Janus (mythology) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Religion in ancient Rome

Religion in ancient Rome encompassed the religious beliefs and cult practices regarded by the Romans as indigenous and central to their identity as a people, as well as the various and many cults imported from other peoples brought under Roman rule. Romans thus offered cult to innumerable deities...

and mythology

Roman mythology

Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...

, Janus is the god

God (male deity)

A god, as a male deity, contrasts with female deities, or "goddesses". While the term 'goddess' specifically refers to a female deity, the plural 'gods' can be applied to all gods collectively, regardless of gender....

of beginnings and transitions, thence also of gate

Gate

A gate is a point of entry to a space enclosed by walls, or a moderately sized opening in a fence. Gates may prevent or control entry or exit, or they may be merely decorative. Other terms for gate include yett and port...

s, door

Door

A door is a movable structure used to open and close off an entrance, typically consisting of a panel that swings on hinges or that slides or rotates inside of a space....

s, doorways, endings and time. He is usually a two-faced god since he looks to the future and the past. The concepts of January and janitor are both based on aspects of Janus.

Etymology

The etymologies proposed by the ancient fall into three categories: each of them bears implications about the nature of the god itself.

The first one is grounded into a detail of the definition of Chaos given by Paul the Deacon

Paul the Deacon

Paul the Deacon , also known as Paulus Diaconus, Warnefred, Barnefridus and Cassinensis, , was a Benedictine monk and historian of the Lombards.-Life:...

: hiantem, hiare, be open, from which word Ianus would derive for the subtraction of the aspiration. This etymology is related to the notion of Chaos which would define the primordial nature of the god. The idea of an association of the god to the Greek concept of Chaos looks contrived, as the initial function of Janus suffices to explain his place at the origin of time.

Another etymology proposed by Nigidius Figulus

Nigidius Figulus

Among his contemporaries, Nigidius's reputation for learning was second only to that of Varro. Even in his own time, his works were regarded as often abstruse, perhaps because of their esoteric Pythagoreanism, into which Nigidius incorporated Stoic elements...

is related by Macrobius: Ianus would be both Apollo

Apollo

Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...

and Diana

Diana (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and moon and birthing, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy...

Iana, by the addition of a D for the sake of euphony. This explanation has been accepted by A. B. Cook and J. G. Frazer. It supports all the assimilation of Janus to the bright sky, the sun and the moon. It supposes a former *Dianus, formed on *dia- < *dy-eð(2) from IE root *dey- shine represented in Latin by dies day, Diovis and Iuppiter. However the form Dianus postulated by Nigidius is not attested.

The interpretation of Janus as the god of beginnings and transitions is grounded onto a third etymology indicated by Cicero

Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...

, Ovid

Ovid

Publius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...

and
Macrobius which explains the name as Latin deriving it from the verb ire ("to go"). It has been conjectured to be derived from the Indo-European root meaning transitional movement (cf. Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

"yana-" or Avestan "yah-", likewise with Latin "i-" and Greek "ei-".). Iānus would then be an action name expressing the idea of going, passing, formed on the root *yā- < *y-eð(2)- theme II of the root *ey- go from which eō, ειμι.

Other modern scholars object to an Indo-European

Proto-Indo-European language

The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...

etymology either from Dianus or from root *yā-.

Theology and functions

While the fundamental nature of Janus is debated, the set of its functions may be seen as organized around a simple principle: in the view of most modern scholars that of presiding over all beginnings and transitions, whether abstract or concrete, sacred or profane. Interpretations concerning the fundamental nature of the god either limit it to this general function itself or emphasize a concrete or particular aspect of it (identifying him with light the sun, the moon, time, movement, the year, doorways, bridges etc.) or see in the god a sort of cosmological principle, i. e. interpret him as a uranic deity.

Almost all these interpretations of the Modern had already been formulated by the Ancient.

