Julius Caesar is set in Rome. The action begins on February 15, 44 BC the day of the feast of Lupercal, a Roman festival. A fortune-teller is warning Roman ruler Julius Caesar to "beware the ides of March," the 15th. While he dismisses the fortune-teller as just a dreamer, the men who oppose Caesar, because of his ambition to be king, discuss killing him. Caesar has just returned home in triumph after having defeated his rival, Pompey. The people have taken the day off from work to celebrate.