The Ides of March

The day that Julius Caesar was assassinated, March 15, is forever noted in history as the Ides of March. Interestingly, the name Ides was part of the Roman calendar used as a benchmark for counting the days of the month. Just as the Roman numerals count forward and backward from numeric benchmarks, the calendar system used three benchmarks for counting the days of the month. Loosely explained here and depending upon which month, the first day of the month was Kalends, the end of the first week was Nones and the end of the second week was Ides. The Romans would take each benchmark and add or take away days to determine the remaining dates of each month.