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Plus, the origin behind the phrase 'Beware the Ides of March.'
The Romans did not number each day of a month from the first to the last day. Instead, they counted back from three fixed points of the month: the Nones (the 5th or 7th, eight days before the Ides), the Ides (the 13th for most months, but the 15th in March, May, July, and October), and the Kalends (1st of the following month).
March 15 is the "Ides of March," an ominous day synonymous with bad omens throughout history.
Instead, they counted back from the three fixed points of the month: the Nones (5th or 7th, depending on the length of the month), the Ides (13th or 15th), and the Kalends (1st) of the following month. The Nones of March was the 7th, and the Ides of March was the 15th.
In March, May, July, and October it was the 15th day of the month; in other months it was the 13th Ides of March, a day in the Roman calendar that corresponded to March 15; it was marked by several religious observances and became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC
The Ides (the midpoint of the month, with a full moon) was sacred to Jupiter, because on that day heavenly light shone day and night. [80] Some (or all) Ides were Feriae Iovis, sacred to Jupiter. [b] On the Ides, a white lamb (ovis idulis) was led along Rome's Sacred Way to the Capitoline Citadel and sacrificed to him. [81]
In ancient Roman religion, the Quinquatria or Quinquatrus was a festival sacred to the Goddess Minerva, celebrated 19–23 March.According to Varro, [1] it was so called because it was held on the fifth (quinqu-) day after the Ides, in the same way as the Tusculans called a festival on the sixth day after the Ides Sexatrus or one on the seventh Septimatrus. [2]
Anna Perenna's festival fell on the Ides of March (March 15), which would have marked the first full moon in the year in the old lunar Roman calendar when March was recognized as the first month of the year, and was held at the goddess' grove at the first milestone on the Via Flaminia. It was much frequented by the city plebs. [1]