Beware the Ides of March! Julius Caesar's Fateful Day

ThoughtCo

by N.S. Gill Updated February 28, 2018

The Ides of March ("Eidus Martiae" in Latin) is a day on the traditional Roman calendar that corresponds to the date of March 15th on our current calendar. Today the date is commonly associated with bad luck, a reputation that it earned at the end of the reign of the Roman emperor Julius Caesar (100–43 BCE).

 A Warning
In 44 BCE, Julius Caesar's rule in Rome was in trouble. Caesar was a demagogue, a ruler who set his own rules, frequently bypassing the Senate to do what he liked, and finding supporters in the Roman proletariat and his soldiers.

The Senate made Caesar dictator for life in February of that year, but in truth, he had been the military dictator governing Rome from the field since 49. When he returned to Rome, he kept his stringent rules.

According to the Roman historian Suetonius (690–130 CE), the haruspex (seeress) Spurinna warned Caesar in mid-February 44, telling him that the next 30 days were to be fraught with peril, but the danger would end on the Ides of March. When they met on the Ides of March Caesar said "you are aware, surely, that the Ides of March have passed" and Spurinna responded, "surely you realize that they have not yet passed?"
CAESAR to SOOTHSAYER: The Ides of March are come.
SOOTHSAYER (softly): Ay, Caesar, but not gone.
—Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

What Are Ides, Anyway?
The Roman calendar did not number days of an individual month sequentially from first to last as is done today. Rather than sequential numbering, the Romans counted backwards from three specific points in the lunar month, depending on the length of the month.

 Those points were the Nones (which fell on the fifth in months with 30 days and the seventh day in 31-day months), the Ides (the thirteenth or the fifteenth), and the Kalends (the first of the following month). The Ides typically occurred near a month’s midpoint; specifically on the fifteenth in March. The length of the month was determined by the number of days in the moon's cycle: March's Ides date was determined by the full moon.

Why Caesar Had to Die
There were said to be several plots to kill Caesar and for a multitude of reasons. According to Suetonius, the Sybelline oracle had declared that Parthia could only be conquered by a Roman king, and the Roman consul Marcus Aurelius Cotta was planning to call for Caesar to be named king in mid-March.

The senators feared Caesar's power, and that he might overthrow the senate in favor of general tyranny. Brutus and Cassius, the main conspirators in the plot to kill Caesar, were magistrates of the Senate, and as they would not be allowed to either oppose the crowning of Caesar nor remain silent, they had to kill him.

A Historical Moment
Before Caesar went to the theater of Pompey to attend the Senate meeting, he had been given advice not to go, but he did not listen. Doctors had advised him not to go for medical reasons, and his wife, Calpurnia, also did not want him to go based off of troubling dreams that she had.

On the Ides of March, 44 BCE, Caesar was murdered, stabbed to death by the conspirators near the Theatre of Pompey where the Senate was meeting.

Caesar’s assassination transformed Roman history, as it was a central event in marking the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire. His assassination resulted directly in the Liberator’s Civil War, which was waged to avenge his death.

With Caesar gone, the Roman Republic did not last long and was eventually replaced by the Roman Empire, which lasted approximately 500 years. The initial two centuries of the Roman Empire’s existence were known to be a time of supreme and unprecedented stability and prosperity. The time period came to be known as “Roman Peace.”

Anna Perenna Festival
Before it became notorious as the day of Caesar's death, the Ides of March was a day of religious observations on the Roman calendar, and it is possible that the conspirators chose the date because of that.

In ancient Rome, a festival for Anna Perenna (Annae festum geniale Pennae) was held on the Ides of March. Perenna was a Roman deity of the circle of the year. Her festival originally concluded the ceremonies of the new year, as March was the first month of the year on the original Roman calendar. Thus, Perenna’s festival was celebrated enthusiastically by the common people with picnics, eating, drinking, games, and general revelry.

The Anna Perenna festival was, like many Roman carnivals, a time when celebrants could subvert traditional power relations between social classes and gender roles when people were allowed to speak freely about sex and politics. Most importantly the conspirators could count on the absence of at least a part of the proletariat from the center of the city, while others would be watching the gladiator's games.

