Janus stands out among the Roman gods as one of the few who do not appear to have Greek roots or an equivalent in the Greek pantheon.
Janus is a complex god associated with beginnings, endings, and transformations, and as an extension of that, physical gateways. The ancient Romans believed that he controlled the gateway between the mortal and the divine. Consequently, in the Roman state religion, the god Janus was always invoked at the start of every religious ritual, regardless of which other gods were the focus of the sacrifice. In this way, Janus is very similar to the Voodoo god Papa Legba, who also had to be invoked before communicating with any of the other Voodoo gods.
Janus appears as a god with two faces, Janus Geminus, usually one facing each direction. In that way, he is similar to the Greek goddess Hecate, a goddess of witchcraft and the moon who often stood at the crossroads in Greek religion. The Romans also had local crossroads deities known as the Lares Compitales.
Gateway God
In ancient Latin, gateways were called Ianua. The Latin word comes from the god and not the other way around. The Roman god Janus was associated with the gateway in and out of every home, and also gateways in and out of the city. His symbols were the staff and key.
Unlike most of the Roman state gods, Janus had no flamen or dedicated priests. Instead, his rituals were undertaken by the Rex Sacrorum, or the king of the priests. He was probably also honored by the paterfamilias, the head of the family, in homes as part of daily rituals. Janus was associated with sunrise and would have been invoked to ensure that only good luck flowed through the door into the household.
Janus also controlled the gateway between the heavens and the earth, which manifested as a ceremonial gateway in sacrifices. It is explicitly stated that Jupiter, the most important Roman god, can move between the two thanks to Janus (Ovid, Fasti 1.125-6). We see in the surviving records of regular sacrifices made by groups like the Arval Brothers. They sacrificed to Janus before making their frequent sacrifices to Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Juno Regina, and Minerva. Just as rituals were usually opened with sacrifices to Janus, they were often ended with sacrifices to Vesta, the goddess of the Roman hearth.
As a gateway god, Janus was also associated with many of the borders between Rome and the neighboring communities, such as the Latins and Umbrians. There seem to have been shrines dedicated to Janus around the area and specific rituals that should be conducted to pass boundaries, which were often rivers. This gives new meaning to the famous story from Roman history of Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon into Italy and starting a civil war that would transform ancient Rome from a Republic to the Roman Empire. He probably uttered the words “fortune favors the bold” with Janus in mind.
God of Beginnings
The year was established as starting in January when Julius Caesar reformed the calendar in 45 BCE, moving from a lunar calendar to a solar calendar, and the start of the year from March to January. Plutarch suggests that the Roman king Numa Pompilius previously made January the start of the year on account of Janus, but there is no supporting evidence for this claim.
Ancient traditions saw Janus receive new year sacrifices on the first of January. The new year was reigned in with cheerful words, and a portion of time dedicated to your main tasks. This was because the start of something was seen as an omen for how it would work out, so doing some good work on the first day of the year could create a good omen. People also exchanged small gifts of items such as dates, figs, and cakes as signs of good wishes for the year ahead. They also burned cakes on the altar for Janus in a bloodless sacrifice.
Janus also received sacrifices on the first, called the kalends, of every month.
He had another major festival known as the Agonalia Ianuarius on January 9th. This is when Janus received his blood sacrifices, specifically a ram sacrificed by the Rex Sacrorum. Janus was one of the few gods honored with these special sacrifices from the Rex Sacrorum. The others were Mars on March 17, Veiovis on May 21, and Sol Indiges on December 11.
God of War and Peace
According to Roman mythology, when the city founder Romulus and his men kidnapped the Sabine Women, the Sabines planned a counterattack, but Janus caused a volcanic hot spring to erupt, burning the would-be attackers. The Romans and Sabines eventually made peace and decided to join together in the Roman settlement.
Janus has several temples in Rome. The very first was reportedly built by the mythical Roman king Numa Pompilius in the 7th century BCE, who is credited with establishing the majority of Rome’s religious practices. He reportedly made his dedication to celebrate peace between teh Roman and the Sabines.
