
Janus, the Roman god of new beginnings, transitions, and thresholds has a brief moment of recognition in his namesake month. The ancient Roman calendar was a 10-month lunar year of 304 days, and an awkward gap of 61 days. The year began in March, the start of the new agricultural year.
By 45 BCE the lunar calendar did not meet the needs of the growing Roman Republic. Julius Caesar introduced a solar calendar and added two new months. January, the first month of the new year, was named for Janus. February takes its name from a Roman purification festival called Februa.
The first day of January took on political overtones after 153 BCE, when Roman consuls took office the first day of January offering prayers to Janus for a successful transition.
Today, January still marks the beginning of a new year and new political appointments as well as a time for reflection on the past and setting goals. As we embark on this annual ritual, we seldom think of Janus. But he was, in his way, an interesting deity. Janus does not need to turn his head to look forward or back, seeing both directions clearly. He carried a staff in his right hand to aid travelers, and a key in his left to open gates. According to Roman mythology, Janus was present when the world began.

Unlike most Roman gods, Janus has no Greek counterpart. He was a god of agriculture, assisting Saturn, the god of sowing seeds. Mars was the god of war, but Janus oversaw the beginning and end of warfare. Janus was associated with travel, trade, and sailing, and presided over public ceremonies such as the opening of the Senate. He was present at weddings, births, and the annual harvest.
Numa Pompilius, Rome’s second king, founded a shrine for Janus in the Forum near the place it was said Janus bubbled up in a hot spring in order to thwart the Sabine attack on Rome in the 6th century BCE. The shrine had gates at each end and a bronze statue of Janus in the middle with a head facing each gate. When the gates were open, the nation was at war; when they were closed, Rome’s enemies were pacified. According to Plutarch, during Numa’s reign, the gates were closed for 43 years. In 13 BCE, Caesar Augustus closed the gates to note the Roman defeat of Spain and Germany.

In more recent times, it seems Janus’s gates never close.
Romans believed Janus helped control uncontrollable forces, for example, the opening or closing of a war. These aspects were a more challenging part of conflict than the war itself, because they were the most unpredictable. On an individual level, Janus provided a sense of security in changing times. Ironically, when Rome shifted into the Christian age, the Janiculum Temple became a Christian church.
In this modern age, we can look at past events, but aside from plans and resolutions that may or may not be completed, we have no way to predict the future. We can make plans and work to bring them to fruition, but ultimately we can only react to events after they happen as we move forward into an unpredictable future.

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Illustrations & A Few Sources
Photo of Janus from monument in Italy by Giuseppe Savo; Temple of Janus coin, Classical Numismatic Group Inc.; Louis de Boullogne, Emperor Augustus Closes the Doors of the Temple of Janus; Goddard engineer Tom Grubb manipulates a 3D simulation. NASA/Chris Gunn. Caillan Davenport. “Who was Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and endings?” The Conversation. Dec 31 2017.