Edited and updated by K. Kris Hirst

Sources
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. "The Ides of March." Historia: Zeitschrift Für Alte Geschichte 7.1 (1958): 80-94. Print.
Horsfall N. 1974. The Ides of March: Some New Problems. Greece & Rome 21(2):191-199.
Horsfall, Nicholas. "The Ides of March: Some New Problems." Greece & Rome 21.2 (1974): 191-99. Print.
Newlands, Carole. "Transgressive Acts: Ovid's Treatment of the Ides of March." Classical Philology 91.4 (1996): 320-38. Print.
Ramsey, John T. "'Beware the Ides of March!': An Astrological Prediction?" The Classical Quarterly 50.2 (2000): 440-54. Print.

First Hard Evidence for Julius Caesar's Invasion of Britain Discovered

Ancient Origins

The first evidence for Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain has been discovered by archaeologists from the University of Leicester. Based on new evidence, the team suggests that the first landing of Julius Caesar's fleet in Britain took place in 54BC at Pegwell Bay on the Isle of Thanet, the north-east point of Kent.

Prospective Locations
This location matches Caesar's own account of his landing in 54 BC, with three clues about the topography of the landing site being consistent with him having landed in Pegwell Bay: its visibility from the sea, the existence of a large open bay, and the presence of higher ground nearby.

The project has involved surveys of hillforts that may have been attacked by Caesar, studies in museums of objects that may have been made or buried at the time of the invasions, such as coin hoards, and excavations in Kent.

The University of Leicester project, which is funded by the Leverhulme Trust, was prompted by the discovery of a large defensive ditch in archaeological excavations before a new road was built. The shape of the ditch at Ebbsfleet, a hamlet in Thanet, is very similar to some of the Roman defences at Alésia in France, where the decisive battle in the Gallic War took place in 52 BC.

The site, at Ebbsfleet, on the Isle of Thanet in north-east Kent overlooking Pegwell Bay, is now 900 meters (2950 ft) inland but at the time of Caesar's invasions it was closer to the coast. The ditch is 4-5 meters (13-16.5 ft)( wide and 2 meters (6.5 ft) deep and is dated by pottery and radiocarbon dates to the 1st century BC.

View of the University of Leicester excavations at Ebbsfleet in 2016 showing Pegwell Bay and the cliffs at Ramsgate (Image: University of Leicester )

 Ebbsfleet’s Candidacy
The size, shape, date of the defences at Ebbsfleet and the presence of iron weapons including a Roman pilum (javelin) all suggest that the site was once a Roman base of 1st century BC date.

The archaeological team suggest the site may be up to 20 hectares in size and it is thought that the main purpose of the fort was to protect the ships of Caesar's fleet that had been drawn up on to the nearby beach.

Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick, Research Associate from the University of Leicester's School of Archaeology and Ancient History said: "The site at Ebbsfleet lies on a peninsular that projects from the south-eastern tip of the Isle of Thanet. Thanet has never been considered as a possible landing site before because it was separated from the mainland until the Middle Ages.

 "However, it is not known how big the Channel that separated it from the mainland (the Wantsum Channel) was. The Wantsum Channel was clearly not a significant barrier to people of Thanet during the Iron Age and it certainly would not have been a major challenge to the engineering capabilities of the Roman army.

Lidar model of topography of Thanet showing Ebbsfleet. (Image: Courtesy of University of Leicester)

Caesar’s Account
Caesar's own account of his landing in 54 BC is consistent with the landing site identified by the team.

Dr Fitzpatrick explained: "Sailing from somewhere between Boulogne and Calais, Caesar says that at sunrise they saw Britain far away on the left hand side. As they set sail opposite the cliffs of Dover, Caesar can only be describing the white chalk cliffs around Ramsgate which were being illuminated by the rising sun.

 "Caesar describes how the ships were left at anchor at an even and open shore and how they were damaged by a great storm. This description is consistent with Pegwell Bay, which today is the largest bay on the east Kent coast and is open and flat. The bay is big enough for the whole Roman army to have landed in the single day that Caesar describes. The 800 ships, even if they landed in waves, would still have needed a landing front 1-2 km wide.

Ancient Britons oppose the Roman landings. (Public Domain)

"Caesar also describes how the Britons had assembled to oppose the landing but, taken aback by the size of the fleet, they concealed themselves on the higher ground. This is consistent with the higher ground of the Isle of Thanet around Ramsgate.

"These three clues about the topography of the landing site; the presence of cliffs, the existence of a large open bay, and the presence of higher ground nearby, are consistent with the 54 BC landing having been in Pegwell Bay."

The last full study of Caesar's invasions was published over 100 years ago, in 1907.

