Topic: Julius Caesar

Leap Day a creation of tricky math and history

Leap Day, February 29, comes but once every four years. Leap Day is an adjustment to the calendar to cover up the difference between the time it takes the Earth to circle the sun and the usual 365-day year.

Leap year: why we have a need for the occasional Feb. 29

The leap year is a testament to the tough time that humans have trying to organize 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 16 seconds into a year.

George Clooney in 'The Ides of March': movie review

George Clooney's political thriller ‘The Ides of march’ is a shrewd, somewhat cynical look at modern-day politics.

The quest for hidden eggcorns

These quirky expressions may shed light on what people think they're trying to say.

Political misquotes: The 10 most famous things never actually said

Did Sarah Palin really say that she could see Russia from her house? Did Marie Antoinette really say 'Let them eat cake?' Learn the true story behind 10 of the most widely believed – but completely bogus – quotations misattributed to political figures.

Ides of March: What's an ide anyway? The whole sooth.

Ides of March: What exactly is an ide anyway? An what does it have to do with Julius Caesar?

Ides of March: what to read on March 15

Each year when March 15 rolls around, many of us grope mentally backward to 9th-grade English class and do our best to remember who exactly who it was that warned Julius Caesar to "Beware the ides of March" and why. But in the years since Shakespeare first coined the phrase in 1599 the fatal date has become well ensconced in literature. To bring yourself up to speed on "ides" literature, here's a beginner's list.

Reader recommendation: Julius Caesar

Monitor readers share their favorite book picks.

Cleopatra: the true story

"Cleopatra" biographer Stacy Schiff talks about the real face of one of the most powerful women ever to live.

'Including' everything but the kitchen sink

Is a workhorse preposition subtly shifting its meaning, the Monitor's language columnist wonders.

Beware the Ides of March? A look at March 15 in history

Julius Caesar was forewarned about the "Ides of March." March 15 wasn't his best day.

Ending 'don't ask, don't tell' seems inevitable. But not soon.

US society and the Pentagon are moving toward ending the ban on gays serving openly in the military. But powerful lawmakers want to keep the 1993 law, and it may be other conservatives who convince them that times have changed.

Conspirata

Robert Harris digs back 2,000 years to build a breezy, intelligent, political thriller on the life of Cicero.

Caesar: Life of a Colossus

READER RECOMMENDATION

'Me and Orson Welles': movie review

'Me and Orson Welles' is a heartfelt movie about a theater-struck high school teenager unceremoniously ushered into the mercurial world of Orson Welles.

Robert Byrd, longest-serving Congress member, a master historian

First elected to Congress in 1952, Sen. Robert Byrd has an encyclopedic knowledge of Senate rules and legislative history dating back to Roman times. On Wednesday, he became the longest-serving member of Congress.

How Rome Fell

Rome’s decline began at the top, contends British historian Adrian Goldsworthy.

Another pesky problem for space shuttle Discovery

Cats among the ruins

Felines find a sanctuary set in the heart of ancient Roman temples.

To read or not to read, that is the question.

A New Year's resolution to read a Shakespearean drama each month drew all sorts of reactions from strangers.

Thames: The Biography

The story of the 215-mile waterway that predates human civilization.

Imperium

Horizon highlights – Geek culture edition

'Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt'

Who was Cleopatra? British historian Joyce Tyldesley tries to tell us.

Toronto Film Festival: Talent, comedy, crotchety directors

Our critic dives into the pool of 312 movies and finds what's fresh.