Idus Martii in Latin, the Ides of March (March 15) was a feast day on the Roman calendar that became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. The death of Caesar was a turning point in Roman history, marking the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire.
The term “ides” in that time referred to the middle of the lunar month. The Feast of Anna Perenna associated with the beginning of the new year was traditionally celebrated on the Ides of March with with picnics, drinking, and revelry.
Assassination of Julius Caesar
On the Ides of March in the year 44 BC, Julius Caesar was stabbed to death at a meeting of the senate. As many as 60 conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius, were involved.
According to Plutarch, a Greek historian, a seer had warned that harm would come to Caesar no later than the Ides of March. On his way to meet with the senate on that fateful day, Caesar passed the seer and joked, "The ides of March have come," to which the seer replied "Aye, Caesar; but not gone."
Moments later he was assassinated.
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
Act 1, scene 2, 15–19
Caesar:
Who is it in the press that calls on me?
I hear a tongue shriller than all the music
Cry "Caesar!" Speak, Caesar is turn'd to hear.
Soothsayer:
Beware the ides of March.
Caesar:
What man is that?
Brutus:
A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.
Other Notorious March 15 Events
Samoan Cyclone, 1889
Russian's Last Czar, Nicholas II, Abdicates His Throne, 1917
Deadly Blizzard on the Great Plains, 1941
World Record Rainfall on island of La Réunion, 1952
CBS Cancels the “Ed Sullivan Show,” 1971
NASA reports Disappearing Ozone Layer, 1988
World Health Organization issues global health altert for SARS, 2003
Novel Coronavirus Spreads Across Europe, 2020
Beware of March
In their collection of scary stories from Kentucky titled Haunted Holidays, Roberta Simpson and Lonnie E. Brown include the story of a grandmother’s fear of the month of March.
“If I live through March,” Grandmother Simpson would often say, “I’ll live another year.”
Roberta was always relieved when the Ides of March passed and her grandmother lived to cook corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day, a tradition essential to bringing good luck. But in Roberta’s senior year of high school, Grandmother Simpson fell into poor health and did not survive the month of March.
The next year, while in college, Roberta recalls St. Patrick’s Day and being suddenly overwhelmed by the inexplicable smell of corned beef and cabbage cooking in a dormitory that had no kitchen and allowed no cooking. “I knew it was a sign from Grandma that I was not alone.”
Roberta was always relieved when the Ides of March passed and her grandmother lived to cook corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day, a tradition essential to bringing good luck. But in Roberta’s senior year of high school, Grandmother Simpson fell into poor health and did not survive the month of March.
The next year, while in college, Roberta recalls St. Patrick’sDay and being suddenly overwhelmed by the inexplicable smell of corned beef and cabbage cooking in a dormitory that had no kitchen and allowed no cooking. “I knew it was a sign from Grandma that I was not alone.”
