Whensday: Ides of March, taxes, and more

The middle of March could mean various things to various people. It is the ‘ides’ of March on March 15 and some will have heard the expression: ‘Beware the ides of March’. The ‘ides’ just means the middle of the month and was part a way of counting the days in a month. 

There are ides in other months as well. The ides of April will bring the tax man in the US. So many might say “Beware the ides of April.” Today in 2023 in The Netherlands a national election is being held which will lead to the choosing of the upper House of Parliament. 

It was Julius Caesar who made the ides of March so important. Marcus Brutus, along with others, assassinated Caesar on March 15, 44BC, effectively ending the Roman republic and eventually leading to the Roman Empire under Augustus. 

Skakespeare is the one who penned the infamous lines in his tragedy ‘Julius Caesar’. In the play a character warns Caesar ‘beware the ides of March’ since - as the soothsayer in the play knows - this is the day Caesar will be stabbed. In the play we also get the words: ‘Et tu, Brute?” “You too, Brutus?” 

At the time Caesar was dying and Augustus was building an empire, Maastricht was rising as a garrison and later as a city. Further south, in what is now Belgium, Tongeren was taking shape as a Roman city along an important road. These days both cities have remained important provincial capitals and important tourist locations, even in the middle of March. 

For us the day took on a larger significance in 2018 when our son, Sean, married Jill in Ternat, Belgium. For them, and for us, this is not a day of which to beware, but a day to look forward to.