Enjoying the Ides of March
Drink a glass of wine to honor Julius Caesar. The ancient Romans loved wine and drank it with most of their meals throughout the day. If you’re of legal drinking age in your country, pour a glass of red wine and make a toast to Caesar and his life. Relax and enjoy your wine in the name of the Roman Empire. If you don’t like wine, you can make a “Bloody Caesar” cocktail, which is a Bloody Mary, but with hot sauce and Caesar spices. For a more authentic experience, you can mix your wine with a little bit of water, which is how the ancient Romans drank their wine.
Watch movies and documentaries to learn more about Julius Caesar’s life. There are plenty of movies about the life of Julius Caesar, and many of them are available online for free. Search Caesar’s name on a streaming service or YouTube, and spend a few hours immersed in Roman life in the time of Caesar! There are also plenty of documentaries about Caesar’s life, and some cable channels do Caesar marathons on the Ides of March.
Make a caesar salad for lunch. Although it’s not named after Julius Caesar, you can still honor him by eating a salad with his name in it. Combine romaine lettuce, croutons, and parmesan cheese in a bowl, and toss them with a pair of tongs. Then, drizzle caesar dressing across the top to finish the salad. You can even add some chicken to the salad for extra protein to keep you full throughout the day.
Act out “Julius Caesar” with a few of your friends. Though it’s normally enjoyed as a book, Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” is actually a play. Assign each of your friends a different role, and put on the play in your living room. If you want a more realistic experience, you can even dress up in costume. If you don’t want to work through the whole play, you can focus on some of the most important scenes, like the Ides of March scene, Cassius warning Brutus about Caesar’s ambition, Calpurnia’s dream, the plot to kill Caesar, and Caesar’s assassination. Some high schools and community theaters put on Julius Caesar especially for the Ides of March, so be sure to check their websites for announcements.
Watch modern political dramas on TV. The assassination of Caesar was the ultimate political drama when Shakespeare first put on his play, and many modern TV shows have been inspired by the life of Caesar and ancient Roman politics. Spend the day watching “House of Cards” or “West Wing” to enjoy all of the scandal of political life. If you don’t have a streaming service, you can purchase DVDs that contain an entire season of your favorite political drama, and watch them on the Ides of March.
Plan a trip to Rome to celebrate in Caesar’s city. During the Ides of March in Rome, you can see in-person re-enactments of Caesar’s assassination at the Torre Argentina archeological site. Don’t forget to visit his memorial statue and the Roman Forum while you’re there! Remember to plan your trip in advance, as March can be a busy time in Rome depending on when the Easter holiday falls.
Hosting an Ides of March Party
Plan your party for March 15th. The Ides of March falls on the same day every year, so it’s easy to plan your party well in advance. Pick a time that works best for your schedule. For instance, if the 15th is a weekday, you might want to plan a party in the evening so people can attend after work or school. If you’re planning a fancier party, you might want to send paper invitations in the mail about 2-3 weeks in advance. Remember to let your guests know if you want them to dress in costume, or bring food for the party.
Decorate for the party using a white, red, and gold color scheme. Caesar is often depicted wearing a white toga with red accents and gold jewelry, so these are great colors to use for your party. Use white tablecloths on the tables, and get red and gold balloons. Hang red, white and gold streamers, and use gold plastic cups and paper plates to serve the food and drinks. Purple was another popular color for royal families in ancient Rome, so you can use purple throughout your decorations, too.
Dress up in togas and gladiator outfits. For a fun costume party, encourage guests to wear togas like the ancient Romans. Make it into a competition by offering a prize for the best toga or most accurate gladiator outfit, and get ready for some creative costumes! To save time and money, you can even make your own toga out of a bedsheet.
Serve traditional Roman foods for dinner. Make a large platter with grapes, figs, cheeses, and olives for an appetizer. For dinner, serve meat, like lamb, beef, pork, or chicken, in a light vegetable stock with cooked vegetables, which was a popular dinner for wealthy Romans. If you want to serve dessert, you can make a fresh fruit salad, a plain vanilla cake, or even French toast served with honey, which was a popular Roman dessert.
Play a murder-inspired game with your guests. Plan a few rounds of a roleplaying game like Assassin, which is sometimes called Mafia. Use a deck of cards to assign roles to each player, and make one of the cards the “assassin.” Have everyone keep their role a secret, and the assassin will wink at a person to “kill” them in the game. The goal is to figure out who is the assassin, or the assassin will win when everyone else is dead. You can also plan out a murder mystery based on historical figures from Julius Caesar’s life.
Learning About Roman History
Research the life and death of Julius Caesar. Read online about Caesar’s rule as the leader of the Roman Empire, and learn about his rivalry with Marcus Brutus, Mark Antony, and Cassius. Watch re-enactments of the assassination by his rivals on YouTube, and consider his importance as a historical figure.. Many historians agree that the assassination of Caesar was a turning point for the Roman Empire, so the Ides of March is an extremely important day for the history of the world!
Read Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” to get a more dramatic take on his death. Find the book online or read an online version to learn about the days leading up to and just after Caesar’s assassination. While some of the play is fictional and dramatic, a lot of the story is historically accurate and is very entertaining to read. Shakespeare wrote in early modern English, which can be difficult to read. If you want a modern English version of the play, search online for a modern English translation, such as the “No Fear Shakespeare” version.
Visit a museum that has exhibits on ancient Rome. Many museums have historical or art collections with pieces from ancient Rome. Find a museum with a collection near you, and plan a visit for the Ides of March. Look at the pieces of art and the artifacts to imagine what life was like during the life of Julius Caesar, Brutus, and Marc Antony. Check to see if the museum offers discounts for students or weekday visits. Always be respectful while inside of the museum. Don’t touch any of the artifacts unless you’re instructed to, and follow the museum rules about photography.
Brush up on simple Latin phrases. Learn how to pronounce phrases like “Salve,” which means welcome; “Quomodo vales?” which means how are you; and “Nomen mihi est…” which means my name is. This will help you get in the mindset of a Roman citizen during the time of Caesar. Phrases like “Et tu, Brute?” meaning “And you, Brutus?” as well as “Veni, Vidi, Vici,” meaning “We came, we saw, we conquered,” are important Latin quotes by Caesar that you can use throughout the day. Latin is considered a “dead” language because there are currently no native speakers in the world, but it’s still an extremely important language. If you enjoy learning the language, you can take courses in Latin online or in school to help you study for other topics, like history, science, and art.
Look up other famous events that happened on March 15th. Some people believe that the Ides of March are cursed due to a number of bad events on that day throughout history. Learn a bit about the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, the Samoan Cyclone, and beginning of the Arab Spring, all of which happened on March 15th. This is also the reason that some people will still say to “Beware the Ides of March!”
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