomainpictures.net)

St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) is one of the most popular celebrations in March. As the patron saint of Ireland, it is a public holiday there but nowhere else. Easter and Passover may also fall in March some years due to complex, varying calculations. For Christians, March often includes Lent: forty days of fasting, penance, and charity in preparation for Easter Sunday.

Beware the Ides of March!

The Death of Julius Caesar,Vincenzo Camuccini (1771–1844).
Public Domain

The Ides were one of three fixed days in the ancient Roman calendar. They fell on the 15th in March, May, July, and October, and on the 13th in other months. Because the early Romans used a lunar calendar, the Ides could sometimes carry foreboding omens. However, since March marked the start of the new year in the old Roman calendar, it was generally festive—until March 15, 44 BC, when Julius Caesar was assassinated. The event transformed the Ides of March into a symbol of danger and betrayal, leading to Caesar’s death, retribution against his killers, and the rise of the Roman Empire. Thereafter, “Beware the Ides of March” became a warning of impending misfortune.

In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the soothsayer famously warns:

Soothsayer: Beware the Ides of March.

Caesar: What man is that?

Brutus: A soothsayer bids you beware the Ides of March.

Though the phrase may have existed earlier, Shakespeare popularized it, embedding it in educated speech and broader culture. Its use has faded as fewer schools require Shakespeare, often met with blank stares today. Still, as the Ides of March approach, the warning occasionally resurfaces to recall Caesar’s assassination.

Sources

———. “The Month of March 2026: Holidays, Fun Facts, Folklore.” Almanac.Com. Last modified February 19, 2026. Accessed March 1, 2026. https://www.almanac.com/content/month-march-holidays-fun-facts-folklore.

“The Month of March.” Accessed March 1, 2026. https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/months/march.html.

Byrd, Deborah. “March Equinox 2026: Here’s All You Need to Know.” EarthSky | Updates on Your Cosmos and World. Last modified December 24, 2025. Accessed March 1, 2026. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-vernal-or-spring-equinox/.

Martin, Gary. “The Ides of March – Meaning &Amp; Origin of the Phrase.” Phrase Finder. Last modified December 20, 2023. Accessed March 1, 2026. https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/beware-the-ides-of-march.html.

Stezano, Martín. “Beware the Ides of March. But Why? | HISTORY.” HISTORY. Last modified February 18, 2026. https://www.history.com/articles/beware-the-ides-of-march-but-why.

“What Is the Origin of ‘Beware the Ides of March’?,” February 3, 2025. Accessed March 1, 2026. https://www.dictionary.com/articles/ides-of-march.

History

Beware The Ides of March! The Assassination of Julius Caesar (15 Mar 44 BC)

The Death of Julius Caesar,Vincenzo Camuccini (1771–1844).
Public Domain

Today is 15 March and on the old Roman calendar was a day of religious observance to the Roman god Jupiter and other lesser deities. But it is most famous as the date in 44 BC when Julius Caesar was assassinated at a meeting of the Roman Senate. 60 conspirators were involved but the leaders were Brutus and Cassius. Caesar was forewarned of his death by a seer according to Plutarch. And in his famous work Julius Caesar, Shakespeare has the soothsayer say “beware the ides of March” which Caesar ignores and of course he ends up stabbed to death uttering the famous line before death:

Et tu Brute!

The assassination was a turning point for Rome. It brought about a civil war and ended the Roman Republic. Octavian (later Augustus) would become emperor and the Roman Empire would come to dominate the entire Mediterranean Sea, North Africa, and parts of Europe and Britain. In Julius Caesar Mark Antony gives perhaps the most remembered funeral oration ever done. Most people recall the famous opening line:

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones; so let it be with Caesar.

The oration is masterful in that it cleverly turns the people against Brutus and Cassius by showing they were ambitious and not Caesar. By the end the plebeians call them traitors and murderers.

In real life, it was much the same. Antony played them by seemingly supporting amnesty but turning people against them both. Brutus was forced to leave and ended up on Crete, Cassius went east to gather support among the governors and to amass an army. Antony and Octavian would clash militarily causing divisions in Rome. This allowed the forces of Brutus and Cassius to march on Rome. However Octavian made peace with Antony upon this news so both forces joined to stop Brutus and Cassius. They met at Philippi on 3 Oct 42 BC. The first battle resulted in Brutus defeating Octavian but Antony defeating Cassius. Not knowing that Brutus had defeated Octavian, Cassius took his own life. At the second battle of Philippi on 23 October, Brutus was defeated and forced to flee into the hills where he committed suicide. Antony treated his body with great respect by having it wrapped his most expensive purple mantle. His body was cremated and remains sent to his mother.

