Julius Caesar
In modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date on which Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C. Caesar was stabbed (23 times) to death in the Roman Senate by a group of conspirators led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. The group included 60 other co-conspirators according to Plutarch. Another point which arises is Shakespeare's use of the Ides of March and (the lack of doubt in) Marcus Brutus' decision to assassinate Caesar to portray an atmosphere of madness, pleasure, and pandemonium. It is said that on ides of March the sea succumbs to chaos and the full moon brings high tides. All these points give the Ides of March a very mysterious quality.
According to Plutarch, a seer had foreseen that Caesar would be harmed not later than the Ides of March; and on his way to the Theatre of Pompey (where he would be assassinated), Caesar met the seer and joked, "The ides of March have come", meaning to say that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied "Aye, Caesar; but not gone." This meeting is famously dramatised in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, when Caesar is warned by the soothsayer to "beware the Ides of March."
Furthermore, Suetonius writes that the haruspex Spurinna warns Caesar of his death which will come "not beyond the Ides of March" as he is crossing the river Rubicon.
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Famous quotes by julius caesar:
“It is the custom of the immortal gods to grant temporary prosperity and a fairly long period of impunity to those whom they plan to punish for their crimes, so that they may feel it all the more keenly as a result of the change in their fortunes.”
—Julius Caesar [Gaius Julius Caesar] (100–44 B.C.)
“The die is cast.”
—Julius Caesar [Gaius Julius Caesar] (100–44 B.C.)
“Though all the East did quake to hear
Of Alexander’s dreadful name,
And all the West likewise did fear
To hear of Julius Caesar’s fame,”
—Robert Southwell (1561?–1595)
“Fortune, which has a great deal of power in other matters but especially in war, can bring about great changes in a situation through very slight forces.”
—Julius Caesar [Gaius Julius Caesar] (100–44 B.C.)
“People willingly believe what they want to believe.”
—Julius Caesar [Gaius Julius Caesar] (100–44 B.C.)