March 15, 2006 10:27 AM

"Beware the Ides of March"
Posted by Douglas Eisenhartat 10:27 AM

How many of us remember this line from our high school reading of Shakespeare's tragedy, Julius Caesar? Today, March 15, marks the Ides, and these words were the seer's warning to Caesar to be wary on that day which, in 44 BC, was to be his last.

Being a Roman Emperor was a hazardous job indeed. But through self-aggrandizement, Caesar had perhaps already assured his own demise:

The Romans had no love for kings. According to legend, they expelled their last one in 509 B.C. While Caesar had made pointed and public displays of turning down offers of kingship, he showed no reluctance to accept the office of "dictator for life" in February 44 B.C. According to [assistant professor of classics at Georgetown University, Josiah] Osgood, this action may have sealed his fate in the minds of his enemies. "We can see [now] that that was enough to get him killed," Osgood said.

Lessons for the modern workplace? I will let you ponder, friends and countrymen, the meanings within.