Sources:

History.com Editors, “The Ides of March | March 15, 44 B.C. | HISTORY,” HISTORY, last modified January 24, 2025, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/march-15/the-ides-of-march.

Toynbee and Arnold Joseph, “Julius Caesar | Biography, Conquests, Facts, & Death,” Encyclopedia Britannica, last modified February 11, 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Julius-Caesar-Roman-ruler.

 

History

Beware The Ides of March! The Assassination of Julius Caesar (44 Mar BC)

The Death of Julius Caesar,Vincenzo Camuccini (1771–1844).
Public Domain

Today is 15 March and on the old Roman calendar was a day of religious observance to the Roman god Jupiter and other lesser deities. But it is most famous as the date in 44 BC when Julius Caesar was assassinated at a meeting of the Roman Senate. 60 conspirators were involved but the leaders were Brutus and Cassius. Caesar was forewarned of his death by a seer according to Plutarch. And in his famous work Julius Caesar, Shakespeare has the soothsayer say “beware the ides of March” which Caesar ignores and of course he ends up stabbed to death uttering the famous line before death:

Et tu Brute!

The assassination was a turning point for Rome. It brought about a civil war and ended the Roman Republic. Octavian (later Augustus) would become emperor and the Roman Empire would come to dominate the entire Mediterranean Sea, North Africa, and parts of Europe and Britain. In Julius Caesar Mark Antony gives perhaps the most remembered funeral oration ever done. Most people recall the famous opening line:

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones; so let it be with Caesar.

The oration is masterful in that it cleverly turns the people against Brutus and Cassius by showing they were ambitious and not Caesar. By the end the plebeians call them traitors and murderers.

In real life, it was much the same. Antony played them by seemingly supporting amnesty but turning people against them both. Brutus was forced to leave and ended up on Crete, Cassius went east to gather support among the governors and to amass an army. Antony and Octavian would clash militarily causing divisions in Rome. This allowed the forces of Brutus and Cassius to march on Rome. However Octavian made peace with Antony upon this news so both forces joined to stop Brutus and Cassius. They met at Philippi on 3 Oct 42 BC. The first battle resulted in Brutus defeating Octavian but Antony defeating Cassius. Not knowing that Brutus had defeated Octavian, Cassius took his own life. At the second battle of Philippi on 23 October, Brutus was defeated and forced to flee into the hills where he committed suicide. Antony treated his body with great respect by having it wrapped his most expensive purple mantle. His body was cremated and remains sent to his mother.

Sources:

MacHighway - Web Hosting for Mac Users, by Mac Users, Since 1997

History, Miscellaneous

Welcome to March

St. Patrick’s Day postcard, 1912 of “Old Weir Bridge” at Dinis Cottage, in Killarney National Park, Ireland.
Public Domain/Wikipedia

March is the third month on both the old Julian and current Gregorian calendar. It is the month that begins spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. March is believed to be derived from the Roman god Mars (Greek equivalent Ares). Before the advent of the Julian calendar, Romans considered March the first month of the new year. With winter over, it was also the start of military campaigns to resume. Festivals were also held at this time in ancient Rome to honor Mars as well.

The March equinox is usually around March 21-22. Many spring festivals take place in March. Passover and Easter may take place in March, but not always as it is dependent upon very specific calculations and can change from year to year. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17. If it falls on a Friday, Catholics are given dispensation to eat meat on that day (at least in Ireland and in areas where the feast is celebrated) If it falls on a Sunday, the diocese that observes the day will do so on Monday. For Ireland, since St. Patrick is its patron saint, it will be celebrated on Sunday replacing the normally observed day of Lent.

The famous Ides of March (March 15) was once a day to pay debts in Rome, but it became infamously associated with the assassination of Julius Caesar on that day in 44 BC. Daylight Saving Time begins in the U.S. and Canada on the second Sunday in March. For most of Europe, this will occur on March 31. The first full moon of March is often called the Worm Moon as many earthworms are being noticed in the Northern Hemisphere.

