Cave idus martii! The Needy Girl Boss is a Latin Scholar
Et tu, T? Mrs. Manson would be so proud 🥹
Happiest of Fridays, fam — except for the conspirators of Julius Caesar’s death.
If Roman history, and perhaps William Shakespeare are to be believed, members of the Roman Senate conspired and then acted out the betrayal and assassination of Julius Caesar, one of its most important figures. It happened on the 74th day of the Roman calendar — the Ides — on March 15 44 B.C.
Caesar is warned by a man in the streets of Rome to “Beware the Ides of March!”:
Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene II:
CAESAR: Set him before me. Let me see his face.
CASSIUS: Fellow, come from the throng. ⌜The Soothsayer comes forward.⌝ Look upon Caesar.
CAESAR: What sayst thou to me now? Speak once again.
SOOTHSAYER Beware the ides of March.
CAESAR: He is a dreamer. Let us leave him. Pass.
Sennet. All but Brutus and Cassius exit.
Caesar, as we know, was a bad man. And many thought he was, truly, a bad, evil man. He stood greatly atop the height of the Roman Empire at its time and his legacy lives on.
Thus, on the Ides of March in 44 B.C., he was lured to the Senate and stabbed repeatedly; at first, he was going to skip the meeting at the behest of his wife Calphurnia, who dreamed of his death and begged him to stay. He was later swayed to join the meeting after Decimus comes for him with the promise of being given a crown:
Julius Caesar, Act II, Scene II:
DECIUS
Caesar, all hail! Good morrow, worthy Caesar.
I come to fetch you to the Senate House.
CAESAR
And you are come in very happy time
To bear my greeting to the Senators
And tell them that I will not come today.
Cannot is false, and that I dare not, falser.
I will not come today. Tell them so, Decius.
CALPHURNIA
Say he is sick.
CAESAR Shall Caesar send a lie?
Have I in conquest stretched mine arm so far,
To be afraid to tell graybeards the truth?
Decius, go tell them Caesar will not come.
DECIUS
Most mighty Caesar, let me know some cause,
Lest I be laughed at when I tell them so.
CAESAR
The cause is in my will. I will not come.
That is enough to satisfy the Senate.
But for your private satisfaction,
Because I love you, I will let you know.
Calphurnia here, my wife, stays me at home.
She dreamt tonight she saw my statue,
Which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts,
Did run pure blood; and many lusty Romans
Came smiling and did bathe their hands in it.
And these does she apply for warnings and portents
And evils imminent, and on her knee
Hath begged that I will stay at home today.
DECIUS
This dream is all amiss interpreted.
It was a vision fair and fortunate.
Your statue spouting blood in many pipes,
In which so many smiling Romans bathed,
Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck
Reviving blood, and that great men shall press
For tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance.
This by Calphurnia’s dream is signified.
CAESAR
And this way have you well expounded it.
DECIUS
I have, when you have heard what I can say.
And know it now: the Senate have concluded
To give this day a crown to mighty Caesar.
If you shall send them word you will not come,
Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock
Apt to be rendered, for someone to say
“Break up the Senate till another time,
When Caesar’s wife shall meet with better dreams.”
If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper
“Lo, Caesar is afraid”?
Pardon me, Caesar, for my dear dear love
To your proceeding bids me tell you this,
And reason to my love is liable.
CAESAR
How foolish do your fears seem now, Calphurnia!
I am ashamèd I did yield to them.
Give me my robe, for I will go.
And this is why folks should listen to their partners.
Allegedly, his words, as he looked at his homeboy Brutus, “Et tu, Brute? Then, fall Caesar.” At least that’s what Shakespeare would lead us to believe.
Back to the history lesson: Why did they kill him? They found his “ambitions” and rule of Rome and its territories “oppressive.” Yeah, OK.
Thus, we have the phrase "Cave Idus Martias,” which should be code for “check your Six,” because your friends aren’t always your friends.
Remember this as you head out for St. Patrick’s Day festivities.
T’s Tasty Tune for Today: Viva La Vida by Coldplay
This seems the most appropriate.
Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. ✌🏾