Caesar by Clara Grosch (Public Domain)

The Outcome of the Invasion
It has long been believed that because Caesar returned to France the invasions were failures and that because the Romans did not leave a force of occupation the invasions had little or no lasting effects on the peoples of Briton. It has also been believed that because the campaigns were short they will have left few, if any, archaeological remains.

The team challenge this notion by suggesting that in Rome the invasions were seen as a great triumph. The fact that Caesar had crossed the sea and gone beyond the known world caused a sensation. At this time victory was achieved by defeating the enemy in battle, not by occupying their lands.

They also suggest that Caesar's impact in Briton had long-standing effects which were seen almost 100 years later during Claudius's invasion of Briton.

Caesar’s British Campaign 54 BC (Image: University of Leicester)

Professor Colin Haselgrove, the principal investigator for the project from the University of Leicester, explained: "It seems likely that the treaties set up by Caesar formed the basis for alliances between Rome and British royal families. This eventually resulted in the leading rulers of south-east England becoming client kings of Rome. Almost 100 years after Caesar, in AD 43 the emperor Claudius invaded Britain. The conquest of south-east England seems to have been rapid, probably because the kings in this region were already allied to Rome.

"This was the beginning of the permanent Roman occupation of Britain, which included Wales and some of Scotland, and lasted for almost 400 years, suggesting that Claudius later exploited Caesar's legacy."

The Praetorians Relief from the Arch of Claudius, once part of the Arch of Claudius erected in 51 AD to commemorate the conquest of Britain. Louvre Lens, France. (CC BY-SA 2.0)

 Isle of Thanet Research
The fieldwork for the project has been carried out by volunteers organised by the Community Archaeologist of Kent County Council who worked in partnership with the University of Leicester. The project was also supported by staff from the University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS).

Principal Archaeological Officer for Kent County Council Simon Mason, who oversaw the original road excavations carried out by Oxford Wessex Archaeology, said: "Many people do not realise just how rich the archaeology of the Isle of Thanet is. Being so close to the continent, Thanet was the gateway to new ideas, people, trade and invasion from earliest times. This has resulted in a vast and unique buried archaeological landscape with many important discoveries being regularly made. The peoples of Thanet were once witness to some of the earliest and most important events in the nation's history: the Claudian invasion to start the period of Roman rule, the arrival of St Augustine's mission to bring Christianity and the arrival of the Saxons celebrated through the tradition of Hengist and Horsa. It has been fantastic to be part of a project that is helping to bring another fantastic chapter, that of Caesar, to Thanet's story."

The findings will be explored further as part of the BBC Four's Digging For Britain, The East episode, in which the Ebbsfleet site appears, will be the second programme in the series, and will be broadcast on Wednesday 29 November 2017, and available on BBC iPlayer.

Top image: Caesar's first invasion of Britain: Caesar's boat is pulled to the shore while his soldiers fight the resisting indigenous warriors. Lithograph by W. Linnell after E. Armitage. (CC BY 4.0)

The article first published as ‘First Evidence for Julius Caesar's Invasion of Britain Discovered’ was originally published on Science Daily.

Source: University of Leicester. "First evidence for Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain discovered." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 28 November 2017. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171128230421.htm.

The Ides of March: The Assassination of Julius Caesar Explained

Made from History

BY COLIN RICKETTS

 The date that Julius Caesar, the most famous Roman of them all, was killed at or on his way to the Senate is one of the most famous in world history. The events of the Ides of March – March 15th in the modern calendar – in 44 BC had enormous consequences for Rome, triggering a series of civil wars that saw Caesar’s great-nephew Octavian secure his place as Augustus, the first Roman Emperor.

 But what actually happened on this famous date? The answer must be that we will never know in any great detail or with any great certainty.

There is no eye-witness account of Caesar’s death. Nicolaus of Damascus wrote the earliest surviving account, probably around 14 AD. While some people believe he may have spoken to witnesses, nobody knows for sure, and his book was written for Augustus so may be biased. Suetonius’ telling of the tale is also believed to be fairly accurate, possibly using eye-witness testimony, but was written around 121 AD.

 The Conspiracy Against Caesar
Even the briefest study of Roman politics will open a can of worms rich in plotting and conspiracies. Rome’s institutions were relatively stable for their time, but military strength and popular support (as Caesar himself showed), could rewrite the rules very quickly. Power was always up for grabs.

 Caesar’s extraordinary personal power was bound to excite opposition. Rome was then a republic and doing away with the arbitrary and often-abused power of kings was one of its founding principles.

Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger – a key conspirator.

