Should I "Beware the Ides of March"?

"Beware the Ides of March" is a famous line from Williams Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. An astrologer forewarns Julius Caesar, "Beware the ides of March". This was a 'personal' forewarning for Julius Caesar who chose to ignore the soothsayers warning, and was assassinated on March 15^th 44 B.C.E.

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.

We have William Shakespeare to thank for attaching the stigma to the date. There is no reason to beware the ides of March for the rest of us. March 15^th is not a day wrapped in superstition at all. Ides just means the middle of the month according to the Roman calendar.

The ancient Roman calendar had twelve months, and each has an 'ides'. The 'Ides' refers to the midpoint of any particular month. The word 'ides 'actually means to divide. The calendar was based on the lunar cycles. The ides marked the full moon which fell in the middle of the month.

For the months of March, May, July, and October its' halfway mark would fall on the fifteenth. For the rest of the months it falls on the thirteenth.

The Roman calendar had reference points for counting the days in the months. The 'ides' would be the middle of the month, and the fifth or the seventh day would be the 'nones', and the 'kalends' were the first day, which is also where the word "calendar" comes from. The actual date of the 'ides' vary because the Ides only falls on the 15th of the month one-third of the time. The actual 'dates' were figured out by counting backwards from the marking points of the ides, nones, and kalends.

For example, the March first would be Kalends, March second would be VI Nones, the third of March, V Nones, and so on, counting backwards from the nones, or ides if the date was past the fifth or seventh of the month. Confusing? Yes, that is why we use the solar calendar!

The line in Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar "Beware the ides of march" is so memorable to us because in Act I, Scene II the line makes its appearance to foreshadow the events to come. The warning is disregarded, and the outcome is tragic. However, this warning was for Julius Caesar, not for us!