Beware the Ides of March

Just in case anyone doesn’t remember, on this date in 44 BC, Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of Roman Senators led by Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. This was a genuine conspiracy. Caesar was stabbed over 20 times. It ranks up there with the killings of Archduke Ferdinand, Lincoln, Jack Kennedy, and MLK, as one of the most momentous political crimes. Ever since then, this date has been associated with misfortune. Which Shakespeare amplified in the play by having a seer say those words as a warning to Caesar.

There's a speculation that links Shakespeare's play with Lincoln's assassination. Only one time were the 3 Booth brothers--Edwin, John Wilkes, and Junius cast in the same play. That was a production of Julius Caesar in New York. John Wilkes desperately wanted the role of Brutus. Who is really the lead character. But Edwin, who was the better known actor, got the part. Supposedly, John Wilkes was infuriated, and never got over being slighted. So the thinking goes that since he couldn't play an assassin on stage, he became one in real life. In all likelihood, this is a total fabrication. John Wilkes was known to be a die-hard Confederate sympathizer. But it's an interesting conjecture.