 In 44 BC Caesar had been appointed dictator (a post previously awarded only temporarily and in times of great crisis) with no time limit on the term. The people of Rome certainly saw him as a king, and he may have already have been regarded as a god.

 More than 60 high-ranking Romans, including Marcus Junius Brutus, who may have been Caesar’s illegitimate son, decided to do away with Caesar. They called themselves the Liberators, and their ambition was to restore the power of the Senate.

 The Ides of March
This is what Nicolaus of Damascus records:

 The conspirators considered a number of plans for killing Caesar, but settled on an attack in the Senate, where their togas would provide cover for their blades.

 Rumours of a plot were going around and some of Caesar’s friends tried to stop him going to the Senate. His doctors were concerned by dizzy spells he was suffering and his wife, Calpurnia, had had worrying dreams. Brutus stepped in to reassure Caesar that he would be fine.

He is said to have made some sort of religious sacrifice, revealing bad omens, despite several attempts to find something more encouraging. Again many friends warned him to go home, and again Brutus reassured him.

 In the Senate, one of the plotters, Tilius Cimber, approached Caesar under the pretext of pleading for his exiled brother. He grabbed Caesar’s toga, preventing him from standing and apparently signalling the attack.

 Nicolaus recounts a messy scene with men injuring each other as they scramble to kill Caesar. Once Caesar was down, more conspirators rushed in, perhaps keen to make their mark on history, and he was reportedly stabbed 35 times.

 Caesar’s famous last words, ‘Et tu, Brute?’ are almost certainly an invention, given longevity by William Shakespeare’s dramatised version of events.

 The Aftermath: Republican Ambitions Backfire, War Ensues
Expecting a hero’s reception, the assassins ran out into the streets announcing to the people of Rome that they were free again.

 But Caesar had been enormously popular, particularly with ordinary people who had seen Rome’s military triumphant while they had been well treated and entertained by Caesar’s lavish public entertainments. Caesar’s supporters were ready to use this people power to support their own ambitions.

The Senate voted an amnesty for the assassins, but Caesar’s chosen heir, Octavian, was quick to return to Rome from Greece to explore his options, recruiting Caesar’s soldiers to his cause as he went. Caesar’s supporter, Mark Antony, also opposed the Liberators, but may have had ambitions of his own. He and Octavian entered into a shaky alliance as the first fighting of a civil war began in northern Italy.

 On November 27th, 43 BC, the Senate named Antony and Octavian as two heads of a Triumvirate, together with Caesar’s friend and ally Lepidus, tasked with taking on Brutus and Cassius, two of the Liberators. They set about murdering many of their opponents in Rome for good measure.

 The Liberators were defeated in two battles in Greece, allowing the Triumvirate to rule for an uneasy 10 years.

 Mark Antony then made his move, marrying Cleopatra, Caesar’s lover and queen of Egypt, and planning to use Egypt’s wealth to fund his own ambitions. Both of them committed suicide in 30 BC after Octavian’s decisive victory at the naval Battle of Actium.

 By 27 BC Octavian could rename himself Caesar Augustus. He would go on to be remembered as the first Emperor of Rome.

Beware the Ides of March! Julius Caesar's Fateful Day

ThoughtCo

by N.S. Gill Updated November 18, 2016

The Ides of March (Eidus Martiae in Latin) is a day on the traditional Roman calendar that corresponds to the date of March 15th on our current calendar. It is most commonly associated with the assassination of Julius Caesar, on the Ides of March in the year 44 BC.

A WARNING
The Ides of March became well-known and notorious as the official date of Julius Caesar’s assassination in the year 44 BC. Caesar’s assassination was the result of a conspiracy by a coalition of Roman senators.
 CAESAR to SOOTHSAYER: The Ides of March are come.
 SOOTHSAYER (softly): Ay, Caesar, but not gone.
 —Shakespeare's Julius Caesar 

According to Catullus, the haruspex Spurinna warned Caesar in mid-February 44, telling him that the next 30 days were to be fraught with peril, but the danger would end on the Ides of March. When they met on the Ides of March Caesar said "you are aware, surely, that the Ides of March have passed" and Spurinna responded, "surely you realize that they have not yet passed?"

 THE NICK OF TIME: WHY CAESAR HAD TO DIE
There were said to be several plots to kill Caesar and for a multitude of reasons. According to Suetonius, the Sybelline oracle had declared that Parthia could only be conquered by a Roman king, and Cotta was planning to call for Caesar to be named king in mid-March. Brutus and Cassius, the main conspirators in the plot to kill Caesar, were magistrates of the Senate, and as they would not be allowed to either oppose the crowning of Caesar nor remain silent, they had to kill him.

