Death of CaesarVincenzo Camuccini, 1798
Caesar:
Who is it in the press* that calls on me?
I hear a tongue shriller than all the music cry out, "Caesar!"
Speak. Caesar is turn'd to hear.
Soothsayer:
Beware the ides of March.
*crowd
Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene 2
At age 55, Caesar had been pushing his political luck for quite a while, but as far as he was concerned the ides of March was just another spring day. Ides comes from the Latin word idus which means "half division." The term was used for the 15th day of March, May, July and October. In months with 30 days, the ides was the 13th.
Thanks to Shakespeare's play and a gruesome murder at the Roman senate in 44 BC, The Ides of March phrase took on ominous meaning. March was named after the god Martius, and at the time it was the beginning of the year and the start of the military campaign season. And I suppose a fitting month for the warlike Caesar to meet his end.
Who is it in the press* that calls on me?
I hear a tongue shriller than all the music cry out, "Caesar!"
Speak. Caesar is turn'd to hear.
Soothsayer:
Beware the ides of March.
*crowd
Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene 2
At age 55, Caesar had been pushing his political luck for quite a while, but as far as he was concerned the ides of March was just another spring day. Ides comes from the Latin word idus which means "half division." The term was used for the 15th day of March, May, July and October. In months with 30 days, the ides was the 13th.
Thanks to Shakespeare's play and a gruesome murder at the Roman senate in 44 BC, The Ides of March phrase took on ominous meaning. March was named after the god Martius, and at the time it was the beginning of the year and the start of the military campaign season. And I suppose a fitting month for the warlike Caesar to meet his end.
Martius
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