On the night of December 31st to January 1st, many people are (more or less) eagerly waiting to welcome in the New Year. According to our calendar, this begins at midnight with the month of "January". But where did the name of the month actually come from? Is there a specific reason why the first month is called "January" and not the third or fourth month of the year? This question will be answered in this month's topic.
The name of the month "January" goes back to the ancient Roman deity "Janus". In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of beginnings and the patron deity of doors, archways and all other forms of passageways (lat. ianua), from which his name is also derived. There is no equivalent for him in Greek mythology. In accordance with his function as the god of beginnings, he was always invoked first in sacrifices and prayers.
Coins and statues with a Janus motif usually show him with a double head, but sometimes also with four heads. His attributes are a key and a staff. There are various explanations for the depiction in the form of a double head. Georg Wissowa, a philologist, relates the depiction to Janus' "field of activity" - doors. A door is oriented towards two sides, inwards and outwards. This orientation towards two sides was to be imitated by the double-headed representation of Janus.
There were several cult buildings and sanctuaries for Janus, but the main sanctuary was the Temple of Janus(ianus Quirinus) at the Forum Romanum, the location of which is still unclear according to the New Pauly. Originally, the Temple of Janus is said to have been a double-gated structure made of wood and covered in bronze. However, it was then completely rebuilt in bronze under Augustus. One winged gate extended to the east, the other to the west. A bronze statue of the god, over 2 meters tall, whose faces also faced east and west, is said to have been located on the double gate structure.
Under Augustus, the Temple of Janus was instrumentalized for his peace propaganda. The doors of the temple were only to be closed when peace prevailed throughout the Roman Empire. According to Augustus, this had only been the case twice since the founding of the city of Rome, but three times during his term of office, as he himself recorded in his Res gestae, a report on his achievements:[Ianum] Quirin[um] [...][a condita] u[rb]e bis omnino clausum[f]uisse prodatur m[emori]ae, ter me princi[pe senat]us claudendum esse censui[t].
Julia Grewe