Beware This Day ... the Ides of March
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It was on this date in ancient times that a soothsayer warned Julius Caesar: "Cave Idus Martiae", which means, "Beware the Ides of March!"
She was right. Caesar was killed in Rome on that fateful day in 44 B.C.
The so-called Ides were a feature of the Roman calendar. It fell on the 15th of the month in March, May, July and October and came on the 13th of the other months.
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Caesar's murder sent repercussions throughout Roman society and beyond, according to Josiah Osgood, a Georgetown University professor. As he put it, "The Ides changed everything."
Does that mean the Ides of March 2007 portend something ominous? Soothsayers notwithstanding, we won't know unless it happens.