Ok, you don’t really need to beware the Ides of March. But I got your attention, didn’t I?
That’s just how the saying goes, you know? But what I’ll bet you don’t know is where that saying came from in the first place. And did you know it has an Astrology connection?
The saying dates back to sometime in early March of 44 B.C., when an ancient Roman astrologer named Spurinna predicted the death of Julius Caesar. She told him to “Beware the Ides of March” and that he would be in great danger on this day — March 15, as “ides” is derived from the Latin meaning “to divide” and falls exactly mid-month.
Caesar ignored Spurinna’s advice, thinking it was just superstitious foolishness, but on March 15 Caesar was stabbed to death in the Theatre of Pompey by the Liberatores of the Roman Senate and elite. (Most history books would agree he kind of had it coming, by the way.)
Later, the line “Beware the Ides of March” was made infamous in Shakespeare’s Julias Casesar play, and we often hear it bandied about on March 15.
Personally, I think of March 15 as a reminder to always listen to our astrologers, right?
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