Historically the Ides of March proved to be an "unlucky" day for Julius Caesar. The Roman Emperor who had reached the very top of power in 44 BC soon understood that being "King of the Hill" could serve you bad. The fear of being the ruler stubbed a dagger into Caesar's heart on March 15.
The 2050th commemoration of emperor's murder performed by Brutus, as well as other false friends, Latin teachers and Classics all over the United States use ancient Roman coins in order to provide a more realistic vision of history lessons. Such lessons do not include images neither of Caesar nor his assassins. However, students can view lifelike portraits on ancient Roman coins. One of such silver coins has an inscription saying EID MAR, which is an acronym for Eidibus Martiis, meaning Ides of March. This coin was minted to commemorate the emperor's murder, which was considered to be an act of patriotism.
Zee Ann Poerio, who works as an elementary school teacher at St. Louise de Marillac School, located in Pittsburgh, often uses ancient coins on her history lessons in order to bring interest of her students. Recently she received a technology grant from Best Buy, Inc. because of her inventive idea to use ancient coins during lessons. She considers that coins represent a great tool for linking History, Literature and Art.
Susie Scoppa, working at Irondequoit High School in upper NY State, mentioned that by analyzing the images of the EID MAR coin is in fact a good motivation to read an account of death of the famous Emperor of Rome from a text on the Ides of March. Some students hardly believe that a coin was minted to mark Caesar's death.
The benefit of illustrating coins in the classroom was also inherited by Jo Green, who works as a teacher at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. Being one of hundreds of teachers across the United States, Jo Green uses educational materials that are provided by the organization of volunteer collectors Ancient Coins for Education.
Shakespeare was the first to use the phrase "Beware the Ides of March". Soon it became a synonym of warning to opponents of liberty. The non-profit organization, called Ancient Coin Collectors Guild, represents a collector advocacy group, which was created to protect the rights of collectors. This group is a strong supporter of educational programs brought by ACE.