 

History

Beware The Ides of March! The Assassination of Julius Caesar (44 Mar BC)

The Death of Julius Caesar,Vincenzo Camuccini (1771–1844). Public Domain
The Death of Julius Caesar,Vincenzo Camuccini (1771–1844).
Public Domain

Today is 15 March and on the old Roman calendar was a day of religious observance to the Roman god Jupiter and other lesser deities. But it is most famous as the date in 44 BC when Julius Caesar was assassinated at a meeting of the Roman Senate. 60 conspirators were involved but the leaders were Brutus and Cassius. Caesar was forewarned of his death by a seer according to Plutarch. And in his famous work Julius Caesar, Shakespeare has the soothsayer say “beware the ides of March” which Caesar ignores and of course he ends up stabbed to death uttering the famous line before death:

Et tu Brute!

The assassination was a turning point for Rome. It brought about a civil war and ended the Roman Republic. Octavian (later Augustus) would become emperor and the Roman Empire would come to dominate the entire Mediterranean Sea, North Africa, and parts of Europe and Britain. In Julius Caesar Mark Antony gives perhaps the most remembered funeral oration ever done. Most people recall the famous opening line:

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones; so let it be with Caesar.

The oration is masterful in that it cleverly turns the people against Brutus and Cassius by showing they were ambitious and not Caesar. By the end the plebeians call them traitors and murderers.

In real life, it was much the same. Antony played them by seemingly supporting amnesty but turning people against them both. Brutus was forced to leave and ended up on Crete, Cassius went east to gather support among the governors and to amass an army. Antony and Octavian would clash militarily causing divisions in Rome. This allowed the forces of Brutus and Cassius to march on Rome. However Octavian made peace with Antony upon this news so both forces joined to stop Brutus and Cassius. They met at Philippi on 3 Oct 42 BC. The first battle resulted in Brutus defeating Octavian but Antony defeating Cassius. Not knowing that Brutus had defeated Octavian, Cassius took his own life. At the second battle of Philippi on 23 October, Brutus was defeated and forced to flee into the hills where he committed suicide. Antony treated his body with great respect by having it wrapped his most expensive purple mantle. His body was cremated and remains sent to his mother.

Sources:


MacHighway - Web Hosting for Mac Users, by Mac Users, Since 1997

History

Welcome to March

[Due to electricity outages and other issues, I was not able to post much during February. Back to regular posting now.]

St. Patrick’s Day postcard, 1912 of “Old Weir Bridge” at Dinis Cottage, in Killarney National Park, Ireland.
Public Domain/Wikipedia

March is the third month on both the old Julian and current Gregorian calendar. It is the month that begins spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. March is believed to be derived from the Roman god Mars (Greek equivalent Ares). Before the advent of the Julian calendar, Romans considered March the first month of the new year. The March equinox is usually around March 21-22. Many spring festivals take place in March. Passover and Easter may take place in March, but not always as it is dependent upon very specific calculations and can change from year to year. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17. If it falls on a Friday, Catholics are given dispensation to eat meat on that day (at least in Ireland and in areas where the feast is celebrated). The famous Ides of March (March 15) was once a day to pay debts in Rome but it became infamously associated with the assassination of Julius Caesar on that day in 44 BC.

Daylight savings time begins in the U.S. and Canada on the second Sunday in March. March has two birthstones that reflect courage: aquamarine and bloodstone. The flower for March is the daffodil.

https://youtu.be/ZdfXRms5Umw

 

 


History

Beware The Ides of March! The Assassination of Julius Caesar (44 Mar BC)

The Death of Julius Caesar,Vincenzo Camuccini (1771–1844). Public Domain
The Death of Julius Caesar,Vincenzo Camuccini (1771–1844).
Public Domain

Today is 15 March and on the old Roman calendar was a day of religious observance to the Roman god Jupiter and other lesser deities. But it is most famous as the date in 44 BC when Julius Caesar was assassinated at a meeting of the Roman Senate. 60 conspirators were involved but the leaders were Brutus and Cassius. Caesar was forewarned of his death by a seer according to Plutarch. And in his famous work Julius Caesar, Shakespeare has the soothsayer say “beware the ides of March” which Caesar ignores and of course he ends up stabbed to death uttering the famous line before death:

Et tu Brute!

The assassination was a turning point for Rome. It brought about a civil war and ended the Roman Republic. Octavian (later Augustus) would become emperor and the Roman Empire would come to dominate the entire Mediterranean Sea, North Africa, and parts of Europe and Britain. In Julius Caesar Mark Antony gives perhaps the most remembered funeral oration ever done. Most people recall the famous opening line:

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones; so let it be with Caesar.

