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Depending on your age, when the phrase "the ides of March" is intoned, you may first associate it with:
a) a word that was used widely in the Roman calendar indicating the approximate day that was the middle of the month. The term "ides" was used for the 15th day of the months of March, May, July, and October. The Ides of March was a festive day dedicated to the god of war Mars and was a perfect excuse for a military parade to display the empire's martial might;
a) a word that was used widely in the Roman calendar indicating the approximate day that was the middle of the month. The term "ides" was used for the 15th day of the months of March, May, July, and October. The Ides of March was a festive day dedicated to the god of war Mars and was a perfect excuse for a military parade to display the empire's martial might;
Engraving of Roman soldiers
b) the date on which Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C. Caesar was stabbed to death (23 times!) in the Roman Senate by a group of conspirators led by Marcus Junius Brutus ("et tu?") and Gaius Cassius Longinus;
c) a quote from Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar, in which Caesar is warned by a soothsayer to "beware the Ides of March;"
c) a quote from Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar, in which Caesar is warned by a soothsayer to "beware the Ides of March;"
Bust of Julius Caesar
d) Chicago's own band of favorite sons, The Ides of March, the boys from Berwyn, who scored the chart-topping hit "Vehicle," (I'm your...) in 1970. Singer Jim Peterik went on to lead the band Survivor ("Eye of the Tiger"), but has since reunited with original IOM band members;
Original Ides of March (courtesy of the the band's official website: theidesofmarch.com
e) a film starring Ryan Gosling (the librarian's favorite pin-up) and George Clooney (who needs to be a librarian's favorite pin-up;
Heart-throbs of librarians everywhere...
f) the date Rob Blagojevich (disgraced ex-governor of Illinois, convicted of corruption) went to jail (maybe you have to be from Illinois to appreciate this one).
Pensively contemplating his future in a Colorado prison... "Will they cut my hair?"