Ides of March and Kalends is March 1

The Ides of March in Roman is simply the standard way of saying “March 15.” The term Ides comes from the earliest Roman calendar, which is said to have been devised by Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome. Whether it was Romulus or not, the inventor of this calendar had a penchant for complexity. The Roman calendar organized its months around three days, each of which served as a reference point for counting the other days:

– Kalends (1st day of the month)
– Nones (the 7th day in March, May, July, and October; the 5th in the other months)
– Ides (the 15th day in March, May, July, and October; the 13th in the other months)

Days in March:

March 1: Kalends; March 2: VI Nones; March 3: V Nones; March 4: IV Nones; March 5: III Nones; March 6: Pridie Nones (Latin for “on the day before”); March 7: Nones; March 15: Ides