The function of god of beginnings has been clearly expressed by numerous ancient sources, among them most notably perhaps by Cicero, Ovid and Varro. As a god of motion he looks after passages, causes the startings of actions, presides on all beginnings and since movement and change are bivalent, he has a double nature, symbolised in his two headed image. He has under his tutelage the stepping in and out of the door of homes, the ianua, which took its name from him, and not viceversa. Similarly his tutelage extends to the covered passages named iani, and foremostly to the gates of the city, including the cultual gate of the[Argiletum, named Ianus Geminus or Porta Ianualis from which he protects Rome against the Sabins. He is also present at the Sororium Tigillum

Sororium Tigillum

The Sororium Tigillum, which translates as the "sister's beam", was a wooden beam said to have been erected in Ancient Rome by the father of Publius Horatius, one of the three triplets Horatii...

, where he guards the terminus of the ways into Rome from Latium. He has an altar, later a temple near the Porta Carmentalis, where the road leading to Veii

Veii

Veii was, in ancient times, an important Etrurian city NNW of Rome, Italy; its site lies in Isola Farnese, a village of Municipio XX, an administrative subdivision of the comune of Rome in the Province of Rome...

ended, as well as being present on the Janiculum

Janiculum

The Janiculum is a hill in western Rome, Italy. Although the second-tallest hill in the contemporary city of Rome, the Janiculum does not figure among the proverbial Seven Hills of Rome, being west of the Tiber and outside the boundaries of the ancient city.-Sights:The Janiculum is one of the...

, a gateway from Rome out to Etruria.

The connexion of the notions of beginning (principium) and movement and transition (eundo), and thence time, has been clearly expressed by Cicero.
In general, Janus is at the origin of time as the guardian of the gates of Heaven: Jupiter himself moves forth and back because of Janus's working. In one of his temples, probably that of Forum Holitorium

Forum Holitorium

The Forum Holitorium was the market for vegetables, herbs and oil forum venalium of early ancient Rome, by the Tiber at the foot of the Capitoline and Palatine hills...

, the hands of his statue were postured so as to show number 355, later 365, symbolically expressing his mastership over time. He presides over the concrete and abstract beginnings of the world, such as religion and the gods themselves, he too holds the access to Heaven and other gods: this is the reason why men must invoke him first, regardless of the god they want to pray or placate. He is the initiator of the human life, of new historical ages, and economical enterprises: in myth he first minted coins and the as

As (coin)

The , also assarius was a bronze, and later copper, coin used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire.- Republican era coinage :...

, first coin of the libral series, bears his effigy on one face.

Because of his initial nature he was frequently used to symbolize change and transitions such as the progression of past to future, of one condition to another, of one vision to another, the growing up of young people, and of one universe to another. He was also known as the figure representing time because he could see into the past with one face and into the future with the other. This is also one of the explanations of his image with two heads looking in opposite directions. Hence, Janus was worshipped at the beginnings of the harvest and planting times, as well as marriages, deaths and other beginnings. He was representative of the middle ground between barbarity and civilization, rural country and urban cities, and youth and adulthood. Having jurisdiction on beginnings Janus had an intrinsic association with omens and auspices.

Leonhard Schmitz

Leonhard Schmitz

Leonhard Schmitz was a German-born classical scholar and educator active mainly in the United Kingdom.Schmitz was born in Eupen and attended gymnasium in Aachen. He lost his right arm in an accident at the age of 10, but nonetheless excelled academically...

suggests that he was likely the most important god in the Roman archaic pantheon. He was often invoked together with Iuppiter (Jupiter).

In one of his works G. Dumézil has postulated the existence of a structural difference of level between the IE gods of beginning and ending and the other gods who fall into a tripartite structure, reflecting the most ancient organization of society. So in IE religions there is an introducer god (as Vedic

Vedic

Vedic may refer to:* the Vedas, the oldest preserved Indic texts** Vedic Sanskrit, the language of these texts** Vedic period, during which these texts were produced** Vedic pantheon of gods mentioned in Vedas/vedic period...

