15 March 2012

Beware the Ides of March!

This Day in History

Beware the Ides of March!

Coroner’s ReportSomething to consider. . . . the Roman leader Julius Caesar was stabbed 23

times by a mob of mutinous senators in 44 B.C. Could he possibly have survived long enough to utter his famous last words, “Et tu, Brute”?

Some FACTS The Ides of March isn’t an actual holiday.This is the date when Julius Caesar was

assassinated.Julius Caesar was killed in 44 B.C.

Today also marks the first day of the Roman New Year.

It also marks the first day of Roman spring.

THE MONTH OF JULYJulian calendar established a year of 365 days with a leap year every fourth year and this basic system has remained to this day apart from some fine tuning in 1582 by Pope Gregory, which converted the Julian

calendar into the Gregorian calendar. As a result, the month of his birth was renamed in Julius Caesar’s

honor: JULY for JULIUS.

HIS PERSONALITYJulius Caesar was known to be quite vain. He always took great pains in his personal grooming by always

appearing clean shaven with his hair neatly trimmed.

Julius Caesar was noted for being overly superstitious about his luck. He would only ride his “lucky horse” into battle. The horse was distinctive in the fact that instead

of having cloven hooves, it had hooves that were cloven into 5 parts which resembled toes. The horse

would not allow anyone else to ride him either.

Becoming impatient due to the long delays by congested traffic in going to the Senate and other

public buildings, Caesar passed a law that prohibited all wheeled vehicles from running in the streets of Rome

during day light hours.

Caesar was assassinated, right?ASSASSIN is a word with fascinating origins. First used

in the 1520s, the word is believed to be derived from a secret society called the HASHSHASHIN, a group that

was said to have murdered others.

BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH!!!