Beware the Ides of March. (But Why?) – JSTOR Daily

On this day in 44 BCE, Dictator for Life Gaius Julius Caesar was assassinated by members of the Roman Senate, stabbed 23 times in what the conspirators believed was an act that would save the Republic and stop Caesar’s advancement toward becoming the King of Rome. This day, on the Roman calendar of the time, was the Ides of March. What does “Ides” mean? Why that day? And what was the Julian Calendar all about, anyway?Up until the year before Caesar’s death, the Roman calendar was a bit of a disaster, at least if you were trying to use it for things like “what season is it,” “when do I plant my wheat,” or “when should the pigs be suckled”? These examples may seem simplistic, but it’s important to remember that the Roman Republic was at its heart an agrarian society: when soldiers retired, they were given farmland to work. Cincinnatus, a legendary elder statesman and hero of the Republic, would serve as needed in times of military warfare and plebeian uprisings, but would always return to his farm, inspiring George Washington and other Revolutionary War figures to idealize an agrarian United States.

Source: Beware the Ides of March. (But Why?) – JSTOR Daily