Ides of March 2025 is on Saturday, March 15, 2025: what is the ides of march?

Saturday, March 15, 2025 is Ides of March 2025. The Ides of March () is a day on the Roman calendar that corresponds to 15 March. It was marked by several religious observances, and became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC.

The Ides of March () is a day on the Roman calendar that corresponds to 15 March. It was marked by several religious observances, and became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC.

The Ides of March is an epistolary novel by Thornton Wilder that was published in 1948. It is, in the author's words, 'a fantasia on certain events and persons of the last days of the Roman republic...

Beware the Ides of March! Julius Caesar was said to have been assassinated on this date in 44 B.C. by followers of Cassius and Brutus. In Shakespeare's play, Caesar, betrayed by his friend, dies with the words, "Et tu, Brute? Then fall Caesar!" The Ides falls on the 15th day of March, May, July and October; in the rest of the months, it is the 13th.

The Ides of March (Latin: Idus Martiae) is the name of the date 15 March in the Roman calendar. The term ides was used for the 15th day of the months of March, May, July, and October, and the 13th day of the other eight months.[1] In Roman times, the Ides of March was a festive day dedicated to the god Mars and a military parade was usually held.

In modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date that Julius Caesar was assassinated, in 44 BC, the story of which was famously dramatised in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar.[2] The term has come to be used as a metaphor for impending doom.

Etymology

The term idūs (ides) is thought to have originally been the day of the full moon. The Romans considered this an auspicious day in their calendar (see Roman_calendar#Months). The word ides comes from Latin, meaning "half division" (of a month). The word is probably of non-Indoeuropean origin. [3]

Assassination of Julius Caesar

Main article: Assassination of Julius Caesar

Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March, 44 BC, after declaring himself dictator for life of Rome. According to a near-contemporary biographer, Caesar summoned the Senate to meet in the Theatre of Pompey on the Ides of March. A certain soothsayer warned Caesar to be on his guard against a great peril on the day of the month of March which the Romans call the Ides; and when the day had come and Caesar was on his way to the senate-house, he greeted the seer with a jest and said: "The Ides of March has come," and the seer said to him softly: "Aye, Caesar, but not gone."[4]

As the Senate convened, Caesar was attacked and stabbed to death by a group of senators who called themselves the Liberatores ("Liberators"); they justified their action on the grounds that they committed tyrannicide and were preserving the Republic from Caesar's alleged monarchical ambitions.

Usage in modern popular culture

In Music

Thee Mighty Caesars, a garage/punk group fronted by Billy Childish, named an LP "Beware the Ides of March" released in 1985.

British heavy metal band Iron Maiden opened their second album (Killers) with an instrumental entitled "The Ides of March." The song was also covered by Swedish death metal band Arch Enemy in their album "Black Earth."

Why must we beware the Ides of March?

The "Ides of March," a.k.a. March 15th was the date that Julius Caesar (actual name Gaius Julius Caesar, but known as just Julius Caesar) was assassinated (44 B.C) as purported in the play The Tragedie of Julius Caesar written in 1599 by Shakespeare. He was warned by a soothsayer (fortune teller) named Titus Vestricius Spurinna ahead of time that this date was dangerous for him. He disregarded the warning and was murdered. One of the conspirators and participants of his assassination (by stabbing) was his so-called friend, Marcus Brutus. As Brutus stabbed Caesar, the infamous line, "Et tu, Brute?" (you too, Brutus?) was uttered by Caesar.

The play is based on true events concerning Julius Caesar. Leading his legions across the Rubicon, Caesar sparked civil war in 49 BC that left him the undisputed master of the Roman world. After assuming control of the government, he began extensive reforms of Roman society and government. He was proclaimed dictator for life, and he heavily centralized the bureaucracy of the Republic. These events incited a friend of Caesar, Marcus Junius Brutus, who then conspired with others to murder the dictator and restore the Republic. This dramatic assassination occurred on the Ides of March (March 15th) in 44 BC and led to another Roman civil war.

"Ides" refers to a day in the Roman calendar that marked the approximate middle of the month, i.e., the fifteenth day in the months of March, May, July, and October, and the thirteenth day in the other eight months. The word ides comes from Latin, meaning "half division" (of a month).

Incidentally, I was born on his birthday (July 12)! :-)

Explain the Ides of March to me?

The Ides of March is the middle of march. Ides are the point half way in the month.

The Ides of March is significant, because Julius Caesar was warned to beware the Ides of March, and he ignored the warning and was assassinated on that day. Hence the expression Beware the Ides of March