Today is March 15th, also known as the Ides of March in the Roman calendar.
How Romans Counted Days
Romans tracked days in the month differently than people today do. Rather than counting up from one to x amount of days, they established three date points within the typical month: the Kalends, the Nones, and the Ides. The Kalends was always the first day, no matter the length of the month. The Nones referred to the 5th day of shorter months and the 7th day of longer ones. Likewise, the Ides was the 13th day of shorter months and the 15th day of longer ones.
To convert a day, you take the nearest date point on or after the current day. Then, count the days before that date point, including the given date. Finally, name each day as “‘X‘ days before the ‘date point‘”.
For instance, in the month of March, the Kalends falls on March 1st, the Nones on March 7th, and the Ides on March 15th. Therefore, March 2nd would be considered “six days before the Nones”, March 3rd as “five days before the Nones”, and so on. March 6th—instead of being “two days before the Nones”—would just be called “the day before the Nones”, March 7th simply as “the Nones of March”. After the Ides of each month, the Romans would count by the days before the Kalends of the next month (e.g. March 16th would be “sixteen days before the Kalends of April”). Below is the month of March listed according to the Roman system:
Historical Significance
The phrase “beware the Ides of March” has grown into modern speech and culture due to its historical context, as it marks the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated. Stories claim that an unnamed soothsayer had warned Caesar about the Ides of March. When the date finally arrived, Caesar—while on his way to meet the Senate—bumped into the teller once again, stating that the Ides had come without danger of any sort. However, the prophet responded “they are come, but they are not gone…”, hinting at trouble. Of course, Caesar went on to be stabbed and killed by the numerous senators conspiring against him.
Today, there have been many events that have happened on the Ides of March: Christopher Columbus returning to Spain in 1493, the premiere of “The Godfather” in theaters, and even the CDC announcement of the SARS virus in 2003. While these events may happen to be on the same day by chance, it is always to keep an eye out for any suspicious or alarming activities that happen on the Ides of March.