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The Ides of March

The Ides of March

by Borgna Brunner

The soothsayer’s warning to Julius Caesar, "Beware the Ides of March," has forever imbued that date with a sense of foreboding. But in Roman times the expression "Ides of March" did not necessarily evoke a dark mood—it was simply the standard way of saying "March 15." Surely such a fanciful expression must signify something more than merely another day of the year? Not so. Even in Shakespeare’s time, sixteen centuries later, audiences attending his play Julius Caesar wouldn’t have blinked twice upon hearing the date called the Ides.

The term Ides comes from the earliest Roman calendar, which is said to have been devised by Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome. Whether it was Romulus or not, the inventor of this calendar had a penchant for complexity. The Roman calendar organized its months around three days, each of which served as a reference point for counting the other days:

  • Kalends (1st day of the month)
  • Nones (the 7th day in March, May, July, and October; the 5th in the other months)
  • Ides (the 15th day in March, May, July, and October; the 13th in the other months)

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Borrowed days of March

The last three days of March are said to be "borrowed from April."
 

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Borrowed from April

The last three days of March are said to be “borrowed from April.”

‘March said to Aperill,
I see 3 hoggs [hoggets, sheep] upon a hill;
And if you’ll lend me dayes 3
I’ll find a way to make them dee [die].
The first o’ them wus wind and weet,
The second o’ them wus snaw and sleet,
The third o’ them wus sic a freeze
It froze the birds’ nebs to the trees.
When the 3 days were past and gane
The 3 silly hoggs came hirpling [limping] hame.”