The Roman calendar was based on lunar cycles, meaning that they tracked their days by the cycle of the moon from new moon to full moon. A full moon typically occurs every fifteen days, so when the Romans adapted their calendar to the modern months we know now, they called the 15th of the month "Ides".
The Ides of March became famous when Shakespeare wrote the play "Julius Caesar", in which Julius Caesar is ominously warned "Beware the Ides of March." Julius Caesar was, in fact, assassinated on March 15 in 44 B.C., but it was Shakespeare's famous line about the Ides of March that most people recognize today.
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