WEBVTT - Should You Beware the Ides of March?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff, Lauren

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<v Speaker 1>Vogelbaum Here. Thanks to a murder in Ancient Rome and

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<v Speaker 1>a play written by William Shakespeare, people are still proclaiming,

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<v Speaker 1>beware the IDEs of March. This infamous day has become

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<v Speaker 1>synonymous with betrayal, lost loyalty, and unwelcome surprises. So what

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<v Speaker 1>is the IDEs of March? And should it really make

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<v Speaker 1>us wary? Ancient Romans, those clever folks known for aqueducts

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<v Speaker 1>and amphitheaters, also had a hand in developing a predecessor

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<v Speaker 1>to our modern calendar. The name they created for the

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<v Speaker 1>first day of each month, Calends, eventually led to the

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<v Speaker 1>modern word calendar. They also determined that one day each

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<v Speaker 1>month would be known as IDEs, a day that often

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<v Speaker 1>corresponded with religious observances. According to their reckoning, the IDEs

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<v Speaker 1>fell on the thirteenth day of you each month, with

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<v Speaker 1>the exceptions of March, May, July, and October when the

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<v Speaker 1>iides occurred on the fifteenth. But it was the iides

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<v Speaker 1>of March that became a real stickler. It presented a

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<v Speaker 1>deadline on which citizens were expected to settle all of

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<v Speaker 1>their debts. It became a day of celebration for those

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<v Speaker 1>who received payment, and a day of woe for those

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<v Speaker 1>who paid. For many, it was probably a little both.

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<v Speaker 1>The concept of IDEs was closely tied to the way

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<v Speaker 1>people of ancient Rome tracked the passage of time. The

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<v Speaker 1>Latin route of eyd means to divide, and in keeping

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<v Speaker 1>with the sentiment, the iides took place about midway through

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<v Speaker 1>each month. The iides also corresponded with the rise of

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<v Speaker 1>the full moon. This worked well for as long as

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<v Speaker 1>the lunar cycle and the calendar months matched up as expected. Eventually, however,

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<v Speaker 1>a mismatch between the two was apparent. A solution was

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<v Speaker 1>presented in about forty five BCE, when days were added

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<v Speaker 1>or removed so that the calendar would stay in sync

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<v Speaker 1>with astronomical seasons such as solstices and equinoxes. The resulting

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<v Speaker 1>Julian calendar was based on Earth's revolutions around the Sun.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a three hundred and sixty five day year

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<v Speaker 1>divided into twelve months, with an additional day added every

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<v Speaker 1>four years to resink the calendar, an event now known

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<v Speaker 1>as a leak year. The Julian calendar was named posthumously

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<v Speaker 1>for the military general and politician Julius Caesar, who had

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<v Speaker 1>declared himself ruler of the Roman Republic back in forty

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<v Speaker 1>nine BCE. For the article this episode is based on

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<v Speaker 1>How Stuffworks. Spoke by email, Kelly Ann Diamond, PhD, an

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<v Speaker 1>assistant teaching professor at Villanova University. She said, what is

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<v Speaker 1>interesting is that the change came about after Caesar had

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<v Speaker 1>spent some time in Egypt, specifically in the city of Alexandria.

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<v Speaker 1>The Egyptians had developed previously a calendar of three hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and sixty five days. However, they did not add that

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<v Speaker 1>extra day, so the Egyptian calendar drifted one day every

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<v Speaker 1>four years. Through ancient writings, including those of the philosopher Plutarch,

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<v Speaker 1>it was recorded that Caesar sought help from expert mathematicians,

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<v Speaker 1>including in Alexandria, and adjusting the calendar, and Diamond said

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<v Speaker 1>this is important to note because ancient Egypt does not

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<v Speaker 1>always receive the credit it deserves as part of the

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<v Speaker 1>foundation of Western culture. Usually the story begins and ends

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<v Speaker 1>with Julius Caesar and relegated to the footnotes is the

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<v Speaker 1>fact that the Egyptians were technologically savvy and passed on

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<v Speaker 1>their wisdom to the Roman world. For a time, this

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<v Speaker 1>Julian calendar seemed to propose an ideal solution, until people

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<v Speaker 1>realized that an extra day every four years was too many,

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<v Speaker 1>and a modified Gregorian calendar was developed in fifteen eighty two.