 Caesar was a demagogue, a ruler who set his own rules bypassing the Senate to do what he liked, finding supporters in the Roman proletariat and his soldiers. The senate made Caesar dictator for life in February, but in truth, he had been the military dictator governing Rome from the field since 49. When he returned to Rome, he kept his stringent rules.

 The senators feared his power, and that he might overthrow the senate in favor of general tyranny. He was murdered near the Theatre of Pompey where the Senate was meeting on the Ides of March.

 WHAT ARE IDES, ANYWAY?
The Roman calendar did not number days of an individual month sequentially from first to last as is done today. Rather than sequential numbering, the Romans counted backwards from three specific points in the lunar month, depending on the length of the month.

 Those points were the Nones (which fell on the fifth in months with 30 days and the seventh day in 31 day months), the Ides (the thirteenth or the fifteenth), and the Kalends (the first of the following month). The Ides typically occurred near a month’s midpoint; specifically on the fifteenth in March. The length of the month was determined by the number of days in the moon's cycle: March's Ides date was determined by the full moon.

 A HISTORICAL MOMENT
Before Caesar went to the theater of Pompey to attend the Senate meeting, he had been given advice not to go, but he did not listen. Doctors had advised him not to go for medical reasons, and his wife, Calpurnia, also did not want him to go based off of troubling dreams that she had.

 Caesar’s assassination transformed Roman history, as it was a central event in marking the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire. His assassination resulted directly in the Liberator’s Civil War, which was waged to avenge his death.

 With Caesar gone, the Roman Republic did not last long and was eventually replaced by the Roman Empire, which lasted approximately 500 years. The initial two centuries of the Roman Empire’s existence were known to be a time of supreme and unprecedented stability and prosperity. The time period came to be known as “Roman Peace.”

 ANNA PERENNA FESTIVAL
Before it became notorious as the day of Caesar's death, the Ides of March was a day of religious observations on the Roman calendar, and it is possible that the conspirators chose the date because of that.

 In ancient Rome, a festival for Anna Perenna (Annae festum geniale Pennae) was held on the Ides of March. Perenna was a Roman deity of the circle of the year. Her festival originally concluded the ceremonies of the new year, as March was the first month of the year on the original Roman calendar. Thus, Perenna’s festival was celebrated enthusiastically by the common people with picnics, eating, drinking, games, and general revelry.

 The Anna Perenna festival was, like many Roman carnivals, a time when celebrants could subvert traditional power relations between social classes and gender roles when people were allowed to speak freely about sex and politics. Most importantly the conspirators could count on the absence of at least a part of the proletariat from the center of the city, while others would be watching the gladiator's games.

 SOURCES
Edited and updated by K. Kris Hirst
 Balsdon JPVD. 1958. The Ides of March. Historia: Zeitschrift Für Alte Geschichte 7(1):80-94. Horsfall N. 1974. The Ides of March: Some New Problems. Greece & Rome 21(2):191-199. Newlands C. 1996. Transgressive Acts: Ovid's Treatment of the Ides of March. Classical Philology 91(4):320-338.
Ramsey JT. 2000. 'Beware the Ides of March!': An Astrological Prediction? The Classical Quarterly 50(2):440-454.

History Trivia - Battle of Forum Gallorum

April 14

 43 BC Battle of Forum Gallorum: Mark Antony, besieged Julius Caesar's assassin Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus in Mutina and defeated the forces of the consul Pansa, who was wounded

History Trivia - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio

April 6

46 BC – Julius Caesar defeated Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato in the battle of Thapsus. 

History Trivia - Ptolemy XII drowns in the Nile

March 25

47 BC Ptolemy XII, King of Egypt and brother of Cleopatra, drowned in the Nile, probably with an assist by Julius Caesar, who thereby made Cleopatra queen

History Trivia - Battle of Munda - Julius Caesar victory

March 17

45 BC In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeated the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda. 

44 BC, the conspirators in Julius Caesar's murder were granted amnesty in a short-lived reprieve before Mark Antony stirred the people to take revenge on them.
 

History Trivia - BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH

March 15

44 BC Julius Caesar, Dictator of the Roman Republic, was stabbed to death by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus and several other Roman senators on the Ides of March. He had appointed his great-nephew, Octavian, as his heir. Civil war broke out between Caesar's assassins and his successors (Mark Antony and Octavian).

