Beware the Ides of March?
The Ides of March correlates to the 15th. But why is it so notable?
Shakespeare coined this particular phrase, for his play, as it was the date of Julius Caesar’s assassination, but it was also the day by which ancient Romans cleared their debts. And why was that?
Romans didn’t number their months from first day to last as we do, they counted back from three fixed points of the month:
The Nones (the 5th or 7th of a month – nine days before the Ides)
The Ides (the 13th for most months, but the 15th in March, May, July, and October).
The Kalends (1st of the next month).
Originally the Ides were determined by the full moon— as the origins of the Roman calendar are lunar. The earliest Roman calendar would have seen the Ides of March fall on the first full moon of the year. So this would have been the first day of the ancient Roman year, so they didn’t want to go into the new year debt-ridden.
The Ides were dedicated to the supreme god, Jupiter. An ides sheep was processed through the streets and sacrificed in his honour each month.
But the the Ides of March was particularly special as it was also the feast day of Anna Peranna (per annum), goddess of the circular lunar year. She was responsible for the year starting and ending happily, Her festival was a day of revelry and licentiousness, according to the poet Ovid. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it.
The third festival associated with the Ides of March, was Mamuralia or Sacrum Mamurio. It too marked the transition from the old year to the new and was celebrated by dressing an old man in animal skins and beating him with sticks. Some sources say he was driven from the city – driving out the old year to allow the new one to enter.
However you choose to celebrate the Ides of March, I wish you a happy and healthy Roman lunar new year.
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