| Janus | |
|---|---|
God of all beginnings, gates, transitions, time, choices, duality, doorways, passages, and endings | |
| Member of Di selecti | |
 Statue representing Janus Bifrons in the Vatican Museums | |
| Other names | Ianuspater ("Janus Father"), Ianus Quadrifrons ("Janus Fourfaced"), Ianus Bifrons ("Two-faced Janus") |
| Abode | at the limits of Earth, at the extremity of Heaven |
| Symbol | two faces |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents |
|
| Siblings | Saturn and Ops |
| Consort | Camese, Venilia, and Juturna[1] |
| Children | Canens, Aithex, Olistene, Tiberinus, and Fontus |
| Equivalents | |
| Etruscan | Culsans |
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus (/ˈdʒeɪnəs/ JAY-nəs; Latin: Ianvs [ˈi̯aːnʊs]) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways,[2] passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janus (Ianuarius).[3] According to ancient Roman farmers' almanacs, Juno was mistaken as the tutelary deity of the month of January,[4] but Juno is the tutelary deity of the month of June.
Janus presided over the beginning and ending of conflict, and hence war and peace. The gates of a building in Rome named after him (not a temple, as it is often called, but an open enclosure with gates at each end) were opened in time of war, and closed to mark the arrival of peace. As a god of transitions, he had functions pertaining to birth and to journeys and exchange, and in his association with Portunus, a similar harbor and gateway god, he was concerned with travelling, trading and shipping.
Janus had no flamen or specialised priest (sacerdos) assigned to him, but the King of the Sacred Rites (rex sacrorum) himself carried out his ceremonies. Janus had a ubiquitous presence in religious ceremonies throughout the year. As such, Janus was ritually invoked at the beginning of each ceremony, regardless of the main deity honored on any particular occasion.[citation needed]
While the ancient Greeks had no known equivalent to Janus, there is considerable overlap with Culśanś of the Etruscan pantheon.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Varro apud Augustine De Civitate Dei VII 9 and 3; Servius Aen. I 449; Paulus ex Festus s. v. Chaos p. 45 L
- ^ Forsythe, Time in Roman Religion, p. 14.
- ^ H.H. Scullard, Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic (Cornell University Press, 1981), p. 51.