The Ides of March simply means March 15th in the Roman calendar, according to Wikipedia. Ides denotes the middle or “half division” in a literal sense.
Ides was used for the 15th of March, May, July, and October; and the 13th day of the remaining months.
Wiki says that the Ides of March also refers to the homicide of Julius Caesar. Caesar, aged 55, was assassinated on this day in 44 B.C. He was stabbed 23 times by a group of conspirators.
Interestingly enough, according to Plutarch, a psychic had told Caesar not to go anywhere, as he would be harmed no later than the Ides of March. On the way to the Theatre of Pompey, Caesar met up with the psychic and jokingly said, “The Ides of March have come.”
The psychic’s response was, “Aye, Caesar; but not gone.” Once he reached his destination, Caesar was stabbed 23 times. Sixty men had participated in the assassination. Astoundingly enough, only one of the wounds was proclaimed to be fatal.
Caesar’s corpse lay where he fell for over three hours before officials arrived to remove it. According to legend, the citizens of Rome locked themselves inside after the word began to spread about the murder.
