Beware of back-stabbing this ‘Ides of March’, Taoiseach

MARCH is a very dangerous month for people in power. Remember what happened to Julius Caesar in 44BC. Caesar considered himself to be the most noble of Roman Emperors. The Roman Senate had other ideas, however, and plotted to rid Rome of a potential dictator.

Caesar decided to lay down the law and called the Senate to session on the Ides of March in order to reinforce his authority. The Ides of March in ancient Rome corresponded to the contemporary March 15. It was the day that Romans used for settling debts.

The soothsayer warned Caesar not to attend the Senate, crying: “Beware Caesar, beware the Ides of March.” His wife, Calpurnia, who had been frightened by bad dreams, begged her husband to stay at home. When Caesar took his seat in the senate, he was surrounded by about forty senators, led by Brutus and Cassius, who stabbed Caesar repeatedly.

As Caesar lay on the ground, Brutus, his purportedly loyal friend, plunged his dagger into Caesar’s body. Caesar’s supposedly last words as he lay dying were “you too, Brutus?”

So, Taoiseach beware the Ides of March and remember how Collins was hoodwinked by the treacherous Lloyd George 100 years ago. Take care not to be metaphorically stabbed in the back by the devious British prime minister. Don’t end up looking over your shoulder uttering the famous last words, “you too, Boris?” as the self-professed ultraimperialist inflicts the fatal political wound. You have been warned.

Billy Ryle Tralee, Co Kerry