Ides of March

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For other uses, see Ides of March (disambiguation).
Image:Cesar-sa mort.jpg
Vincenzo Camuccini, Mort de César, 1798.

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 8 months.[1].

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

Contents

[edit] Assassination of Julius Caesar

Main article: Julius Caesar Assassination plot

Caesar summoned the Senate to meet in the Theatre of Pompey on the Ides of March. A certain seer 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: "Yes, the Ides of March has come, but it has not past."[3]

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, not murder, and were preserving the Republic from Caesar's alleged monarchical ambitions.

[edit] Usage in modern popular culture

[edit] In Music

  • Ides of march is a song recorded by Guns N' Roses during their Chinese Democracy sessions.
  • 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."
  • In 1970, the American band The Ides of March had a number 2 hit on the Billboard charts with the song "Vehicle."
  • In 2005, the Canadian band Silverstein created a song called "Ides of March" on the album "Discovering the Waterfront".
  • In 1994, the American band Codeine released the song "Ides" on the album "The White Birch". A stripped down version of the song was released in March 1993 on a 7 inch single released by Simple Machines as part of their "Working Holiday" series of singles.

[edit] In Film and Television

  • In Back to the Future II, George McFly was killed on the Ides of March in 1973.
  • In the Weebl and Bob episode "history5", Bob tells Weebl to "beware the Pies of March." He explains that it is currently December, and that "they've gone off by now."
  • In The Simpsons episode "Homer the Great", Lisa warns Homer, "beware the Ides of March", after Homer claims he now knows he is God. Homer replies, "No!"
  • In Xena: Warrior Princess episode "Ides of March", Xena and Gabrielle are crucified on the Ides of March, and Caesar himself is murdered. It is Xena who utters the famous warning, however, she directs it to Brutus rather than Caesar.
  • In the film The House of Yes, Parker Posey's character goes by the name Jackie-O ever since she attended an Ides of March party dressed as the former first lady.

[edit] Other References

  • The Ides of March are celebrated every year by the Rome Hash House Harriers with a toga run in the streets of Rome, in the same place where Julius Caesar was killed.
  • A paperback reprint of material from MAD Magazine, from the late 1950s, is titled The Ides of MAD.
  • In Civilization IV, if the player is on poor terms with Julius Caesar and opens the diplomacy screen with him, Caesar will comically ask why the player is there and if it's "the Ides of March already".
  • In Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, if the player hits enter and types "Ides of March" into the opened chat bar and hits enter again, he will be taken to the final sequence in the current campaign.

[edit] Trivia

  • Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicated his power as ruler on the Ides of March, 1917. It is mentioned in the film "Nicholas and Alexandra."

[edit] References

  1. ^ Merriam-Webster Dictionary, ides
  2. ^ William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene II
  3. ^ Plutarch, Parallel Lives, The Life of Julius Caesar

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

da:Idus martius de:Iden des März es:Idus de marzo it:Idi di marzo he:אידו של מרץ nl:Idus no:Idus martiae pl:Idy ru:Иды sv:Idus

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