Beware the Ides of March

[caggla]

"Beware the Ides of March", the soothsayer warned Julius Caesar. Caesar
didn't heed the warning and we all know his fate. At least that is what
history tells us. I've a feeling Caesar did mind the date but he simply
got lost in the hopelessly complex Roman calendar and confused the D-day.
Ides are only one of the ingredients of the Roman calendar. The other two
are calends (or kalends) and nones. The calends are straightforward --
they always fall on the first of every month. Nones on the fifth or the
seventh, and ides on the thirteenth or the fifteenth. All dates are
counted backwards from the nearest nones, calends, or ides.

Here's a little rhyme to help you remember the dates:

March, July, October, and May
The nones are on the seventh day.
And ides fall eight days after the Nones.

More words about calendar this week. Interestingly, the word calendar
derives from Latin calendarium (account book) since it was used to keep
track of the date when debts were due.