It was 2055 years ago, March 15th, 44 B.C., which was called the Ides of March. It was a day of feast dedicated to the God Mars, and much pageantry with a military parade was scheduled. Julius Caesar was making his way to the Theatre of Pompey, when on a whim he stopped to visit with a seer who had previously foretold that great harm would befall Caesar not later than the Ides of March.
Caesar jokingly remarked to the seer that the Ides had come, and absolutely nothing had happened to him, implying that the seer was some sort of a charlatan. The seer then answered Caesar with the remark, that yes the Ides had come, but they had not gone yet. Caesar laughed it off and continued on his way to the Senate. It was while at this meeting, surrounded by Marcus Junius Brutus and 60 other well-known friends and acquaintances, all co-conspirators, that all fell upon Caesar bent on assassination. Stabbed in the neck and face, eyes blinded with blood, Caesar fell, whereupon many jumped on him stabbing him a total of 23 times, killing him.
Yet today people still use the term the Ides of March mostly because of Caesar’s death on the date. Few recall that several other months also had midmonth dates known as Ides.
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