Posted on 03/14/2005 9:08:52 PM PST by Hillary's Lovely Legs
Forget Friday the 13th. Ignore ladders, black cats, broken mirrors and spilt salt. Think instead of today, March 15, and beware.
As superstitions go, being wary of the ides of March is certainly more unusual. Yet the day does have a certain resonance.
In the complicated world of the Roman calender, there were 45 public festivals (not bad compared to the UK's eight bank holidays), as well as the ides of each month, days which were sacred to Jupiter.
In March, May, July and October, the ides fell on the 15th.
The Julian calendar, established by Julius Caesar, gave us the basis of our system of 365 days a year and 366 in a leap year. But for the most part, the Roman festivals of his time have had their day.
The ides of March, however, is one day that continues to appeal, marked because that was the date that Julius Caesar was assassinated in the senate, in 44BC.
Its modern-day memory is thanks, like so many things, to Shakespeare's way with words.
In act one, scene two of Julius Caesar, Caesar asks a soothsayer what the future holds.
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.
Although today the reference will not be understood by everybody, David Ewing Duncan, author of The Calendar, wrote that it was not always so.
A Roman saying "four ides" (meaning four days before the ides) would be just as clear to other Romans as someone saying March 11.
And furthermore, the system lasted 2,000 years, well into the Renaissance, he wrote. This meant Shakespeare could include the line, and expect his audience to know what he meant.
Test of time
However, just four hundred years later, the ides seems set only to survive as a literary and historical reference - in spite of it being the date by which debts (including Caesar's) were usually settled.
Professor Eileen Barker, of the London School of Economics, said it was a shame but the ides probably only had significance for schoolchildren reading Julius Caesar.
"I was thinking about this when I saw what date it was, and I thought no wonder I'm feeling awful," she said.
One significant historical event that fell on the ides of March is, perhaps, worth noting. It was on this day in 1876 that Test cricket was born.
Reason for anyone to beware? Perhaps for the English.
It was against Australia.
just passin' thru
Happy Birthday!
Good morning and Happy St. Pat's to all and a big ol' happy birthday to HLL!
For sure, M does not remind me of Denise....(who even spreads her legs standing up, it appears)
Denise Rich arrives for the launch of the 2005 Wall Street Concert Series at Cipriani Wall Street in New York on Tuesday, March 15, 2005.
No, never had a wedge "do," even during the height of the Hamill hair craze.
Thank you for the happy birthday wishes.
Now if only it would warm up. I am so sick of ice and snow.
BILL Clinton isn't going to suffer through any nasty old hospital food. When Clinton was hospitalized at Columbia University Medical Center last weekend so doctors could remove fluid from around his heart and lungs, he called Carmine's on Broadway at 91st Street. Clinton ordered a grilled chicken salad while his friends and family [Translation: Hillary and Chelsea ate like little piggies] gorged on some not-so-healthy entrees as lasagna, penne vodka, cheesecake and baked clams. Our spy says the bill was over $500 — "and that was just for Saturday night." (Page Six)
I'm mad at you. I had Pitt picked to beat Pacific but they didn't. I also lost out on Oklahoma. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Would love to know who paid this bill...I'll bet it was not Bill and Hill...
Go Mountaineers (vs. Creighton tonight)!
Oh, by the way, I quit my job today and am feeling footloose and fancy free - so watch out, world.
Congratulations, oh footloose one. Does this mean you've been otherwise employed, or will you be cited as the next head gardener and Chef at Che' Mountaineerland?
I wish I had consulted you, bball wizard. I think my overall picks are pretty solid, altho after watching Kentucky fumble through their game today, I wonder. Send me your brackets via freepmail - I want to see how off I am.
PS: I'm pulling for your Mountaineers tonight. Please don't sour my bracket!!!!
Oh SHITES, Utah is only up two over UTEP. I am going to need more than green beer to get through this tournament!
Currently unemployed, with a few prospects percolating (although with warmer weather - and golf season - finally arriving, I bet I could learn to enjoy having the entire week free).
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