Vâyu

Vayu

Vāyu is a primary Hindu deity, the Lord of the winds, the father of Bhima and the spiritual father of Lord Hanuman...

and Roman Janus) and a god of ending, a nurturer goddess and a genie of fire (as Vedic Saraswati

Saraswati

In Hinduism Saraswati , is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts, science and technology. She is the consort of Brahma, also revered as His Shakti....

and Agni

Agni

Agni is a Hindu deity, one of the most important of the Vedic gods. He is the god of fire and the acceptor of sacrifices. The sacrifices made to Agni go to the deities because Agni is a messenger from and to the other gods...

, Avestic Armaiti, Anâitâ and Roman Vesta

Vesta (mythology)

Vesta was the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman religion. Vesta's presence was symbolized by the sacred fire that burned at her hearth and temples...

) who show a sort of mutual solidarity: the concept of god of ending is defined in connexion to the human referential, i.e. the current situation of man in the universe, and not to endings as transitions, which are under the jurisdiction of the gods of beginning, owing to the ambivalent nature of the concept. Thus the god of beginning is not structurally reducible to a sovereign god, and the goddess of ending to any of the three categories onto which the goddesses are distributed. There is though a greater degree of fuzziness concerning the function and role of female goddesses, which may have formed a preexisting structure allowing the absorption of the local Mediterrenean mother goddesses, nurturers and protectresses . As a consequence the position of the gods of beginning would not be the issue of a diachronic process of debasement undergone by a supreme uranic god, but would rather be a structural feature inherent to the theology of such gods. The fall of uranic primordial gods into the condition of deus otiosus is a well known phenomenon in the history of religions. Mircea Eliade

Mircea Eliade

Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day...

gave a positive evaluation of Dumezil's views and of the comparative research results on Indoeuropean religions achieved in Tarpeia. even though he himself in many of his works observed and discussed the phenomenon of the fall of uranic deities in numerous societies of ethnologic interest. The figure of the IE initial god (Vâyu, Vayu

Vayu

Vāyu is a primary Hindu deity, the Lord of the winds, the father of Bhima and the spiritual father of Lord Hanuman...

, Mainyu, Janus) may open the sacrifice (Vâyu and Janus), preside over the start of the voyage of the soul after death (Iranic Vayu), "stand at the opening of the drama of the moral history of the world" (the Zoroastrian Mainyus). They may have a double moral connotation, perhaps due to the cosmic alternance of light and darkness, as is apparent in the case of Zoroastrianism.

According to Macrobius citing Nigidius Figulus

Nigidius Figulus

and Cicero

Cicero

, Janus and Jana (Diana

Diana (mythology)

) are a pair of divinities, worshipped as Apollo

Apollo

Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...

or the sun

Sol (mythology)

Sol was the solar deity in Ancient Roman religion. It was long thought that Rome actually had two different, consecutive sun gods. The first, Sol Indiges, was thought to have been unimportant, disappearing altogether at an early period. Only in the late Roman Empire, scholars argued, did solar cult...

and moon, whence Janus received sacrifices before all the others, because through him is apparent the way of access to the desired deity.

A similar solar interpretation has been offered by A. Audin who interprets the god as the issue of a long process of development, started with the Sumeric cultures, from the two solar pillars located on the eastern side of temples, each of them marking the direction of the rising sun at the dates of the two solstices: the southeastern corresponding to the Winter and the northeastern to the Summer solstice. These two pillars would be at the origin of the theology of the divine twins

Divine twins

The Divine twins are a mytheme of Proto-Indo-European mythology.*the Greek Dioscuri*the Vedic Ashvins*the Lithuanian Ašvieniai*the Latvian Dieva dēli*Alcis *Romulus and Remus*Hengest and Horsa...

, one of whom is mortal (related to the NE pillar, as confining with the region where the sun does not shine) and the other is immortal (related to the SE pillar and the region where the sun always shines). Later these iconographic model evolved in the Middle East and Egypt into a single column representing two torsos and finally a single body with two heads looking at opposite directions.

