A Dictator for Rome in either Outcome

“Brutus, Cassius and the more than 60 other conspirators decided that they must act. They were a disparate group, but had preserved their secret for several months. On the morning of 15 March (a date known as the Ides) there was some dismay when Caesar did not arrive at the Senate on time… For a while the charade went on, but when Caesar stood to leave and tried to shake them off, the conspirators drew their knives… Caesar died of multiple stab wounds. There was a final irony about his death, for Caesar’s own Senate House had not been completed and the old curia still lay in ruins from its destruction by Clodius’s men. As a result, the Senate had assembled in a temple attached to Pompey’s theatre complex. When Caesar fell, his body lay at the foot of a statue of Pompey.”

This part of the book I chose quickly runs through the moments before and during the assassination of Julius Caesar. The author follows the events with a showing of the irony in Caesar’s death where he dies at the feet of a statue of Pompey his once sworn enemy.

The author includes this portion of Caesar’s end in only a small way because the main focus of the book is on the civil war that Julius Caesar felt he was forced and somewhat entitled to wage. The author passes over the events of the assassination to conclude with the events that lead afterward in the senate with the conspirators trying to regain order by justifying their actions to the rest of the senate and to the public who even in death felt a stronger loyalty towards Caesar then to the senate. The author at the end fet that Caesar’s death was what truly lead to the rise of Augustus and his achievements and thus Augustus was able to do what Caesar could not by gaining complete control of the state by acceptable means.

“Shouting out the words: “Run! bolt doors! bolt doors!” 3 Then all the rest, severally taking up the cry one from another, kept shouting these words, filled the city with lamentations, and burst into the workshops and houses to hide themselves, even though the assassins hurried just as they were to the Forum, urging them both by their gestures and their shouts not to be afraid.”

This account from our Cassius Dio homework shows another claim that the conspirators tried to quell the suspicion and anger towards themselves and their actions by stating there true intentions to the others in the senate and forum.

Goldsworthy, Adrian. Caesar’s Civil War 49-44 BC, Taylor and Francis, 2003. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=182989.
Created from brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-12-01 20:21:02.

-Bedirhan Gonul, Team Aphrodite

Julius Caesar in Coding?

Imagine my surprise when I saw that you can find relation to the Ides of March in a coding book. This was the case in Java for Dummies by Barry Burd. Within the first part alone you find a quote that contains the term “Ides of March”.

“Now consider the sentence ‘Julius Caesar is a person.’ If you utter this sentence, you’re probably talking about the fellow who ruled Rome until the Ides of March. Although the name Julius Caesar isn’t hard-wired into the English language, almost everyone uses the name to refer to the same person. If English were a programming language, the name Julius Caesar would be an API identifier..”

Now to a lack of my surprise, the connection wasn’t as deep as I expected it to be. If anything they were using the term as a mere example of what an identifier in java would be. They are basically saying that if you hear the name Julius Caesar, then you know who is being talked about, that even though it wasn’t hard-wired into the English language almost everyone connects the name to one person. In this case he’d be like the many other identifiers in the programming language, such as integers that are intended to represent whole numbers within the code. That if you mention the term, people will be able to connect it to just that, whole numbers.

Now there really isn’t much of a quote within the Cassius Dio to really add to the way the phrase was used, except for the whole bit where he “ruled Rome until the Ides of March” as the reading was just about that, Julius Caesar’s fall during the Ides of March. “Thereupon they attacked him from many sides at once and wounded him to death, so that by reason of their numbers Caesar was unable to say or do anything, but veiling his face, was slain  with many wounds.”

 

Burd, Barry. Java for Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1688015.
Created from brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-11-30 13:45:36.

Julius on the Calendar

” When they had begun to honour Julius Caesar (now Dictator), it was with the idea, of course, that he would be reasonable; but as they went on and saw that he was delighted with what they voted, — indeed he accepted all but a very few of their decrees,.” (Cassius Dio, Book 44.7)

“At twelve he delivered a funeral oration in honour of his grandmother Julia, Julius Caesar’s sister. At sixteen, having now come of age, he was awarded military decorations when Caesar celebrated his African triumph, though he had been too young for overseas service. Caesar then went to fight Pompey’s sons in Spain; Augustus followed with a very small escort, along roads held by the enemy, after a shipwreck, too, and in a state of semi-convalescence from a serious illness. This energetic action delighted Caesar, who soon formed a high estimate of Augustus’s character.”

 

The reason i choose these two quotation is because as a dictator of Rome, Julius Caesar he was unable to separate his public life from private life. In contrast to Augustus, Julius Caesar grew arrogant and delegated little power. Augustus on the other hand, was more a intelligent politician and willing to shared his power as he control the Empire. He had avenged the death of Caesar. Also, the months July and August was derived from their name Julius to July and Augustus to August.

July derived it name from Julius (in name to honor Julius Caesar), which he was responsible for the modern calendar for 365 days.  When I did the research, I learned that Julius Caesar died in his birth month, which later on rename as July. In the early Roman calendar, number of days were more differ than the modern calendar. It was called the intercalary month, which have less days than in a 30 to 31 days month. Julius Caesar instituted a different calendar which later on become the modern calendar.

-Team Minerva, YongQi Li

 

 

Ides of March

The book I chose is called, “Caesar: The Life of a Colossus” by Adrian Goldsworthy. The quote I chose from the heading, “Ides of March” is the following:

Caesar did not expect to die in March 44 BC and the men who killed him were
obviously not confident that nature would do their work for them in the
near future. The dictator’s death was sudden and unanticipated by all but
the conspirators. Therefore, to look at Caesar and the regime he created is
inevitably to examine something that was incomplete and still developing.

Caesar’s death was not anticipated and this is why it’s interesting to examine. It was very sudden and because the system he created was still developing, it would obviously had been difficult to take over his regime and resume his plan of rule which was still being decided upon.

The author is referring to the Ides of March because he is talking about the incidents that led to Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC. The author is expecting the readers to already know why this incident was named this. It’s because when Julius Caesar was on his way to The Theater of Pompey, where he would be assassinated, he joked, “The Ides of March are come”.

For a report, whether true or false, got abroad, as reports will spread, that the priests known as the Quindecemviri (=15-men who consulted sacred books written by the Sibyl, a priestess of Apollo) were spreading the report that the Sibyl had said the Parthians would never be defeated in any other way than by a king, and were consequently going to propose that this title be granted to Caesar.

I chose this quote from the reading, “Cassius Dio: the account of Ides of March”. It compliments the quote from the book, “Caesar: The Life of a Colossus” because it shows that Julius Caesar was brave enough to lead a massive expedition to invade Parthia and annex its territories for Rome.

Goldsworthy, Adrian. Caesar : Life of a Colossus, Yale University Press, 2006. ProQuest Ebook Central,https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3420296.