The oration is masterful in that it cleverly turns the people against Brutus and Cassius by showing they were ambitious and not Caesar. By the end the plebeians call them traitors and murderers.

In real life, it was much the same. Antony played them by seemingly supporting amnesty but turning people against them both. Brutus was forced to leave and ended up on Crete, Cassius went east to gather support among the governors and to amass an army. Antony and Octavian would clash militarily causing divisions in Rome. This allowed the forces of Brutus and Cassius to march on Rome. However Octavian made peace with Antony upon this news so both forces joined to stop Brutus and Cassius. They met at Philippi on 3 Oct 42 BC. The first battle resulted in Brutus defeating Octavian but Antony defeating Cassius. Not knowing that Brutus had defeated Octavian, Cassius took his own life. At the second battle of Philippi on 23 October, Brutus was defeated and forced to flee into the hills where he committed suicide. Antony treated his body with great respect by having it wrapped his most expensive purple mantle. His body was cremated and remains sent to his mother.

Sources:


MacHighway - Web Hosting for Mac Users, by Mac Users, Since 1997

History

Remembering History: The Ides of March/Assassination of Julius Caesar

The Death of Julius Caesar,Vincenzo Camuccini (1771–1844). Public Domain
The Death of Julius Caesar,Vincenzo Camuccini (1771–1844).
Public Domain

Today is 15 March and on the old Roman calendar was a day of religious observance to the Roman god Jupiter and other lesser deities. But it is most famous as the date in 44 BC when Julius Caesar was assassinated at a meeting of the Roman Senate. 60 conspirators were involved but the leaders were Brutus and Cassius. Caesar was forewarned of his death by a seer according to Plutarch. And in his famous work Julius Caesar, Shakespeare has the soothsayer say “beware the ides of March” which Caesar ignores and if course he ends up stabbed to death uttering the famous line before death:

Et tu Brute!

The assassination was a turning point for Rome. It brought about a civil war and ended the Roman Republic. Octavian (later Augustus) would become emperor and the Roman Empire would come to dominate the entire Mediterranean Sea, North Africa, and parts of Europe and Britain. In Julius Caesar Mark Antony gives perhaps the most remembered funeral oration ever done. Most people recall the famous opening line:

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones; so let it be with Caesar.

The oration is masterful in that it cleverly turns the people against Brutus and Cassius by showing they were ambitious and not Caesar. By the end the plebeians call them traitors and murderers.

In real life, it was much the same. Antony played them by seemingly supporting amnesty but turning people against them both. Brutus was forced to leave and ended up on Crete, Cassius went east to gather support among the governors and to amass an army. Antony and Octavian would clash militarily causing divisions in Rome. This allowed the forces of Brutus and Cassius to march on Rome. However Octavian made peace with Antony upon this news so both forces joined to stop Brutus and Cassius. They met at Philippi on 3 Oct 42 BC. The first battle resulted in Brutus defeating Octavian but Antony defeating Cassius. Not knowing that Brutus had defeated Octavian, Cassius took his own life. At the second battle of Philippi on 23 October, Brutus was defeated and forced to flee into the hills where he committed suicide. Antony treated his body with great respect by having it wrapped his most expensive purple mantle. His body was cremated and remains sent to his mother.


MacHighway - Web Hosting for Mac Users, by Mac Users, Since 1997

Miscellaneous

Welcome to March

St. Patrick’s Day postcard, 1912 of “Old Weir Bridge” at Dinis Cottage, in Killarney National Park, Ireland.
Public Domain/Wikipedia

March is the third month on both the old Julian and current Gregorian calendar. It is the month that begins spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. March is believed to be derived from the Roman god Mars (Greek equivalent Ares). Before the advent of the Julian calendar, Romans considered March the first month of the new year. The March equinox is usually around March 21-22. Many spring festivals take place in March. Passover and Easter may take place in March, but not always as it is dependent upon very specific calculations and can change from year to year. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17. If it falls on a Friday, Catholics are given dispensation to eat meat on that day (at least in Ireland and in areas where the feast is celebrated). The famous Ides of March (March 15) was once a day to pay debts in Rome but it became infamously associated with the assassination of Julius Caesar on that day in 44 BC.

Daylight savings time begins in the U.S. and Canada on the second Sunday in March. March has two birthstones that reflect courage: aquamarine and bloodstone. The flower for March is the daffodil.