The Real 'Ides of August'
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A reference to Roman times that evokes Shakespeare is always welcome, but in his June 9 Sports column, the incomparable Thomas Boswell made a "classical" faux pas by referring to Aug. 15 as "The Ides of August."
"Ides" refers to the full moon, sometime in the middle of each month, in the Julian version of the Roman calendar. The Ides are the 15th of the month in March, May, July and October, but the 13th in the other Julian calendar months.
In our times, however, we use the Gregorian calendar, in which the full moon falls all over the months; this August, it falls on the 6th.
-- Glenn Marcus
Washington