Dictators in Business

“When Fuld summoned Pettit to his office and told him he needed to fire Williams and Shaftel, Pettit refused. In that case, Fuld said, he needed to ask Pettit to step down from running the operating committee. He laid out his plans for a small committee of six, and Pettit again refused. So Fuld demoted him to “head of client relationships.””
Ward, Vicky. Devil’s Casino : Friendship, Betrayal, and the High Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers, Wiley, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=510230.
Created from brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-11-27 17:47:15.

 

In this book, there’s an entire chapter called the Ides of March. The quote that was taken doesn’t include the keyword search, but it shows just why it’s titled this. The chapter is about how a man in the corporate world plotted against two workers who he no longer wanted and went behind their backs to gather people to stand behind him. He, being the power hungry man the book makes him out to be, demoted whoever was against him. While not exactly like the Ides of March, the chapter includes a dictator like character who everyone secretly hated because he was so cruel. He made their lives so miserable to the point that people began to leave the company. The author would expect the reader to at least know the basis of the Ides of March in order to fully understand the comparison. Knowing the story gives the chapter added dramatics because when the there is a dictator, there is a fall.

” And though for the moment he did them no harm, yet later, when they issued a proclamation declaring that they were unable to speak their mind freely and safely on behalf of the public good, he became exceedingly angry and brought them into the senate-house where he accused them and put their conduct to the vote. ”

This relates to the quote taken from the book being that because Pettit had stood against him just as the officials stood against Caesar for his unfair actions, the man in power exercised it in a very unjust way by demoting him.

Dark Time of the Ides of March

Book: What Shakespeare Teaches Us About Psychoanalysis: A Local Habitation and a Name

Quote: “Beware the Ides of March” (I.ii.23). “The soothsayer represents the priest of an earlier period, who protects the natural order. The Ides of March is not simply a date but represents something ancient that transcends the Julian calendar. Caesar first breaks the natural order when he dismisses the soothsayer, saying: “He is a dreamer. Let us leave him” (I.ii.24). Caesar is now dangerously breaking with the ancient system.”

Grunes, Dorothy T., and Jerome M. Grunes. What Shakespeare Teaches Us About Psychoanalysis : A Local Habitation and a Name, Karnac Books, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1699470.

Created from brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-11-27 16:36:31.

Summary of quote: This quote reveals that the Ides of March is something to be prepared and aware of. The Ides of March represents something ancient that goes even beyond the Julian calendar. Julius Caesar breaks the natural order and ancient system. He was warned about the Ides of March by the soothsayer.

Authors Reference to Ides of March: The author uses the Ides of March to represent how important the death of Caesar was. The author expects the reader to know about Caesar’s death. The Ides of March was a dark day and time, when Caesar was killed. Since that time, the idea stuck that the Ides of March is unlucky or a portent of doom.

Quote from Cassius Dio: “When the right moment came, one of them approached him, as if to express his thanks for some favour or other, and pulled his toga from his shoulder, thus giving the signal that had been agreed upon by the conspirators. Thereupon they attacked him from many sides at once and wounded him to death, 5 so that by reason of their numbers Caesar was unable to say or do anything, but veiling his face, was slain with many wounds. This is the truest account, though some have added that to Brutus, when he struck him a powerful blow, he said: “Thou, too, my son?”

The quote compliments the ideas from the book because the quote explains how Caesar was killed. Caesar was attacked and killed by many conspirators and Brutus. The Ide of March will always be remembered for death of Julius Caesar.

Mohammed, team Vulcan

 

Caesar… Cut from Faith!?

7 THE SEAL OF THE SPIRIT ! Do not bring sorrow to the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed unto the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30 AT Thornton Wilder, in The Ides of March , portrays Julius Caesar reflecting on those ancient religions that offer “a vague sense of confidence where no confidence is . . .,” that “flatter our passivity and console our inadequacy.” “What can I do,” cries Caesar, “against the apathy that is glad to wrap itself under the cloak of piety . . .?” for religious assurance: How may we claim 1 That is the central question with which to grapple in any search genuine security without becoming spiritually spineless? On the one hand, our time has well been named “The Age of Anxiety,” 2 the key word coming from the Latin term angustia meaning “shortness of breath.” 3 Many today are suffocating in the spiritually cramped quarters of a secularized world. In such a bottleneck our phobias multiply in bewilding profusion: one standard medical dictionary catalogues 217 of them. 4 Grim statistics of murder, alcoholism, and divorce reflect an unbearable discontent with life as it is now being lived. As a result, we feed off of our fingernails, a diet calculated to produce acute spiritual indigestion. On the other hand, religion has responded to the sinisterness of life by creating a cult of reassurance that coddles anxious Americans with promises of inner peace and boundless prosperity. We glibly claim to have 74 You are reading copyrighted material published by the University of Alabama Press. Any posting, copying, or distributing of this work beyond fair use as defined under U.S. Copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. For permission to reuse this work, contact the University of Alabama Press..

Hull, William E.. Harbingers of Hope : Claiming God’s Promises in Today’s World, University of Alabama Press, 2007. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=438184.

Created from brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-11-27 16:56:58.

The quote details an account of the Ides of March, via Thornton Wilder. He likens Caesar and his assassination to the common man and their struggle with the Christian faith. By doing this, he paints a decidedly very depressive picture of the assassination of Caesar. Rather than just acceptance of what happens, maybe even disbelief, Wilder creates the image of Caesar being in a state of hopelessness, a state of deep despair, through the comparison to one losing faith or being in a state of separation from God. I feel that this interpretation, is one that gives weight to the assassination of Caesar. For many of us, who are religious, especially those who are Christian, the struggle between hope and despair whilst serving God, is very real and through this metaphor, we can see, in some way, the torrent of conflicting emotions which must have been coursing through Caesar, as he was assassinated.

When re-reading the account of the Ides of March, from the perspective of Cassius Dio, I chose to quote the moment of Caesar’s assassination:

4 And when the right moment came, one of them approached him, as if to express his thanks for some favour or other, and pulled his toga from his shoulder, thus giving the signal that had been agreed upon by the conspirators. Thereupon they attacked him from many sides at once and wounded him to death, 5 so that by reason of their numbers Caesar was unable to say or do anything, but veiling his face, was slain  with many wounds. This is the truest account, though some have added that to Brutus, when he struck him a powerful blow, he said: “Thou, too, my son?”

In tandem with the interpretation of Wilder, and his religious metaphor, the final words of Caesar, in the account of Cassius, have their true meaning revealed. By this, I mean to say that the emotions behind those words, “Thou, too, my son?” can be laid bare to their fullest extent. If the assassination of Caesar can be likened to a loss of faith, then the despair and hopeless of those words can be seen. Just as Adam chose to not have faith in God, back in the Garden of Eden and was subsequently cut off from God, so too, though to a far lesser extent, was Caesar, mentally and physically cut off from his people/consul, and left to similarly spiral off into a pit of despair, darkness and separation.