Numa

Numa Pompilius

Numa Pompilius was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus. What tales are descended to us about him come from Valerius Antias, an author from the early part of the 1st century BC known through limited mentions of later authors , Dionysius of Halicarnassus circa 60BC-...

in his regulation of the Roman calendar

Roman calendar

The Roman calendar changed its form several times in the time between the founding of Rome and the fall of the Roman Empire. This article generally discusses the early Roman or pre-Julian calendars...

called the first month Januarius
Januarius
Januarius, Bishop of Naples, is a martyr saint of the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. While no contemporary sources on his life are preserved, later sources and legends claim that he died during the Diocletianic Persecution, which ended with Diocletian's retirement in...

after Janus, according to a tradition considered the highest divinity at the time.

Temples

Numa built the Ianus geminus (also Janus Bifrons, Janus Quirinus or Portae Belli) , a passage ritually opened at times of war, and shut again when Roman arms rested. It formed a walled enclosure with gates at each end, situated between the old Roman Forum

Roman Forum

The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...

and that of Julius Caesar, which had been consecrated by Numa Pompilius

Numa Pompilius

himself. About the exact location and aspect of the temple there has been much debate among scholars. In the course of wars, the gates of the Janus were opened, and in its interior sacrifices and vaticinia were held to forecast the outcome of military deeds. The doors were closed only during peacetime, an extremely rare event. The function of the Ianus Geminus was supposed to be a sort of good omen: in time of peace it was said to close the wars within or to keep peace inside; in times of war it was said to be open to allow the return of the people on duty.

A temple of Janus is said to have been consecrated by the consul Gaius Duilius

Gaius Duilius

Gaius Duilius was a Roman politician and admiral involved in the First Punic War.Not much is known about his family background or early career, since he was a novus homo, meaning not belonging to a traditional family of Roman aristocrats. He managed, nevertheless, to be elected consul for the year...

in 260 BCE after the Battle of Mylae in the Forum Holitorium

Forum Holitorium

The Forum Holitorium was the market for vegetables, herbs and oil forum venalium of early ancient Rome, by the Tiber at the foot of the Capitoline and Palatine hills...

. It contained a statue of the god with the right hand showing number 300 and the left one number 65, i. e. the dimension of the solar year and twelve altars, one for each month.

The four-side structure known as the Arch of Janus

Arch of Janus

The Arch of Janus is the only quadrifrons triumphal arch preserved in Rome, across a crossroads in the Velabrum-Forum Boarium. It was built in the early 4th century of spolia, possibly in honour of Constantine I or Constantius II. Its current name is probably from the Renaissance or later and is...

in the Forum Transitorium dates from the 1st century CE: according to common opinion it was built by emperor Domitian

Domitian

Domitian was Roman Emperor from 81 to 96. Domitian was the third and last emperor of the Flavian dynasty.Domitian's youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his brother Titus, who gained military renown during the First Jewish-Roman War...

. However American scholars L. Ross Taylor and L. Adams Holland on the grounds of a passage of Statius

Statius

Publius Papinius Statius was a Roman poet of the 1st century CE . Besides his poetry in Latin, which include an epic poem, the Thebaid, a collection of occasional poetry, the Silvae, and the unfinished epic, the Achilleid, he is best known for his appearance as a major character in the Purgatory...

maintain that it was an earlier structure (tradition has it the Ianus Quadrifrons was brought to Rome from Falerii

Falerii

Falerii was one of the twelve chief cities of Etruria, situated about 1.5 km west of the ancient Via Flaminia, around 50 kilometers north of Rome.- History :According to legend, it was of Argive origin...

) and that Domitian only surrounded it with his new forum. In fact the building of the Forum Transitorium was achieved and inaugurated by Nerva

Nerva

Nerva , was Roman Emperor from 96 to 98. Nerva became Emperor at the age of sixty-five, after a lifetime of imperial service under Nero and the rulers of the Flavian dynasty. Under Nero, he was a member of the imperial entourage and played a vital part in exposing the Pisonian conspiracy of 65...

in 96 CE.

