Janus and His Symbolic Connection to January

To the ancient Romans, Janus was among the earliest venerated gods and was the god of many things: transitions, time, doorways, gates and the inevitability of beginnings and endings. There were 22 major gods, and Janus was one of them. His name Janus is derived from the Latin "ianua" meaning "doorway" or "gate." Because of his symbolic connection to change, the month of January, the beginning month of the calendar year, was named for him. As the god presiding over all transitions and motion, including war and peace, Janus was depicted as having two faces, a nod to his duality of nature as one face looked to the past and one looked to the future. Sometimes one is bearded and the other clean-shaven. Occasionally, he even had four faces to represent a four-way arch. Janus is also often shown in artwork as holding a key in his right hand and a crook in his left as guardian of gates and pathways. There were five shrines built in honor of Janus in Rome, all located near bridges or water crossings. One of these was the Janus Geminus, or "Twin Janus" and it was the most important. Built close to the Roman Forum, it had bronze gates that would be opened during times of war and closed with the return of peace. Because Rome was frequently at war, they were rarely closed. In addition to being the god of the heavens, as god of the gates it was through him that all the other gods could be reached. This top-tier status meant he was always the first to be invoked during rituals. His relationship to time and change meant he symbolized many of life's transitions, such as moving from the past to the future; the maturation of youth into adulthood; harvest and planting in the growth of crops; and the new beginnings of marriage, as well as the ultimate ending of death. To mark the beginning of a new year (which closely followed the Roman's observation of the Winter Solstice on Dec. 25) it was their custom to greet one another with cheer and good wishes for the year ahead and to exchange tokens of dates, figs and honey. They made gifts of copper coins with his face on one side and would offer Janus cakes made of spelt and salt to burn on the altar. Rams were also sacrificed to Janus a week or so later during a festival called the Agonium held on Jan. 9. There are many stories in Roman history of Janus having lived as a man with a family. Originally a king of Lazio in central Italy, he is said to have promoted the values of justice, love and generosity. Because he was deeply religious and pious he was granted divine powers. Janus and Camasene, a nymph, had a son named Tiberinus, whose death influenced the renaming of the river Albula to the Tiber. He is also said to have had a relationship with the nymph Ovid, bestowing upon her the gift of prophecy in return for her love, meaning he had a connection to knowledge and foresight. Additionally, it was believed that he welcomed the cast-out God Saturn to earth to accompany him in Lazio, which brought a golden age of prosperity and peace to Rome and further instilled Janus in his symbolic role in the transition from war to peace. In gratitude, Saturn granted him the ability to see into the past, present and future. Janus has no equivalent in Greek mythology, which makes him rather unique. Perhaps his most closely related Greek counterpart is Kronos, the god of time. As we prepare to welcome another January and ready ourselves for the beginning of a new year, we can look to the instrumental influence of the ancient Romans who endeavored to understand and mark the importance of such annual transitions.