1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff, Lauren 2 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:13,240 Speaker 1: Vogelbaum Here. Thanks to a murder in Ancient Rome and 3 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:17,079 Speaker 1: a play written by William Shakespeare, people are still proclaiming, 4 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 1: beware the IDEs of March. This infamous day has become 5 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: synonymous with betrayal, lost loyalty, and unwelcome surprises. So what 6 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: is the IDEs of March? And should it really make 7 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:35,920 Speaker 1: us wary? Ancient Romans, those clever folks known for aqueducts 8 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:39,520 Speaker 1: and amphitheaters, also had a hand in developing a predecessor 9 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:43,559 Speaker 1: to our modern calendar. The name they created for the 10 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:46,519 Speaker 1: first day of each month, Calends, eventually led to the 11 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 1: modern word calendar. They also determined that one day each 12 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 1: month would be known as IDEs, a day that often 13 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: corresponded with religious observances. According to their reckoning, the IDEs 14 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: fell on the thirteenth day of you each month, with 15 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:04,400 Speaker 1: the exceptions of March, May, July, and October when the 16 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,639 Speaker 1: iides occurred on the fifteenth. But it was the iides 17 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: of March that became a real stickler. It presented a 18 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 1: deadline on which citizens were expected to settle all of 19 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: their debts. It became a day of celebration for those 20 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: who received payment, and a day of woe for those 21 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:23,119 Speaker 1: who paid. For many, it was probably a little both. 22 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:27,280 Speaker 1: The concept of IDEs was closely tied to the way 23 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: people of ancient Rome tracked the passage of time. The 24 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: Latin route of eyd means to divide, and in keeping 25 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:37,600 Speaker 1: with the sentiment, the iides took place about midway through 26 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 1: each month. The iides also corresponded with the rise of 27 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: the full moon. This worked well for as long as 28 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: the lunar cycle and the calendar months matched up as expected. Eventually, however, 29 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: a mismatch between the two was apparent. A solution was 30 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 1: presented in about forty five BCE, when days were added 31 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: or removed so that the calendar would stay in sync 32 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: with astronomical seasons such as solstices and equinoxes. The resulting 33 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: Julian calendar was based on Earth's revolutions around the Sun. 34 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 1: It was a three hundred and sixty five day year 35 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: divided into twelve months, with an additional day added every 36 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: four years to resink the calendar, an event now known 37 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:24,360 Speaker 1: as a leak year. The Julian calendar was named posthumously 38 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:27,800 Speaker 1: for the military general and politician Julius Caesar, who had 39 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: declared himself ruler of the Roman Republic back in forty 40 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:35,120 Speaker 1: nine BCE. For the article this episode is based on 41 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:38,920 Speaker 1: How Stuffworks. Spoke by email, Kelly Ann Diamond, PhD, an 42 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 1: assistant teaching professor at Villanova University. She said, what is 43 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 1: interesting is that the change came about after Caesar had 44 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:50,360 Speaker 1: spent some time in Egypt, specifically in the city of Alexandria. 45 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 1: The Egyptians had developed previously a calendar of three hundred 46 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: and sixty five days. However, they did not add that 47 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: extra day, so the Egyptian calendar drifted one day every 48 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: four years. Through ancient writings, including those of the philosopher Plutarch, 49 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:11,079 Speaker 1: it was recorded that Caesar sought help from expert mathematicians, 50 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: including in Alexandria, and adjusting the calendar, and Diamond said 51 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:19,640 Speaker 1: this is important to note because ancient Egypt does not 52 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: always receive the credit it deserves as part of the 53 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:26,360 Speaker 1: foundation of Western culture. Usually the story begins and ends 54 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:29,400 Speaker 1: with Julius Caesar and relegated to the footnotes is the 55 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: fact that the Egyptians were technologically savvy and passed on 56 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: their wisdom to the Roman world. For a time, this 57 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: Julian calendar seemed to propose an ideal solution, until people 58 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: realized that an extra day every four years was too many, 59 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: and a modified Gregorian calendar was developed in fifteen eighty two. 60 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: The Gregorian calendar is now