The Ides of March

[royalfan5]

Anybody planning on doing some betraying today in celebration?

[SoonerStormchaser]

Et tu royalfan?

[OUstudent4life]

Ides of March = Match Day for (almost) every Med student in the nation. The wife finds out where she's going to be working today at around noon. We know she matched, and she only ranked OU-Ped's and OU Tulsa-Ped's, so we'll still be able to use our football tickets :D.

[TUSooner]

Free - and well worth it - information about ides and nones and stuff.
YWIA


On the Ides of March, March 15, 44 BC, Julius Caesar was assassinated, after ignoring the soothsayer's warning: “Beware the ides of March.” (Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” Act I, sc. 2, l. 33). The IMT Staff recommends staying well away from rest of the Roman calendar as well, because it is a confusing thing. Forget that it didn’t have enough days or months to make a real year; the Roman month itself provides enough troubles of its own.

The ancient Roman month contained three primary sections -- the Kalends, the Nones and the Ides. The Day of Kalends was the first day of the month. It comes from the Latin “calare” meaning “to call out,” which is what a priest did when he saw the first thin crescent of the new moon and realized that another confusing month was underway. Yep, “calendar” comes from this.

The Day of Nones was usually the 5th but sometimes the 7th, whenever the moon was supposed to reach its 1st quarter, depending on the priest’s reckoning at Kalends. “Nones” refers to 9, the maximum number of days that would elapse between the 1st quarter and the full moon. That number is actually 8, but remember, we’re talking about the same folks who gave us Super Bowl XXXVIII back in MMIV.

The Day of Ides (from the word for “divide”) was in the middle of the month and was supposed to coincide with the full moon. The Ides occurred on the 15th or maybe the 13th. Julius probably should have asked the soothsayer to be more specific.

As complicated as this sounds, it’s actually worse. The days of the month were designated as letters or as, say, the “6th day before the Nones of March.” If you want to hurt yourself some more but don’t have a sharp object handy, look here: http://webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-roman.html

On March 15th, 44 BC, upon his arrival at The Roman Senate....

No, wait!. PLEASE don't touch that trashcan icon yet. Today, IMT is proud to present its first ever 100% Caesar/Brutus certified free Ides of March edition.

To begin, every month has an Ides, but it's the 15th only in March, May, July and October; in every other month it's the 13th.

Romans had three benchmark days in every month, the Kalends, the Nones and the Ides. The Kalends was always the !st day of the month. As our astute readers have no doubt already guessed, it's derived from the same root as calendar, but in Latin it means more specifically an account book or the day of the month upon which bills are due.

After that, it gets a little trickier. Nones falls on the 7th in March, May, July and October, and the 5th in all other months. The Ides is always eight days after the Nones. If you can just remember the 5th, the following poem will get you through the rest of the month:
March, July, October, May
The Nones are on the seventh day
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

No self respecting Roman would be caught dead saying "March 5th"; he'd call it "three Nones", meaning three days before the Nones. The math is right; unlike the FRAP, counting is inclusive of both the first and last days.

[Boomer_Sooner_sax]

BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH!

[C&CDean]

One hit wonder.

[Chuck Bao]

We've had numerous warnings of an attack today. It's some sort of terrorist holiday or anniversary or something.

Nothing happened, as far as I'm aware.

[StoopTroup]

I hope this helps...

http://www.neroprediction.com/images/1_ides.jpg

Inner circle: Julius Caesar 12:00 PM July 13, 102 BC Rome, Italy.
Outer circle: Ides of March (March 15) 12:00 PM 44 BC Rome, Italy

[Paperclip]

One hit wonder.

Yeah, I've been singing "Vehicle" all day.

[soonersweetie]

I hope this helps...

http://www.neroprediction.com/images/1_ides.jpg

Inner circle: Julius Caesar 12:00 PM July 13, 102 BC Rome, Italy.
Outer circle: Ides of March (March 15) 12:00 PM 44 BC Rome, Italy

What is that? Is that some sort of ancient calendar?

[SoonerStormchaser]

One hit wonder.


...I'm your vehicle babe...I'll take you anywhere you wanna goooooooo...

[C&CDean]

...I'm your vehicle babe...I'll take you anywhere you wanna goooooooo...

Homo you don't.