Reflections on the Ides of March

This is one of those posts where most who read it will scratch their heads whilst thinking, "What the heck is this crazy nutter on?" Good news is that response is fine and respected.

Anyway, the Ides of March; 15 March...

I have been absolutely fascinated by this date since I was 12 years old and first 1) read Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare and 2) took my first year of Latin. Over time, my fascination has turned into something a bit more refined and deep, although no less intense.

To me, the Ides of March is one of the great turning points in history.

The way I see the event (as well as what followed), if the Ides of March had not happened we would not have the religion we have today nor the world we have today because Caesar's death led to the Roman Empire. The Empire in turn led way into Christianity as we know it today.

Caesar's death created the Roman Empire (with real Emperors) 44 B.C., which was in place at the birth of Christ and eventually led to (at least some of) the events leading to the Crucifixion (and subsequent Resurrection) of Jesus. This led to the rise of what would eventually become modern Catholicism, which was eventually adopted as the main religion in Rome, and throughout the empire, by and emperor of Rome. With this spread of Catholicism the rest of History as we know it fell into play, overzealous churches, reformations, crusades, religious wars, emigration, forced conversion, religious freedoms, and eventually the modern world (which is sometimes not all that different).

I know that claiming that all "recent" of History was defined by one man getting murdered by his coworkers is a little ludicrous, and I am not saying that History would not have worked out the same had Caesar survived, but Caesar's death marked a turning point in the fabric of time that allowed for certain important events to occur (such as the unification and spreading of one culture throughout most of Europe which eventually led to Christianity spreading also through all Europe.

Nothing in the world is free from impact, all of History and Time is caused by a domino effect, each event happens because of something (a choice/action/butterfly wing) that has happened before.

While Shakespeare might have had his seers tell Caesar to "beware the Ides of March" I hardly see why. For, even though Caesar died, his death sparked the chain of events that led to some of the largest events in History within our recollection of events. Really, had he not died, Julius Caesar would not have nearly as much with his life nor be nearly as famous as he now is.