Skaie Cooper,Team Ares

Fall of the Superintendent

Polka, Walter S., and Peter R. Litchka. The Dark Side of Educational Leadership : Superintendents and the Professional Victim Syndrome, R&L Education. 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central.

“Steven negotiated a new contract with this new board and was able to regain his “power and authority” as the educational leader of the district, a position that he held for several more years and with some additional trials and tribulations, including changes in board politics, until his retirement, which was on his own terms. As he stated, “Even when the public resoundingly supports you as superintendent… you must always be vigilant regarding the political winds that change quickly given the political nature of boards of education and the ever present professional jealousy factor that abounds in medium sized school districts. Watch out for the Ides of March and those former allies who become like Brutus was to Caesar as a result of the mob mentality.” This is how two other superintendents described their emotions as their tenure in the district began to unravel: The signs were everywhere, yet I was too blind to see them—or too naive to think that this could actually be happening to me! In the beginning, I had a feeling what some of the board members were up to. But I did not dare say anything. I took the philosophy that maybe it would go away. But just the opposite happened: these board members became less discrete and more open with their abusive behavior toward me, especially during executive session. By the time I did say something, it was too late.”

The passage taken here is describing the sudden removal of superintendent Steven Rychert by a vote by the board of education at his school district. The removal was “mob-like” and totally out of Steven’s control. Dr. Rychert could be considered the most powerful figure in the school district, but instead was stripped of all his power in the blink of an eye.

The author refers to the Ides of March in a analogy to the murder of Caesar, by the hands of Brutus. The idea of Caesar’s fall is all about the theme of betrayal. So if someone reading this book on education sees the large act of betrayal here, they’d understand the reference to the Ides of March. The reference has a negative connotation to it, seeing as this betrayal was obvious, and the vulnerable are taken advantage of at the right moment.

“Thereupon they attacked him from many sides at once and wounded him to death, 5 so that by reason of their numbers Caesar was unable to say or do anything, but veiling his face, was slain  with many wounds. This is the truest account, though some have added that to Brutus, when he struck him a powerful blow, he said: “Thou, too, my son?””

This quote from the Cassius Dio is the climax of the story, where the murder takes place, and Caesar exclaims the famous words “Thou too my son?” or “Weren’t you my friend?”. This quote helps explain why the author used the reference to the Ides of March, as the Board of Ed can be seen as a Brutus to Steven’s Caesar. Though both are the most powerful, Brutus/BOE takes the power in their hands and demolishes the “king”.

Sean Reilly, Team Artemis

The Dark Side of Leadership

“Due to the board majority’s mobbing orientation, the minority started to become more vociferous. Eventually, a month before the next election, when Steven’s health and resolve to “fight” were waning, the “Ides of March” event occurred.”

Desire

Quote:  “Beware the frozen Ides of March..”

Citation: Goodman, Henrietta. Hungry Moon, University Press of Colorado, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3039825.
Created from brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-11-27 13:36:02.

This quote is from the book “Hungry Moon by Henrietta Goodman. It is line from a poem called “Fairy Slipper”. This poem talks about intimacy and the reluctance of the narrator in taking her lover back even though she desires to be with him. Goodman is referring to the Ides of March in order to warn the reader of the approaching cold. The Ides of March is a metaphor for the confusion and coldness that will undertake the narrator (or reader) when their lover comes back to them. After reading the poem countless times, I came to the conclusion that Goodman expects the reader to know what the Ides of March is. Since the author is telling the reader to beware the Ides of March, I assume that the Ides of March has a bad meaning for her.

In Cassius Dio, it says, “Another thing that happened not long after these events
proved still more clearly that, although he pretended to shun
the title, in reality he desired to assume it” (Cassius Dio 11). This quote is similar to the poem I read because just like the narrator, Julius Caesar wanted something but pretended to not desire it. In Julius Caesar’s case, it was the title of “Rex”.

---

Aisha, Team Ares

Its Okay To Die In March

“March 15

Beware the Ides of March . . . . . . are the words Shakespeare put in the mouth of the soothsayer, warning Julius Caesar of his impending death..”

Kundtz, David. Being Present : A Book of Daily Reflections, Red Wheel Weiser, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4398294.

In this daily inspiration book the author finds an interesting way to help his readers live in the present. He writes for the day of March 15, and uses The Ides of March , an event with the same time stamp, to explain why it wouldn’t be  so horrific  to consider death in mid March. He continues by explaining how the more a person can become a peace with they’re own death,  the  more peaceful  the person would be in life.  The author doesn’t just assume his readers knows about the Ides of March, instead he goes on to briefly discuss what happened on that day. He does howver assume that his readers know who Skakesphere and Julius Caesar, as he doesn’t give an introduction about them. The author in my opinion,  implies that although the Ides of March may of been a devasting time ( for  mostly Caesar of course), it probably wouldn’t have been so bad if he had been at peace with himself dying.

“This is the truest account, though some have added that to Brutus, when he struck him a powerful blow, he said: “Thou, too, my son?” ‘ This quote doesn’t downplay the death of Caesar like the author seems to do. It shows the raw emotions that went through Caesar- the pain, the agony and the feeling of  betrayal. Caesar died an unexpected death, that of which I think it’s fair to assume  he was not at all at peace at.

