BEWAAAAARE THE IDES OF MARCH

Come March 15 every year, I like nothing better than warning people "Bewaaaaare the ides of March!!" in the most ominous voice I can manage.

But, curious cat that I am, I like to know the backstory behind the catchphrase. So I've read up on the execution of Caesar. So should you. Check out this schpiel on the ides of March.

The most interesting new bit of info I gleaned from this was---

"One other omen was that Caesar's wife had a dream, the night before Caesar was killed, that he was lying on the ground dead and she begged him to not go to the Senate that day and Caesar agreed. But later Caesar decided to go when he told a member of the senate to inform everyone he wasn't going and the senator said, "Would you like me to tell them that their Caesar couldn't meet today because his wife had a bad dream?" "

Now I remember that from the Shakespeare play (and more clearly from the 1953 movie made from the Shakespeare play) but I thought that was a li'l fictional embellishment courtesy of the bard. It seemed to me to be just a little device in the play to work Calpurnia into the action...add a dash of romance y'know? But when mentioning this, the article cites it as being from " the most detailed account of Caesar's assassination, written by Nicolas of Damascus,a few years after the event and likely based on eyewitness reports" And granted, wikipedia is not 100% reliable, but still, this ups the probability that it actually DID happen (the bit about Calpurnia's dream)?? So, while the Ides of March still should be observed with reverent caution, one could also definitely argue that the chief lesson to be taken from Caesar's sad demise is that it is BAD NEWS to go back on a promise to your wife. Even if it gets you picked on by your buddies. Do NOT dismiss her concerns as silly or trifling, or you will wind up sorry in a MAJOR WAY, buck-o.