History Trivia - Marcus Cato commits suicide

February 5

46 BC, Marcus Cato, the Roman philosopher, committed suicide by stabbing himself, after learning of the victory of his enemy, Julius Caesar, over Pompey at Thapsus. 

History Trivia - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon

January 10

 49 BC Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon without disbanding his army, which signaled the start of civil war in Rome. Pompey and his supporters fled to Greece.

History Trivia - Julius Caesar reforms calendar

January 1

45 BC Julius Caesar's calendar reform: 365 days in 12 months with leap years every four years was introduced. 

History Trivia - Vercingetorix surrenders to Julius Caesar

October 3

52 BC Vercingetorix, leader of the Gauls, surrendered to the Romans under Julius Caesar, ending the siege and Battle of Alesia. 

1226 Saint Francis of Assisi, the great Roman Catholic churchman and founder of the Franciscan order died at his beloved Poriuncula chapel at age 44. 

1283 Dafydd ap Gruffydd, prince of Gwynedd in Wales, was executed for what from that time onwards would be described as high treason against the King. King Edward I ensured that Dafydd's death was to be slow and agonizing, and also historic; he became the first prominent person in recorded history to have been hanged, drawn and quartered, preceded by a number of minor knights earlier in the thirteenth century.

History Trivia - Battle of Crecy - English victorious

August 25

357 Julian Caesar defeated the Alamanni (alliance of German tribes) at Strousbourg in Gaul.

1346 Edward III of England defeated Philip VI's army at the Battle of Crecy in France.

 1549 Kett's Rebellion was a revolt in Norfolk, England during the reign of Edward VI. The rebellion was in response to the enclosure of land. It began in July 1549 but was eventually crushed by forces loyal to the English crown when the Earl of Warwick attacked and entered Norwich on August 25.

History Trivia - Mount Vesuvius erupts burying the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum

August 24

 49 BC Julius Caesar's general Gaius Scribonius Curio was defeated in the Second Battle of the Bagradas River by the Numidians under Publius Attius Varus and King Juba of Numidia. Curio committed suicide to avoid capture.

79 Mount Vesuvius erupted. The cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae were buried in volcanic ash Pliny the Elder died of asphyxiation at age 56 while witnessing the scene from the coast.

410 Alaric, leader of the Visigoths, sacked Rome, but spared its churches. This was first hostile occupation of the city since the fourth century BC.

 

Book Launch - Julius Caesar De Bello Gallico The War in Gaul: A Storyteller's version Kindle Edition by Sebastian Lockwood

Hail Caesar! This is the Kindle version, Audible to follow soon. Sebastian Lockwood is The Person to bring this to us.  Caesar was a master leader, planner and storyteller. Stay tuned for the audio that goes with this great Reality story. Follow on Facebook Lumen Arts Audio for updates.

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Traveling bard, Sebastian Lockwood narrates The Briton and the Dane

The Briton and the Dane is a story of love, betrayal, intrigue and warfare taking place in a realm of mystery and darkness, set in ninth century England when the bloodthirsty Vikings raped and pillaged their way across the length and the breadth of the windswept lands.

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History Trivia - veni, vidi, vici

August 2

338 BC A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea, securing Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean.

216 BC Second Punic War: Battle of Cannae – The Carthaginian army lead by Hannibal and his elephants defeated a numerically superior Roman army under command of consuls Lucius Aemilius Paullus and Gaius Terentius Varro, killing 60,000.

47 BC Julius Caesar said "veni, vidi, vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered) after defeating Pharnaces, King of Pontus (northeast Turkey).

History Trivia - Henry VIII marries Catherine Parr

July 12

100 BC Gaius Julius Caesar was born.

1472 Richard Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester and later King of England, married Anne Neville, daughter of the Earl of Warwick, in Westminster Abbey.

1543 King Henry VIII of England married his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, at Hampton Court Palace.

History Trivia - Julius Caesar invades Britain

July 7

  54 BC   Julius Caesar's second invasion of Britain begins as he lands his troops, probably near Deal, Kent.

1550 Chocolate was introduced.

1607 “God Save the King" was sung for the first time.

History Trivia - Battle of Thapsus.- Julius Caesar victorious

April 6

 46 BC – Julius Caesar defeated Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato in the battle of Thapsus.

774 Charles the Great (Charlemagne) affirmed Pippin’s promise of Quiercy, protecting the States of the Church.

 1199 England's King Richard I, the Lion-Hearted, died from an infection following the removal of an arrow from his shoulder.