Pompilius established not a temple, but an open-air, enclosed sacred space with gates at either end. The gates were famously open when Rome was at war and closed when Rome was at peace. The first Roman emperor, Augustus, boasted about how many times he was able to close the doors throughout his career in his Res Gestae, his account of his great deeds.
Janus was associated with war, as the start and end of wars were seen as transitions. As an extension of this, rites were conducted to Janus at the start of the war season in March and at the end of the war season in October each year.
Master of Time
Janus was also closely associated with the passage of time. In another temple dedicated to the god, consecrated in 260 BCE, there is a statue of Janus with his fingers arranged to show the number 3 on one hand and 65 on the other hand, representing the 365 days in the Roman solar calendar. His temple also had 12 columns to represent the twelve months. His two faces allow him to look out over both the past and the future.
We know that an arch was also built for Janus in the 1st century CE during the reign of Domitian. Much of Rome burned down in a great fire that occurred during the short reign of his brother Titus, giving Domitian the opportunity to rebuild and build many new temples. He chose Janus as one of the gods to honor.
Primordial God
Janus never had the same clear mythology as other Roman gods, such as Jupiter, who borrowed heavily from the mythology of the Greek counterparts. But the Romans themselves had theories about Janus’ origins.
Macrobius (c. 400 CE) suggested that Janus may also have been a sun god, one of the twins Ianus and Iana, who were the equivalent of the Greek twins Apollo and Artemis, but this seems like it may be a later Greek invention. Janus was never a rival to Jupiter as a sky god.
But Janus may have predated Jupiter. Paul the Deacon, an 8th-century Italian Christian, suggested that he was related to the waters of chaos that existed at the start of creation, and might embody those waters in some way, embodying the beginning of all things. This may be another reason why Janus was a two-faced god, representing him moving humanity from one state of being to another as part of creation.
Paul the Deacon also recalls many epithets that were used for Janus, many of which point to his primordial or creator nature. He is called:
- Cozeulos – the sower
- Patultius – the opener
- Iancus – the gatekeeper
- Duonus Ceres – the good creator
- Rex – king
- Divum Patrem – father of the gods
- Divum Deus – father of the gods
- Ianitos – the timekeeper
He was clearly associated with creation, which in some ways separated him from the rest of the gods, and could explain his position as the intermediary between the mortal and the divine.
FAQs
Who was Janus, and what did he rule over?
Janus was the Roman god of beginnings, transitions, time, duality, and endings. He was the guardian of thresholds, both physical ones like doorways and gates, and metaphorical ones like the transition from childhood to adulthood or from peace to war.
Why is Janus depicted with two faces?
Known as Janus Bifrons, the god’s two faces allow him to look at the past and the future simultaneously. This symbolizes his role as the god of gateways, which function as both an entrance and an exit, and his oversight of all transitions where one state of being ends and another begins.
Is there a Greek version of Janus?
No. Unlike most major Roman deities who were linked with similar Greek gods and shared their mythology, such as Jupiter and Zeus, Janus, an indigenous Roman deity, does not seem to have had a Greek equivalent.
How is Janus connected to the month of January?
The month of January (Ianuarius) is named after Janus. As the god of new beginnings and transitions, it was the Roman way of dedicating the gateway of the year to him. He was traditionally invoked first in any religious ceremony to ensure a successful start, even before Jupiter.
What was the significance of the Temple of Janus’s doors?
The gates of the Temple of Janus Geminus in the Roman Forum represented the political state of Rome. If the doors were open, Rome was at war. If the doors were closed, the empire was at peace. History suggests these doors were rarely closed, as Rome was almost perpetually engaged in military conflict.
What are the primary symbols of Janus?
The Roman god Janus is most often seen carrying a key (to open and close the ways) and a staff or wand (to guide travelers). In some depictions, his hands are positioned to represent the numbers 300 and 65, symbolizing the days of the Roman calendar year.
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