Sharifa, Team Hestia

The not-so-secret connection between Brutus and John Wilkes Booth

After searching for a thought-provoking read on the Ides of March in the topic of political science, I found an interesting book titled Camelot and the Cultural Revolution: How the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Shattered American Liberalism by James Piereson. The book delves into topics such as tyranny, assassination mindsets, and martyrs; one such topic in the book is titled “Martyr: Lincoln” that delves into John Wilkes Booth’s mindset behind the assassination of Lincoln. Piereson says “Booth thought that after assassinating Lincoln he would be welcomed as a hero in the dying Confederacy. As Michael W. Kaufmann writes in his fine study of Lincoln’s assassin, “Booth had hoped to kill Lincoln on the Ides and highlight his resemblance to Caesar; but instead he shot him on Good Friday, and the world compared him to Christ.”” (Piereson 73). The quote that Piereson references, in addition to his own words, gives the viewer the point of view of Booth’s assassination attempt. Booth attempted to assassinate Lincoln on the “Ides of March” to portray himself as the Brutus of the Confederacy, but when he made his attempt on Good Friday, he got the opposite of what he hoped for; he became the villain of his own “heroic” story he hoped to create when he attempted to the end the life of the “Jesus-like” figure that people admired instead the “Caesar-like” figure that the Confederacy loathed. Piereson refers to the Ides of March because of it’s importance to Booth’s mindset in the assassination attempt. In the previous and following pargaraphs, Piereson delves into how he worked alongside Lewis Powell and how Powell’s attack on the Secretary of State represents a vital relationship to the Ides of March; he explains how Booth saw William Seward, the secretary of state, “as Lincoln’s great ally, akin to Caesar’s Marc Antony” (Piereson 72). He further exaplains how some viewed Booth as a Brutus wannabe, wanting to secure a place in history as he aims to assainate the person he believes to be the nation’s traitor. Piereson’s usage of the quote expects the reader to comprehend how Booth views his conspiracy; the reader should know the background behind the figures and dates presented and the outline the quote drafts tells the audience that Booth’s plan ultimately made himself become the villain of his own making of history he didn’t expect. After re-reading the account of the Ides of March in Cassisus Dio, I found an quote that stuck out in retrospect to Booth’s planning, which said: “For, though they had planned to kill both him and Lepidus, they feared they might be maligned as a result of the number they destroyed, on the ground that they had slain Caesar to gain supreme power and not to set free the city, as they pretended; and therefore they did not wish Antony even to be present at the slaying.” (Cassius Dio, 19-2). While Brutus and Trebonius were discussing their plan and arising problems, they had a much more strategized and carefully thought-out plan in comparison to Booth’s plan. In preparation for Caesar’s assassination, the attempt was thought-out with several co-conspirators and when a new problem arises, they figure out a solution. In Lincoln’s assassination, Booth has few co-conspirators (namely Lewis Powell) and did not have a carefully thought-out executed plan. Though John Wilkes Booth made it his mission to make it into history for assassinating the “traitorous” Lincoln by taking inspiration from Brutus’s assassination of Julius Caesar, he didn’t fully take notes from Brutus; in the end, though Booth fulfilled his mission to assassinate the “modern Caesar”, he ultimately killed the “modern Jesus”, the opposite of what Booth sought to achieve.

Citations:

Piereson, James. Camelot and the Cultural Revolution: How the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Shattered American Liberalism, Encounter Books, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID+1574708

Cassius Dio, Book 44. 19, https://pastinpresenttense.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/readings-on-the-imperators.pdf

-A.C. Bowman, Team Saturn

 

 

The Death of Julius Caesar and the Birth of 70’s Rock

George Plasketes, author of B-Sides, Undercurrents and Overtones: Peripheries to Popular in Music, 1960 to the Present, wrote in the beginning of his book:

“Several songwriters graciously provided lyric permissions for epigraphs which are important to me as prefixes and accents. I am grateful to Mose Allison, Jim Peterik and the Ides of March, particularly Chuck Soumar for his down-to-earthness, assistance, and Riverside reminisces; and John Hiatt via Catherine Walker at Music Sales Limited, for the privilege of their words which frame my chapters so nicely” (xi).

In this quotation, Plasketes is referring to the band, “The Ides of March,” which was relevant from the mid-60s and throughout the 70s. He is thanking “The Ides of March” for graciously allowing him to use their lyrics in his book. While he is not at all referring to the same meaning of that phrase that we studied in class, we can say that generally speaking, he is looking at “The Ides of March” in a positive light. Considering this, it is likely that Plasketes does not necessarily expect the reader to know anything about the historical term, “The Ides of March,” only about the band. Plasketes portrays the band as a group of kind people, and this could potentially allow for positive associations with the phrase itself.

The quote I have chosen from the Cassius Dio reading is, “Thereupon they attacked him from many sides at once and wounded him to death, 5 so that by reason of their numbers Caesar was unable to say or do anything, but veiling his face, was slain  with many wounds.” This quote completely contradicts anything Plasketes says about “The Ides of March.” While Plasketes portrays the phrase in a positive way, from association with a band, Cassius Dio details the gruesome murder scene of Julius Caesar. While the band certainly took their name from this historical moment, it is hard to believe that they would encourage or support any sort of similar murder conspiracy. Therefore, these two representations of “The Ides of March” are completely different.

Harry, Team Vesta

 

Citation:

Plasketes, George. B-Sides, Undercurrents and Overtones: Peripheries to Popular in Music, 1960 to the Present, Taylor and Francis, 2009. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=438875.
Created from brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-11-27 13:29:58.

 

Modern Day Caesar/Baroque Caesar (overlap)

Cagnacci, Guido. David with the Head of Goliath. 1655. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

This painting I found in the Met visually corresponds to the 17th century baroque style art we learned about in unit four. In the painting David with the head of Goliath , Cagnacci uses chiaroscuro, a popular technique used by many other 17th century painters which incorporated an extreme contrast between light and shadow, often used for dramatic effect. The scene depicted is a dramatic one that has been reinterpreted by artists throughout centuries, and especially during the baroque era. David is depicted calm and confident and yet the scene is characteristically baroque with the severed head of Goliath in his hand. Since this painting is an actual baroque painting, there are hardly any differences in its style. However, it is arguably less grotesque than many baroque style paintings; there is no blood in the scene, and by use of chiaroscuro, the focus is less on the severed head and more on the pose and calm expression of David.

The celebrities and Caesars of the pre-modern era were the artists. Art and architecture were hugely emphasized all around the world before television and modern day medias existed. artists were recognized for their talents and admired even by the church, regardless of how “immoral” their actions were. In this sense the attitude towards them was strikingly similar to the attitude the Romans had towards Julius Caesar and their willingness to allow him to do this things the rest of the population wouldn’t be.

“The first of his new roles was in The Ides Of March , a new film project to be directed by the actor/producer/ writer/director George Clooney. Having already established his credentials as a director with Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind , Good Night, and Good Luck and Leatherheads , Clooney had his latest script set in the murky world of politics and was scheduled to begin shooting in February 2011..”

Johnstone, Nick. Ryan Gosling : Hollywood’s Finest, John Blake, 2013. ProQuest k Central,        http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1569214.
Created from brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-11-27 11:31:36.

The book I chose is a biography on the rise to fame of actor Ryan Gosling. This paragraph speaks about how Gosling was starred in a movie directed by George Clooney titled “The Ides Of March.” it also mentions other works by Clooney.

The author uses the term “Ides Of March” in reference to the title of a movie that Gosling was cast in. since the phrase was used in the title of a movie it is logical to assume that the Clooney expects his audience to somewhat be familiar with its meaning/reference/origin.

a)”When they had begun to honour Julius Caesar…”

b)”At any rate, some actually ventured to suggest permitting him to have intercourse with as many women as he pleased, because even at this time, though fifty years old, he still had numerous mistresses.”

“Readings on the Imperators.” The Past in Present Tense, 6 Nov. 2017,        pastinpresenttense.wordpress.com/classics-1110/7-caesar-augustus/readings/#Cassius-Dio.