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<v Speaker 1>The Gregorian calendar is now used as the official civilian

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<v Speaker 1>time tracker in most parts of the world. Even so,

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<v Speaker 1>the IDEs of March from the Julian calendar is still

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<v Speaker 1>part of our collective consciousness, thanks in large part to

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<v Speaker 1>Caesar's untimely debt and the Shakespeare play that immortalized it.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay in forty four BCE, about five years into Julius

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<v Speaker 1>Caesar's rule of Rome, things seemed to be going well.

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<v Speaker 1>He had a number of military victories under his belt

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<v Speaker 1>after taking over parts of what's now Belgium, France, Germany, Spain,

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<v Speaker 1>and Switzerland, and he was generally quite popular among his constituents.

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<v Speaker 1>As Caesar had appointed several political leaders the comprised Rome Senate,

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<v Speaker 1>but tensions were building. Members of the Senate worried that

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<v Speaker 1>Caesar's mounting popularity and his recent self appointment as dictator

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<v Speaker 1>in perpetuity would lead to a disastrous political outcome for Rome.

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<v Speaker 1>Some senators feared Caesar would disband the Senate and rule

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<v Speaker 1>of his own accord without their input. The brewing opposition

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<v Speaker 1>to Caesar's rule came to a head on the IDEs

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<v Speaker 1>of March March fifteenth in forty five for BCE, when

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<v Speaker 1>about forty Roman senators stabbed Caesar to death as the

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<v Speaker 1>group was on its way to a sporting event at

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<v Speaker 1>the Theater of Pompeii in Rome. The conspiracy, led by

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<v Speaker 1>Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus, was kept under

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<v Speaker 1>wraps by the dozens of senators involved. Houstuffworks also spoke

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<v Speaker 1>by email with Kate Wiswell, historical hobbyist and author. As

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<v Speaker 1>she said, Julius Caesar managed to anger enough people that

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<v Speaker 1>he was taken out by his own senate for the

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<v Speaker 1>greater good. Sadly, his removal did not usher in the

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<v Speaker 1>revolution people had hoped for, because they fought so much

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<v Speaker 1>about how to replace him that they ended up with

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<v Speaker 1>yet another empirical Caesar just like him. After a period

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<v Speaker 1>of public outrage and a series of civil wars, Caesar's

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<v Speaker 1>nephew Octavian began calling himself Caesar Augustus and claimed rule

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<v Speaker 1>of what would become the Roman Empire, ending ancient Rome's

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<v Speaker 1>brush with the government ruled by representatives of the people.

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<v Speaker 1>But fast forward to the turn of the sixteen hundreds

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<v Speaker 1>ce Throughout the Renaissance there had been a renewed interest

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<v Speaker 1>in cultural touchstones of the past as a way to

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<v Speaker 1>help society move forward. This included an interest in, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>the historical events of ancient Rome. Back in the thirteen hundreds,

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<v Speaker 1>Dante had written Brutus and Cassius into the deepest part

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<v Speaker 1>of the Deepest Circle of Hell in his work Inferno.

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<v Speaker 1>It's no surprise that Shakespeare chose this richly metaphored and

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<v Speaker 1>richly biographed story is the basis of a play. Julius

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<v Speaker 1>Caesar was probably the first play performed upon the grand

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<v Speaker 1>opening of the New Globe Theater in fifteen ninety nine,

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<v Speaker 1>and it was actually just one of four plays about

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<v Speaker 1>Caesar from that decade that have survived. But the ethical

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<v Speaker 1>questions that Shakespeare's play raises have helped it survive across centuries,

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<v Speaker 1>and with it the line beware the IDEs of March,

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<v Speaker 1>spoken to Caesar by a Susai, predictor of the future,

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<v Speaker 1>whom Caesar promptly ignores, so that's where the phrase comes

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<v Speaker 1>from and why you probably don't need to beware of

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<v Speaker 1>March fifteenth, unless you're getting a little overly ambitious there.

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<v Speaker 1>If so, might want to check that today's episode is

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<v Speaker 1>based on the article no need to beware the IDEs

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<v Speaker 1>of March actually on HowStuffWorks dot com, written by Lareel Dove.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with

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<v Speaker 1>how stuffworks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang.

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<v Speaker 1>Four more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.