What are the Ides of March?

The Ides of March

The Ides of March - or March 15th - is known throughout history for being an ill-fated day. Julius Caesar was assassinated on this date in 44 B.C. Historians have noted the likeliness that a soothsayer named Spurinna warned Caesar that danger would occur by the Ides of March.

Of course, another famous reference to this date is when William Shakespeare included the phrase "Beware the ides of March" in his play Julius Caesar.

Each Roman Lunar Calendar month had three fixed named days, but was otherwise lacking a Julian numbering system as we're familiar with today.

1. Kalends:
   • Always the first day of the month.
2. Nones
   • Always nine days before the Ides
   • Long months (March, May, July and October) fell on seventh day of the month
   • Other months, fell on fifth day of month
3. Ides:
   1. Always the day of the full moon in the lunar month.
   2. Long months (March, May, July and October) fell on 15th day of the month (remember the Ides of March)
   3. Other months, fell on 13th day of month

The ides were the 15th days of long months (including Martius, or March) in the ancient Roman lunar calendar; they were the 13th in other months. The word ides comes from the Latin word idus, which is possibly derived from an Etruscan word meaning "to divide." The ides were originally meant to mark the full Moon (the "halfway point" of a lunar month), but because the Roman calendar months and actual lunar months were of different lengths, they quickly got out of step. The ancient Romans considered the day after the kalends (first of the month), nones (ninth day before the ides, inclusive), or ides of any month as unfavorable. These were called dies atri.

Dies Atri

Dies atri - or "black days" - weren't marked on the Roman calendar because they always occurred the day after the Kalends, Nones and Ides of each month. As part of these days, nothing constituted as 'new' could be done; state cult festivals were not even held on these dates.

Romans believed that the Kalends, Nones and Ides of each month (and the fourth day of each month) were unlucky days, similar to how we perceive Friday the Thirteenth in our day. It's not that there were any legal or religious prohibitions against activities on these simply unlucky days, and a nundina could have fallen on Nones quite easily.

Also, Romans thought the month of May and the first half of June were terribly unlucky months to get married in.

See the Related Links for the original reference information on this topic.