Cult epithets

A way of inquiring into the complex nature of Janus is that of analysing systematically his cultic epithets. Religious documents may preserve a notion of the theology of a deity more accurately than other literary sources,

The main sources of Janus's cultural epithets are the fragments of the Carmen Saliare

Carmen Saliare

The Carmen Saliare is a fragment of archaic Latin, which played a part in the rituals performed by the Salii of Ancient Rome.The rituals revolved around Mars and Quirinus, and were performed in March and October...

preserved by Varro in his work De Lingua Latina, a list preserved in a passage of Macrobius's Saturnalia

Saturnalia

Saturnalia is an Ancient Roman festival/ celebration held in honour of Saturn , the youngest of the Titans, father of the major gods of the Greeks and Romans, and son of Uranus and Gaia...

(I 9, 15-16), another in a passage of Johannes Lydus's De Mensibus (IV 1), a list in Cedrenus's Historiarum Compendium (I p. 295 7 Bonn), partly dependent on Lydus's, and one in Servius Honoratus's commentary to the Aeneis (VII 610). Literary works also preserve some of Janus's cult epithets, such as Ovid's long passage of the Fasti devoted to Janus at the beginning of book I (89-293), Tertullian

Tertullian

Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...

, Augustine and Arnobius

Arnobius

Arnobius of Sicca was an Early Christian apologist, during the reign of Diocletian . According to Jerome's Chronicle, Arnobius, before his conversion, was a distinguished Numidian rhetorician at Sicca Veneria , a major Christian center in Proconsular Africa, and owed his conversion to a...

Carmen Saliare

The opening verses of the carmen were (as to be expected) devoted to honoring Janus and were thence named versus ianuli. Paulus-Festsus s.v. axamenta p. 3 L mentions the versus ianuli, iovii, iunonii, minervii. Only part of the versus ianuli and two of the iovii are preserved.

The manuscript has:

(paragraph 26): "cozeulodorieso. omia ũo adpatula coemisse./ ian cusianes duonus ceruses. dun; ianusue uet põmelios eum recum";

(paragraph 27): "diuum êpta cante diuum deo supplicante.""ianitos".

Many reconstructions have been proposed:
they vary widely on some points and are all tentative, however one can identify with certainty some epithets:

Cozeiuod orieso. Omnia vortitod Patulti; oenus es

iancus (or ianeus), Iane, es, duonus Cerus es, duonus Ianus.

Veniet potissimum melios eum recum.

Diuum eum patrem (or partem) cante, diuum deo supplicate.

ianitos.

The epithets that can be identified are: Cozeuios, i. e. Conseuius the Sower, that opens the carmen and is attested as an old form of Consivius in Tertullian

Tertullian

; Patultius: the Opener; Iancus or Ianeus: the Gatekeeper; Duonus Cerus: the Good Creator; rex king (potissimum melios eum recum: the most powerful and best o 'em kings); diuum patrem (partem): father of the gods (or part of the gods); diuum deus: god of the gods; ianitos: the Janitor, Gatekeeper.

Other sources

The above mentioned sources give: Ianus Geminus, I. Pater, I. Iunonius, I. Consivius, I. Quirinus, I. Patulcius and Clusivius (Macrobius above I 9, 15): Ι. Κονσίβιον, Ι. Κήνουλον, Ι. Κιβουλλιον, I. Πατρίκιον, I. Κλουσίβιον, I. Ιουνώνιον, I. Κυρινον, I. Πατούλκιον, I. Κλούσιον, I. Κουριάτιον (Lydus above IV 1); I. Κιβούλλιον, I. Κυρινον, I. Κονσαιον, I. Πατρίκιον (Cedrenus Historiarum Compendium I p. 295 7 Bonn); I. Clusiuius, I. Patulcius, I. Iunonius, I. Quirinus (Servius Aen. VII 610).

Even though the lists overlap to a certain extent (five epithets are common to Macrobius's and Lydus's list), the explanations of the epithets differ to a remarkable extent too. Macrobius 's list and explanation are probably based directly on Cornelius Labeo

Cornelius Labeo

Cornelius Labeo was an ancient Roman theologian and antiquarian who wrote on such topics as the Roman calendar and the teachings of Etruscan religion . His works survive only in fragments and testimonia. He has been dated "plausibly but not provably" to the 3rd century AD...