We don’t have any beloved emperors today, instead, we have celebrities. Similarly to the way Julius Caesar was honored, we “honor” and look up to modern day pop icons such as actors, musicians, etc. Because of his position, The Roman people approved of Caesar having intercourse with as many women as he pleased, something which would be unacceptable for any other person in their society. We hear of celebrities partaking in behavior and committing acts deemed unacceptable in our society, and we too give them a “free pass” because of their fame. Although he hasn’t publicly committed any act that disagrees with our societal rules and standards, Ryan Gosling is a great example of a pop icon. Attractive, talented, personable, he’s admired and honored by many. A modern day Julius Caesar.

Gabriella, Team Hestia

 

The Ides of Haynes

In 2003, President Bush nominated Jim Haynes to be a federal judge on the 4th circuit court of appeals. During his time as General Counsel to the Department of Defense, he advised the Bush administration on the creation of what was later ruled unconstitutional military commissions that would try detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. His participation in this and related programs severely crippled his nomination process to the federal court.

“Having survived Kennedy’s fusillade, Haynes seemed assured of confirmation. Then he was notified about the Ides of March, the mutiny within the Office of Military Commissions that blew open four days after the committee voted. If made public, the crisis within the general counsel’s signature project, with its allegations of incompetence, suppression of evidence, and fixed trials, could be devastating for Haynes. He moved quickly, keeping the scandal secret by ordering up a confidential ‘operational assessment’ of the commissions office rather than a full-blown inquiry. The investigator, assigned to review ‘‘structure and process issues’’ but not ‘criminal allegations or ethical conduct,’ had less than a week to complete the assignment and report back privately to Haynes.”

 

Jess Bravin refers to this controversy as the Ides of March because it was foreshadowed that Haynes would not make it through the nomination process. His attempt to cover it up before it went public was his political equivalent of Caesar’s murder. Bravin assumes that the reader knows that “the Ides of March” refers to an ill omen, indicative of future failures. It’s clear that Bravin regards the Ides of March as a negative thing. This book contains an entire chapter titled “Ides of March” which discusses the complications of Hayne’s nomination.

“…but caused it to be inscribed in the records that he had refused to accept the kingship when offered to him by the people through the consul. It was accordingly suspected that this thing had been deliberately arranged and that he was anxious for the name, but wished to be somehow compelled to take it; consequently the hatred against him was intense”

This quote from the Cassius Dio reading exemplifies the skepticism of public officials that is so prevalent in American politics. The perception that Caesar had orchestrated that entire scenario to make him look good to the people is similar to the aversion that many Americans have to politicians that pander to their audience rather than engaging with them authentically. We see this in Hayne’s attempted cover-up of his misdoings while he served as General Counsel.

Bravin, Jess. The Terror Courts : Rough Justice at Guantanamo Bay, Yale University Press, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3421113.
Created from Brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-11-27 12:00:40.

David, Team Saturn

Different Meanings of “Ides of March”

Book I used: Caesar’s Calendar: Ancient times and beginning of History

Quote from the book: “A. Barchiesi (1997) has explored the implications for Ovid’s Fasti, with a telling example from the Ides of March. For centuries, this was the date for the popular picnic feast of Anna Perenna, but then it became famous for another reason altogether, the death of Caesar and, in Ovid’s treatment in Fasti 3 (705– 10), the revenge of Caesar’s heir..”

Feeney, Denis, and Denis Feeney. Caesar’s Calendar : Ancient Times and the Beginnings of History, University of California Press, 2007. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=293838.
Created from brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-11-27 10:52:57.

Summarization of the Quote: In the book the author explains how the Ides Of March was known for a different reason before the death of Julius Caesar. The Ides of March was known for the festivals held by Anna Perenna. Anna Perenna was the Roman Goddess of long life, health and renewal.

Authors Reference to Ides of March: The author uses The Ides of March to show how this important date has two meanings. The author expects the reader to already connect the Ides of March to the day that Julius Caesar was murdered. I believe that the author is portraying the Ides of March to be remembered in a negative light. He explains how centuries ago this day was celebrated with picnics, food and love making but now remembered as a day a conspirator was slaughtered.

Quote from Cassius Dio: “So they not only turned to flight themselves, every man as best he could, but they also alarmed those who met them by saying nothing intelligible, but merely shouting out the words: “Run! bolt doors! bolt doors!” 3 Then all the rest, severally taking up the cry one from another, kept shouting these words, filled the city with lamentations, and burst into the workshops and houses to hide themselves.”

Summarization of the Quote: The quote compliments the ideas from the book because the quote explains how the city was shocked and in distraught about the events that have recently occurred. The murder of Caesar will forever be connected to the Ides of March. A month which was once highly celebrated and anticipated is now a day most people remember because of the famous murder of Julius Caesar.

Naim, Team Vulcan

 

Julius Caesar and Shakespeare: A Psychoanalysis

For my search on Ebrary on the Ides of March, I chose the subject of the Fine Arts as well as Psychology and found this from a book called What Shakespeare Teaches Us About Psychoanalysis: A Local Habitation and a Name.

A soothsayer appears and warns Caesar: “Beware the Ides of March” (I.ii.23). The soothsayer represents the priest of an earlier period, who protects the natural order. The Ides of March is not simply a date but represents something ancient that transcends the Julian calendar. Caesar first breaks the natural order when he dismisses the soothsayer, saying: “He is a dreamer. Let us leave him” (I.ii.24). Caesar is now dangerously breaking with the ancient system.
Grunes, Dorothy T., and Jerome M. Grunes. What Shakespeare Teaches Us About Psychoanalysis : A Local Habitation and a Name, Karnac Books, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1699470.
Created from brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-11-27 10:30:37.

The context behind this paragraph is that the authors are analyzing Julius Caesar, a play written by William Shakespeare. In this scene, the authors are analyzing the scene where Caesar is warned about the Ides of March. The soothsayer who warns Caesar is simply dismissed, which leads to his demise.

The authors refer to the Ides of March because they are looking for a deeper meaning in Shakespeare’s use of Ancient Rome and the Ides of March. Everyone knows that the Ides of March is the day that marks Julius Caesar’s death. It also marks the middle of the month of March; March 15th to be exact. They say that the soothsayer who warned Caesar represented a priest who protects the natural order. Caesar dismissing this natural order put him in a dangerous position that ultimately resulted in his death and the fall of his reign.

Cassus Dio:

“‘In brief, he was so confident that to the soothsayer who had once warned him to beware of that day he jestingly remarked: “Where are your prophecies now? Do you not see that the day which you feared is come and that I am alive?” And the other, they say, answered merely: “Ay, it is come but is not yet past.”’

I chose this quote because it is exactly what the book I chose was about. Caesar was confident as a person but he was so confident that he ignored the warnings he received about his imminent death. He went as far as to mock the soothsayer who was kind enough to try and warn him.

-Stacy, Team Minerva

Ides of March Is Annual

Blowout in the Gulf: The BP Oil Spill Disaster and the Future of Energy in America by William R. Freudenburg and Robert Gramling is a book about, like the title suggests, the terrible BP oil spill in 2010. There were 11 people killed in this tragedy as well as countless non-human lives. This quote discusses the history of offshore drilling and how it came to be so loved in Louisiana. Making this sale was an enormous economic success, while the protection of the environment was barely even considered. “On a date that happened to involve the Ides of March 1989, an offshore oil lease sale was held in New Orleans, for tracts off the coast of Louisiana. There were no protestors, no state opposition, and few comments of any sort. At the sale, the Department of the Interior uneventfully leased 2.8 million acres off Louisiana to oil and gas companies, bringing over $380 million to the federal treasury” (Freudenburg and Gramling, 130). The authors refer to this quote in the context of the date of this sale, it does have a deeper meaning; however. Due to the fact that most people know of the Ides of March, Freudenburg and Gramling must have emphasized this date to suggest that this was not a good thing. They assume the readers are aware of the terrible ending for Caesar and that this event could lead to a terrible ending for the whole planet.

Cassius Dio writes of the events that occurred on the Ides of March many, many years before the 1980’s. The readers learn of some hesitation from those who took action against Caesar. “The second reason was their delay; for they stood in awe of him, for all their hatred of him, and kept putting the matter off, fearing, in spite of the fact that he no longer had any guard, that they might be killed by some of the men who were always with him; and thus they ran the risk of being discovered and put to death” (Cassius Dio, 44.15) This quote demonstrates a similar feeling to that of protestors against offshore drilling in Florida, California, and pretty much any state other than Louisiana. Although the murders of Caesar went through with committing their crime due to their hatred of him, while protestors only stand in a place of love for their cause and the environment, parallels can be seen between the two. In both cases, delays are made on the rash actions of the Ides of March and the attempt on life, or lives. If only the fate of the Ides of March could be avoided.
Freudenburg, William R., and Robert Gramling. Blowout in the Gulf : The BP Oil Spill Disaster and the Future of Energy in America, MIT Press, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3339165.
Created from brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-11-29 18:52:09.

-Sheila Kelly, Team Saturn

 

What a Nightmare

Book I found: Dreams and Experience in Classical Antiquity

Quote from Book: “Calpurnia’s on the night before the Ides of March for instance, or the dream of Dido in the Aeneid, can easily be described as nightmares. Ovid tells us that he dreamt terrifying dreams, as well as wish-fulfilments, as an exile.”

Summarization of quote: According to some research, Ovid was a roman poet and Calpurnia was Julius Ceasar’s wife. Instead of talking about a calendar, this quote talks about dreams or nightmares, to be specific. Ovid also says how some of his nightmares is about banishment or being expelled.

Q&A: The author is referring to the Ides of March, since it is a Roman Calendar, could be because he is trying to explain which time the story took place when Calpurnia had her nightmares, which is the night she had nightmares before the Ides of March. The author expects the reader to know that it is a Roman Calendar and also that it marks Julius Ceasar’s death which is March 15, 44 BC. The author describes it as a bad thing, because Calpurnia is having nightmares and then her husband gets killed the next day.

Quote from reading: “This is the truest account, though some have added that to Brutus, when he struck him a powerful blow, he said: ‘Thou, too, my son?’”

Summarization of quote: This quote compliments the attitudes and ideas in the book that I read, because just that one simple sentence can be a nightmare. Ceasar asks “You too, my son?”, meaning that Brutus is another person who became Ceasar’s enemy and you can tell that Ceasar felt betrayed in that simple question. It is also a nightmare, because getting murdered is one of the things that most people fear.

MLA citation: Harris, William V.. Dreams and Experience in Classical Antiquity, Harvard University Press, 2009. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3300816.

Caroline, Team Cronos

The “Idea of March”

 

The poem of “the idea of March” by Long, H. C. I found in the online BC library simply described the Julius Caesar’s feeling before the “idea of March” happened,  “…Suspecting each rich curtain of a knife.Even so, aware that flesh and bone are restless, With secret news and undefined intention…” which when Caesar realized people wants to get out of his control, he even tried to convince the Roman people, especially the nobility, to follow him – but it did not work. Caesar started to suspecting on everything and everyone because he’s scared of losing power and even lost his life. He knew something bad is going to happen, he “saw” someone secretly planning something, he can feel the cold that came from this chair of supreme. he’s scared but has no way to stop this thing from happening.

The quote from the reading said “When he had reached this point, the men who were plotting against him hesitated no longer, but in order to embitter even his best friends against him, they did their best to traduce him, finally saluting him as king, a name which they often used also among themselves.” indeed, one of Julius Caesar’s close friend Decimus was also the member of the group of about 60 men who began to plot how to rid Rome of Caesar. Many conspirators are well-trained soldiers, who spent weeks, even months, planning the downfall of Caesar. And indeed, this cames to the “idea of March”. according to history Caesar plans to leave Rome on March 18, travel to southern Italy to work out some of the veterans, and then east for a long campaign, and this is the deadline for conspirators, which Caesar’s must die before he leaves. To make sure the plan will follow the steps, the last assassin became the key.  Despite Caesar’s close presence in adverse signs and dizziness, his good friend Didimus convinced the Senate not to attend the meeting as an insult.  Once there, there was no bodyguard, Caesar has stabbed a total of 23 times.

 

Yao, Team Zeus

Citation:

Long, H. C. “The Ides of March.” Poetry, vol. 7, no. 3, 1915, pp. 133–133. JSTOR, JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20570635.

“Cassius Dio” Book 44.7-20, line 9-1.https://pastinpresenttense.wordpress.com/classics-1110/7-caesar-augustus/readings/#Cassius-Dio

History.com staff, “THE IDES OF MARCH”,2010.http://www.history.com/this-day-in-

The Ides of March, An Awful or Appointed Day?

“The Ides of March : Let’s face it, nobody is ever sorry to say goodbye to the month of March. March is the armpit month of the year, the uphill battle at the end of the tunnel time. April brings daffodils and daylight savings time, and then pretty soon summer is upon us and it turns out everything’s going to be fine after all. But first, you have to make it through March.”

Coyote, Ivan. Loose End, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2005. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=478502.

Created from brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-11-25 19:01:27.

The book that I chose had a whole chapter entitled “The Ides of March”. The entire book; Loose End is about breaking free from the norms of society and simply being true to oneself despite differences. The chapter begins with the sentences quoted previously. Coyote writes about one March that he lived through was extremely horrible and he makes the inference that March is a very dreary, gloomy month in the year compared to the other months. Also that it is not a month that many look forward to. The Ides of March is simply a day that falls approximately in the middle of the month that the Romans would settle their debts. It was originally not a bad time in the month or year and the author of the text might not have known that because she portrays it in a negative way.

The Ides of March also marks the date that Caesar was assassinated by many Roman senators conspirators including Brutus in 44 BC. They didn’t like his tyrant like rulership and felt as though he was too powerful. To remind the Roman soldiers that their fight for the Roman Republic wasn’t in vain, and that he set them free, he created the EID MAR silver denarius.

The Cassius Dio, Book 44.16: (An account of the assassination of Julius Caesar by a Roman senator living in the late Second Century CE writing a history of Rome in Greek)  states, “So the conspirators, when the appointed day was come, gathered in the senate-house at dawn and called for Caesar.” Therefore in this passage, the Roman senators planned out this day well in advance. They had a set goal in mind; to kill Caesar. They knew who would do it, when they would, where, how and especially why. To them killing Caesar was a step forward for the Roman Republic, it is referred to as an “appointed day”. It was a positive event contrary to how the author mentioned previously depicts that the Ides of March is an unpleasant time of the year.

-Chanté, Team Venus

 

Two Ides of the story.

“But from the month of November the winter setting of the Vergiliae (Pleiades) interrupts shipping with frequent storms. So from three days before the Ides of November [i.e. 11th November] until six days before the Ides of March [i.e. 10th March] the seas are closed..”

This quote was taken from “The Ancient Sailing Seasons”, a book that specializes in military science. This book is specifically about the seafaring history of pirates, fishermen, and naval armies during the Grecco-Roman periods. This quote uses the Ides of March as a time stamp in which the seas become too violent and strong to be able to successfully navigate through. It doesn’t make any reference to it being unavailable because of Caesar’s assassination. However, the author uses the ides of march as a tool of time to assist seafarers at the time to know when to avoid the sea.

The author does not explain what the ides of march is, rather, using it as a common date everyone should know. It’s similar to today, in which one will say “Avoid voyaging on the 15th of March”. The 15th of March being the “modern” term of Ides of March. One shouldn’t explain to you what the the 15th of March is, because you should already know it.

A quote that not only would misinform the reader, but make a neat reference is from Cassius Dio, “A great outcry naturally arose from all the rest who were inside and also from those who were standing near by outside, both at the suddenness of the calamity and because they did not know who the assassins were, their numbers, or their purpose; and all were excited, believing themselves in danger.”

This would lead to the reader assume that the sea wasn’t available was due to everyone in the empire having a panic attack that their leader was assassinated, thus all things in society run by man wouldn’t be working, because they’re all panicking. However, this would lead to the reader to assume that the ides of March is the nickname for the date in which the assassination took place, not the Latin name for the fifteenth of March.

While this would be neat, it’s best to not assume that ides of march is only attributed to the assassination of Caesar. The date itself existed before Caesar was even born.

-Fernando, Team Cronos

(Beresford, James. The Ancient Sailing Season, BRILL, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1081627.
Created from brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-11-26 13:45:15.)

 

Beresford, James. A reassessment of the ancient sailing season: the case for wintertime seafaring on the Graeco-Roman Mediterranean. 2005.

Fairy Slippers on the Ides of March

 

“Beware the frozen Ides of March.”

The quote is from a poem called “Fairly Slippers” in the book Hungry Moon by Henrietta Goodman. “Fairy Slippers” refers to a species of orchids known as Calypso bulbosa (image). These orchids are known to pollinate by deception because they attract insects to their yellow hairs but produce no nectar for the nourishment of the insects. The orchids can also cause skin irritation or allergic reaction to humans who handle them.

The poem starts off with the quote “Beware the frozen Ides of March,” as a warning to those who may be deceived, that the flowers will begin to bloom from late March and onwards. The author refers to Ides of March as “frozen”, branding it with a dark and gloomy connotation that the blooming of the flowers will never end after mid-March, which is the case with these orchids until they die, five years later. The author expects the reader to understand that “Ides of March” refers to the middle of March, and states her opinion that it is a bad thing by calling it “frozen”, and cautioning her readers to “beware”.

Quote from Cassius Dio:

“And when the right moment came, one of them approached him, as if to express his thanks for some favour or other, and pulled his toga from his shoulder, thus giving the signal that had been agreed upon by the conspirators. Thereupon they attacked him from many sides at once and wounded him to death so that by reason of their numbers Caesar was unable to say or do anything, but veiling his face, was slain with many wounds….Then all the rest, severally taking up the cry one from another, kept shouting these words, filled the city with lamentations…”

This quote which recounts the assassination of Julius Cesar compliments the attitude in the poem “Fairy Slippers”. The attitude in this quote of the “Ides of March” is of “lamentations”, as the day Julis Caesar was assassinated was a day of grief and despair for everyone. Similarly in the poem, “Ides of March” marks a day of deception and gloom because of the orchids. In reference to Julius Caesar, the “Ides of March” is a grim representation of his being deceived and assassinated, and in the Fairy Slippers too, it is a reference to insects and humans being deceived and harmed.

 

Fairy Slipper (Entire Poem)

Beware the frozen Ides of March. Beware the self-betrayal of a little knowledge poorly applied. Next time he rolls toward you in the hour before dawn, you will say yes no matter what he has or hasn’t done. You will listen to gesture, not word. Not the fairy slipper, but the way it unfurls like a squid, the gray fur at its heart. You would take any flower now, even the drunken flower of his breath, the exhaust atomized, damp and oily in his clothes. Even the flower of his waiting while you pour a thermos of coffee. Even to read the forecast with him, to see in the string of letters and numbers br, which is mist, to hear him say in your ear Baby Rain, flower of recognition, under snow.

 

Citation:
Goodman, Henrietta. Hungry Moon, University Press of Colorado, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3039825.
Created from brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-11-26 10:43:14.

 

Isra, Team Minerva

Are your Friends Really Your Friends?

• Devil’s Casino : Friendship, Betrayal, and the High Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers quote

“You think you would have liked Chris Pettit — but by the end you would not have liked him. He became someone else.” — John Cecil.

• MLA Citation

Ward, Vicky. Devil’s Casino : Friendship, Betrayal, and the High Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers, Wiley, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=510230.
Created from brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-11-24 19:30:11.

• Summary of the text

In the text, A weakness that needed to be fixed was Lehman’s equities and investments banking units since it was doing very poorly compared to their fixed income. In order to do so, it was necessary to fire some of the employees whom were in the higher rankings. Chris Pettit a stubborn and biased employee refused to give up his position and defended other employees whom were his friends. This lead to, Dick Fuld, the head of the corporation to persuade Pettit’s friends to betray on him; which lead to Chris Pettit being fired from the corporation.

The text corresponds with the word term “Ides of March” because it is commonly known as the deadline to settle debts. Adding on, when people are faced with debts at their deadline, they would have to do whatever it takes in order to settle it. Therefore, the text is related to Ides of March because Dick Fuld had to get rid of Chris Pettit and other higher ranked employees in order to move forward with their corporation goals. through the text, the author would suggest that the Ides of March would not be a good thing. Reasoning for this is because of the madness and chaos it created in the corporation mainly internally.

• The account of Ides of March in Cassius Dio quote

“When he had reached this point, the men who were plotting against him hesitated no longer, but in order to embitter even his best friends against him, they did their best to traduce him, finally saluting him as king, a name which they often used also among themselves.”

This quote is able to compliment the text because this situation is the similar to each other since both involve persuading the best friend into betraying Julius Caesar and Chris Pettit. Adding on this is able to help the text connect to the Ides of March due to how similar it was to situation Caesar and Pettit was in. Due to their unwillingness to step down from their position, the people had to figure out a way to do so in order to move forward. Thus, by persuading

Ides of March Reference In Modern Literature

Roman publicani (tax collectors)

Quote: The handing over of the money is due to be made by the publicani to the Aerarium on the second Ides of October ( ¼ 15 October) and likewise in the sequel on the Ides of October in each year..
The Customs Law of Asia, edited by M. Cottier, et al., OUP Oxford, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=430380.
Created from brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-11-20 14:54:39.

Context: This chapter is concerned with payment methods. The paragraph the quote is taken from references Roman payment from the publicani (tax collectors) to the Aerarium (public treasury). While this quote only only discusses when this payment was made, the following lines go into specifics regarding the process.

The authors of “The Customs Law of Asia” didn’t write the book specifically about ancient Rome. While discussing the circulation of money in economy, the authors give an example of how the ancient Roman treasury received money from the public. It is here that they state that this transaction happened on the second ides of October. The authors perhaps expect the reader to have heard of the phrase but not what it means. As shown in the quote, the authors define Ides in parenthesis so the reader knows what day it is. The authors don’t have an opinion of whether or not it was a bad thing. This book is purely factual and aims to educate the reader, not persuade them.

Quote: ” …but as they went on and saw that he was delighted with what they voted, — indeed he accepted all but a very few of their decrees, — different men at different times kept proposing various extravagant honors, some in a spirit of exaggerated flattery and others by way of ridicule” (An account of the assassination of Julius Caesar by a Roman senator living in the late Second Century CE writing a history of Rome in Greek).

This quote doesn’t directly agree with or contradict the first quote. However, it does show some flaws if the ancient Roman government. Julius Cesar was supposed to be a righteous leader but according to the senator, he was easily swayed by the flattery of those below him. While the collection of funds by the national treasury is impressive, especially for an ancient civilization, Cesar’s behavior makes us question if the publicani manipulated the laws to keep money to themselves.

Elene T., Team Mars

Xena and Caesar: Two Peas In A Pod

“ Later, Gabrielle abandons the Way of Love for an even higher power. In “The Ides of March” (4.21), she dispenses with her pacifism when Xena is critically injured. With a violent rage rarely seen in her, Gabrielle destroys a troop of Roman soldiers attempting to finish off the paralyzed warrior princess. Though she is wounded, a horrified Xena feels responsible,” (Stuller 90).

  The phrase “Ides of March” is used within this novel ,as seen in the quote above, as a section in the film Xena:Warrior Princess .In the film the female heroin Xena is stabbed by the Roman warriors and Gabrielle , Xena’s companion, “destroys” them. The author uses the phrase “Ides of March” to compare Xena to Julius Caesar , in the sense that both were stabbed by angry Romans. The author uses this phrase in expectation that the audience knows that Caesar was stabbed at the Ides of March. This sways me to believe that it was used in a positive way due to the fact that she compares Caesar to a heroin. In the class text it says “ Augustus also sent cavalry in pursuit of Caesarion, Julius Caesar’s bastard son by Cleopatra; and killed him when captured.”. This illustrates that Caesar was killed by Augustus, an angry Roman enemy, just like Xena.

Samantha, Team Minerva

Book Citation

Stuller, Jennifer K.. Ink-stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors : Superwomen in Modern Mythology, I.B.Tauris, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=677081.

Created from brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-11-20 12:49:47.

Image Citation

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiKxKSXic7XAhWr7oMKHf1CCboQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.whoosh.org%2Fissue96%2Fsheffield3.html&psig=AOvVaw302hGWujdq8f_ZwLqh7JkW&ust=1511298798029965

“Beware the Ides of March”

The book I found that had “Ides of March” in it was found under the “Education” subject section because education personally interests me. The book is called Academic Leadership Day by Day : Small Steps that Lead to Great Success, I searched for “Ides of March” within the book and found “The Ides of March is a good day to reflect on the extent to which we’re connecting with and properly motivating the people who report to us..” This quote is saying that The Ides of March would be a day for people to really think about how you may be connecting or interacting with people as well as being able to help the people to come to you. The author of this book says this because he is saying that one has to really be careful when it comes to self evaluation and setting goals. The author is referring to the ides of March because he wants people to reflect on themselves in order to know how you treat others so that nothing bad will happen to you like how there was a plan to kill Julius Caesar and it actually went through. The author of this book is trying to help us see if we are conducting all the questions that he provides in his chapter to prevent us from “getting assassinated” as he says in his book. He says this as a metaphor because earlier in the chapter he says “Today brings us to the Ides of March, the day when Julius Caesar was assassinated and the Roman Republic began a long and bloody civil war.” so the author actually does not expect the reader to know much about this phrase because he clearly gives us an idea of what happened on the Ides of March. I feel like the author’s opinion is that they think it was a bad thing but it now a good day in his opinion for people to look back on how they are doing. Citation:
Buller, Jeffrey L.. Academic Leadership Day by Day : Small Steps That Lead to Great Success, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/brooklyn-ebooks/detail.action?docID=624487.
Created from brooklyn-ebooks on 2017-11-18 07:24:59.

There is a quote I found from the reading that compliments the ideas in the book I read which is from the account of the ides of march in Cassius Dio. The quote is “Now these were the influences that persuaded Brutus to attack Caesar, whom he had opposed from the beginning in any case, although he had later accepted benefits from him.” I would say this relates to the ideas in the book that I read because the author of the book is saying that people need to re-evaluate themselves so that what happened to Julius Caesar on that day won’t happen to you metaphorically. What Caesar had done persuaded Brutus to want to plan this attack on Caesar which goes hand in hand with the book I read about being careful with how you treat others because if not, it may backfire.

-Raine, Team Jupiter