random thoughts -- Day 1,093 -- (Wednesday) -- Ides of March

March 15, year 44 B.C.E., Julius Caesar, dictator and declared emperor of Rome, was assassinated. Depending upon which modern source you read, it involved a mob of either 23 or 40 senators, with some 60 to 70 senators participating in the conspiracy. Oy. That is one p*ssed off work family. 

 Caesar, in the red wrap, doesn't know what's coming.

The conspirators were led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. In the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, the soothsayer tells Ceaser to "Beware the Ides of March." The Ides refer to the first new moon of a given month, between the 13th and 15th, but  Caesar asked, "What man is that?" Oh, silly Julius. It was much more than one man. Shakespeare's lines stuck, branding the date with an ominous connotation.

In modern Rome, March 15, 2023 was marked with a reenactment of Caesar's assassination at the ruins in the very spot where the deed occurred. We didn't know this beforehand, but learned about it at 11:00 when we were there celebrating a friend's birthday  and saw a sound crew setting up. 

By 1:30, we returned to a large crowd including tourists and student groups. The sidewalks along the perimeter of the Curia of Pompay were packed with spectators waiting to see the 2:00 reenactment of the stabbiness. It was quite the toga party. 

In addition to the excavated ruins, the modern  Curia of Pompay site is home to a feral cat colony, and during the wait for the reenactment, there were frequent exclamations of "oh, kitty!" There were black cats, gray ones, orange, and multicolor. 

There was plenty of entertainment for all. Well, except for Caeser. As we know, things didn't go very well for him this date.