used as the official civilian 61 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: time tracker in most parts of the world. Even so, 62 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: the IDEs of March from the Julian calendar is still 63 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: part of our collective consciousness, thanks in large part to 64 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: Caesar's untimely debt and the Shakespeare play that immortalized it. 65 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: Okay in forty four BCE, about five years into Julius 66 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: Caesar's rule of Rome, things seemed to be going well. 67 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:20,279 Speaker 1: He had a number of military victories under his belt 68 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:24,159 Speaker 1: after taking over parts of what's now Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, 69 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:28,279 Speaker 1: and Switzerland, and he was generally quite popular among his constituents. 70 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: As Caesar had appointed several political leaders the comprised Rome Senate, 71 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: but tensions were building. Members of the Senate worried that 72 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: Caesar's mounting popularity and his recent self appointment as dictator 73 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:46,839 Speaker 1: in perpetuity would lead to a disastrous political outcome for Rome. 74 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:51,000 Speaker 1: Some senators feared Caesar would disband the Senate and rule 75 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:55,360 Speaker 1: of his own accord without their input. The brewing opposition 76 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:57,679 Speaker 1: to Caesar's rule came to a head on the IDEs 77 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:01,560 Speaker 1: of March March fifteenth in forty five for BCE, when 78 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:04,599 Speaker 1: about forty Roman senators stabbed Caesar to death as the 79 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 1: group was on its way to a sporting event at 80 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:12,040 Speaker 1: the Theater of Pompeii in Rome. The conspiracy, led by 81 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:16,159 Speaker 1: Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus, was kept under 82 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 1: wraps by the dozens of senators involved. Houstuffworks also spoke 83 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 1: by email with Kate Wiswell, historical hobbyist and author. As 84 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: she said, Julius Caesar managed to anger enough people that 85 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 1: he was taken out by his own senate for the 86 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 1: greater good. Sadly, his removal did not usher in the 87 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: revolution people had hoped for, because they fought so much 88 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 1: about how to replace him that they ended up with 89 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 1: yet another empirical Caesar just like him. After a period 90 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: of public outrage and a series of civil wars, Caesar's 91 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,800 Speaker 1: nephew Octavian began calling himself Caesar Augustus and claimed rule 92 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: of what would become the Roman Empire, ending ancient Rome's 93 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: brush with the government ruled by representatives of the people. 94 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:04,480 Speaker 1: But fast forward to the turn of the sixteen hundreds 95 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:08,600 Speaker 1: ce Throughout the Renaissance there had been a renewed interest 96 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 1: in cultural touchstones of the past as a way to 97 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 1: help society move forward. This included an interest in, for example, 98 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: the historical events of ancient Rome. Back in the thirteen hundreds, 99 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:23,840 Speaker 1: Dante had written Brutus and Cassius into the deepest part 100 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: of the Deepest Circle of Hell in his work Inferno. 101 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: It's no surprise that Shakespeare chose this richly metaphored and 102 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:36,159 Speaker 1: richly biographed story is the basis of a play. Julius 103 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: Caesar was probably the first play performed upon the grand 104 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 1: opening of the New Globe Theater in fifteen ninety nine, 105 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 1: and it was actually just one of four plays about 106 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 1: Caesar from that decade that have survived. But the ethical 107 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 1: questions that Shakespeare's play raises have helped it survive across centuries, 108 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:57,920 Speaker 1: and with it the line beware the IDEs of March, 109 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: spoken to Caesar by a Susai, predictor of the future, 110 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:06,919 Speaker 1: whom Caesar promptly ignores, so that's where the phrase comes 111 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: from and why you probably don't need to beware of 112 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: March fifteenth, unless you're getting a little overly ambitious there. 113 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: If so, might want to check that today's episode is 114 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: based on the article no need to beware the IDEs 115 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:27,480 Speaker 1: of March actually on HowStuffWorks dot com, written by Lareel Dove. 116 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with 117 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 1: how stuffworks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. 118 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 1: Four more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 119 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:45,120 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.