Caesar: The ides of March are come.
Soothsayer: Aye, Caesar; but not gone.
Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” (Act 3, Scene 1)
We’re halfway through March, which means many of us are entering that supposed “lamb” portion of the month. However, with snow still on the forecast horizon, I wouldn’t pack up those snow boots just yet.
It also means that we’ve reached the Ides of March. Yes that’s right, another “holiday.” Nestled right in between Pi Day and St. Patrick’s Day is another little holiday that reminds us that if you declare yourself the permanent dictator of Rome, you will get stabbed in the back…literally.
In honor of the “holiday,” this March the 15th, we thought we’d participate in some #ShakespeareSunday festivities. Although its historical accuracy is questionable, Shakespeare’s telling of “Julius Caesar” is definitely the most well-known to the modern audience, as prophesied by the playwright himself:
How many ages hence
Shall this our lofty scene be acted o’er,
In states unborn, and accents yet unknown!“Julius Caesar” (Act 3, Scene 1)
So, this Ides of March, we’ll leave you with this:
Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.“Julius Caesar” (Act 2, Scene 2)
…and this:
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault;
And grievously hath Caesar answer’d it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest, —
For Brutus is an honorable man;
So are they all, all honorable men, —
Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honorable man.“Julius Caesar” (Act 3, Scene 2)
More on the Story: Smithsonian
…just for fun:
