March 11, 2004

The Ides Of March ...are almost upon us. It turns out, though, that J.Caesar did not die after all. He later wrote such memorable books as the 'Esoteric exercises in subtlety'. In England he became a judge and was knighted. He then took up painting (my favourite is the one of George Biggins in a balloon). Later still, he took up cricket, being a member of the first England team to tour the USA - 'the first Yankee I meet on British ground I shall give a hiding to...'. Does anyone know what he's doing these days?
posted by Plegmund 20 years ago
  • Whoa! Thanks, Plegmund! Every year I vow to make it a point to make a big deal out of three days: Groundhog Day, some day in the fall that I can't remember now, and the Ides of March. I almost without fail forget all three every year. I already missed Groundhog Day and I'd all but forgot about the Ides. I'm not sure what I'm going to do this year. I'm thinking about stabbing my boss. Fun post. My favorite part was when Julius Caesar gets killed (run through) in an ambush/swordfight. It was almost like history repeating itself, except funnier. Even when Julius Caesar is the one waiting in ambush, he still gets stabbed.
  • Mexican, not only was Julius Caesar killed again , it was by somebody named Antonia! Do you think Antonia came to bury Sir Julius Caesar, or to praise him?
  • [banana] Wonderful! Reminds me of this. The cricket story was exceptional. Now I want to see a match played by characters from the Shakespeare play. I hear Calpurnia throws like a girl.
  • Great post. How'd you find all the links? One would think that searching for Julius Caesar, but not the famous one, would be tough slogging.
  • I knew about the cricketer and came across the balloon picture last year. So when I happened on the picture of Sir JC this week, it all seemed to fit: then Scaliger turned up by pure chance near the top of a Google search. What amazes me is that anyone could actually go through life called 'Julius Caesar'. Imagine the ten-minute dialogue every time you met someone or dealt with a bureaucrat. I believe there was a man genuinely named Oliver Cromwell who had to change his name because whenever he got a parking ticket he ended up being arrested for refusing to give his 'real' name.