The word “Ides” is derived from the Latin word “idus,” which refers to the middle day of any month in the ancient Roman calendar. (For those of you who don't know, I took six years of Latin growing up, hence my obsession with all things Roman or Greek, which has led me to move to Italy.) The Ides were the designated days for settling debt each month in the Roman empire and generally included the seven days preceding the Ides for this purpose. No doubt debtors who could not pay their debts considered the Ides to be unlucky days as they were typically thrown into prison or forced into slavery. The Ides of March was unlucky for Roman Emperor Julius Caesar. He was betrayed, ambushed, and assassinated by his senate on the Ides of March in 44 B.C., leaving an unlucky stigma attached to March 15 ever since. They were fearing their ruler was becoming a dictator. Anyone else out there worried about a dictatorship these days? Contrary to popular superstitious belief surrounding its origins, Ides simply marks the first day of the full moon in every month, so I see this day as a new beginning. (Duh, and obviously it's my birthday).