The Ides of March are Upon Us

“Beware the Ides of March!”  So spoke the soothsayer, and Julius Caesar ignored him and promptly went out to get himself stabbed to death by his best friend. That’ll teach him to pay more attention to the news.

So what are these infamous Ides anyway? About all most of us know, is that we need to beware of them, and they certainly didn’t do Julius any good. We probably would have never heard of them if it weren’t for William Shakespeare.  

Did good ol’ Will know something we don’t? Not really, except maybe how to write a dramatic scene.

In fact, March isn’t even the only month with an ‘Ides.’ The ancient Roman calendar had plenty of them.  In March, May, July, and October, the Ides fell on the 15th day. In every other month, the Ides fell on the 13th. The word comes from the Latin “to divide.”   

So should you be prepared to call out the National Guard and take cover in the nearest cellar on March 15th? Not unless you’re planning a career in politics and have particularly bad taste in friends.

Since it falls so close to the deadline for filing your taxes, you may have trouble with an even more fearsome Ides:  the Ides of April.

So as March rolls its way through, may the Ides be with you!