It is with a mix of revulsion and admiration that Julius Caesar regarded the Celts, whom he referred to as “Galli,” or barbarians. For their savagery in battle, the Britons were a race that demanded a certain level of respect. Ironically, it would be Caesar’s own senate that would murder him on this date in 44 B.C.

Join me this afternoon on The Classical Network, as the Ides of March meet St. Patrick’s Day. We’ll hear a fair amount of music inspired by Ancient Rome and the Emerald Isle. I’ll also mark the birthdays today of Karl Davidoff, Nicholas Flagello, Johan Halvorsen, Ben Johnston, Colin McPhee, and Eduard Strauss.

Our Noontime Concert will be devoted to the Guild for Early Music. The Guild will present its 14th annual Early Music Festival at Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ, on Sunday, March 24. An afternoon of mini-concerts of Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Early American music will be performed by over a dozen ensembles. The day will include sculpture tours, pop-up performances about the 42-acre grounds, and a “petting zoo” of early instruments. The event is free with paid admission to the park. Learn more at guildforearlymusic.org and groundsforsculpture.org.

Today’s concert broadcast will feature performances from last year’s festival by Riverview Early Music, Les Agréments de musique, The Practitioners of Musick, and the Gloria Consort. Representatives of the Guild, John Burkhalter and Abigail Chapman, will be my guests, beginning at 12:00.

All told, I’ll be with you straight through the afternoon. At 6:00, it’s another “Picture Perfect.” For the Ides, the focus will be on music from movies set in the days of the Roman Empire.

I’ll console myself with the fact that Rome wasn’t built in a day, as I’m chained in the galley from 12 to 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

PHOTO: Legionary vs. Celt, c. AD 98-117