"The Ides of March"

Today is the 15th of March, day of the Ides of March, which is of course the anniversary of the assassination of Julius Caesar. For guys (or gals) like me who are into history, it is kind of a big deal. It is one of the day I always remember, and I always commemorate it on this blog. This year, I thought I would mark it by giving my readership a reading suggestion: the novel The Ides of March, by Italian author Valerio Massimo Manfredi. It is a fictionalization of the fateful day, which in spite of the tragic predictability of its plot, manages to be suspenseful. I enjoyed it anyway, when I read it back in March 2014 (I think it was 2014). Sure, it's not great literature, but it's solidly entertaining and it feels genuine. In any case, it is the perfect read for today.

"Beware the Ides of March"

Today is the Ides of March. Which means the day of the assassination of Julius Caesar. He was stabbed 23 times. I am not specialized in Roman history, nevertheless as a history buff, today is an anniversary to remember, when you could say history was truly made and made the way it usually is: in blood. You can read ten facts about the assassination of Caesar in this article from the Telegraph, some trivial, some less trivial. "Beware the Ides of March" is of course a quote from Shakespeare's play, which I have not seen in its entirety yet. when I imagine the murder of Julius Caesar, I imagine it as depicted in the TV series Rome, and the days leading to it as they were depicted in the novel The Ides of March by Valerio Massimo Manfredi, which I quite enjoyed. Ironic, a bloody drama is now something used as entertainment. The Ides of March are full of irony.