's work as he cites him often in his Saturnalia as when he gives a list of cultural epithets of Maia

Maia (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Maia is one of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes. The goddess known as Maia among the Romans may have originated independently, but attracted the myths of Greek Maia because the two figures shared the same name.-Birth:...

and mentions one of his works, Fasti. In relating Ianus epithets Macrobius states: "We invoke in the sacred rites". Labeo himself, as it is stated in the passage on Maia, read them in the lists of indigitamenta of the libri pontificum. On the other hand Lydus's authority cannot have consulted these documents precisely because he offers different (and sometimes bizarre) explanations for the common epithets: it looks probable he just received a sheer list with no interpretations appended and he interpreted it according to his own views.

Pater is perhaps the most frequent epithet of Janus, found also in the composition Ianuspater. Even though numerous gods share this cultual epithet it looks the Romans felt it was typically pertinent to Janus. When he is invoked along other gods usually only he is called pater. To Janus the title is not just a term of respect but primarily it marks his primordial role. He is the first of the gods and thence their father: the formula quasi deorum deum corresponds to diuum deus of the carmen Saliare. To the same complex can be reconducted the expression duonus Cerus in which Cerus means creator and is considered a masculine form related to Ceres.
Lydus gives Πατρίκιος (Patricius) and explains it as autóchthon: since he does not give another epithet corresponding to Pater it is legitimate to infer that Lydus understands Patricius as a synonymous of Pater. There is no evidence connecting Janus to gentilician cults or identifying him as a national god particularly venerated by the oldest patrician families.

Geminus is the first epithet in Macrobius 's list. Even though the etymology of the word is unclear, it is certainly related to his most typical character, that of having two faces or heads. The proof are the numerous equivalent expressions. The origin of this epithet might be either concrete, referring directly to the image of the god reproduced on coins and supposed to have been introduced by king Numa

Numa Pompilius

in the sanctuary at the lowest point of the Argiletum, or to a feature of the Ianus of the Porta Belli that had a double gate ritually opened at the beginning of wars, or abstract deriving metaphorically from the liminal, intermediary functions of the god themselves: both in time and space passages put into communication two different spheres, realms or worlds. The Janus quadrifrons or quadriformis, brought according to tradition from Falerii in 241 BC and installed by Domitian in the Forum Transitorium, seems to be connected to the same theological complex, as its image purports an ability to rule over every direction, element and time of the year: it did not become a new epithet though.

Patulcius and Clusivius or Clusius too are epithets related to an inherent quality and function of doors, that of standing open or shut. Janus as the Gatekeeper has jurisdiction on every kind of doors and passage and the power of opening or closing them. Servius interprets (only Patulcius) in the same way. Lydus gives a wrog translation, "αντί του οδαιον": however this interpretation reflects one of the attributes of the god, i. e. that of being the protector of roads. Elsewhere Lydus cites the epithet θυρέος to justify the key held by Janus. The antithetic quality of the two epithts is meant to refer to the alternance of opposite conditions and is commonly found in the indigitamenta: Macrobius cites the instances of Antevorta and Postvorta in relation to Janus who are the personification of two indigitations of Carmentis.
These epithets are associated with the ritual function of Janus in the opening of the of the Porta Ianualis or Porta Belli. The rite might go back to times predating the founding of Rome. Poets tried and explain this rite by imagining that the gate closed either war or peace inside the ianus, but in its religious significance it might have been meant to propitiate the return home of the victorious soldiers.

Quirinus is a debated epithet. According to some scholars, mostly French, it looks to be strictly related to the same ideas of the passage of the Roman people from war back to peace, i. e. from the condition of miles, soldier to that of quiris, citizen occupied in peaceful business as the rites of the Porta Belli imply. This is in fact the usual sense of the word quirites in Latin. Other scholars, mainly German, think it is on the opposite related to the martial character of god Quirinus, interpretation which is supported by numerous ancient sources: Lydus, Cedrenus, Macrobius, Ovid, Plutarch and Paul the Daecon. Schilling and Capdeville counter that it is his function of presiding on the come back of peace that got Janus this epithet, as is confirmed by his association on March 30 to Pax

Pax (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Pax [paqs] was recognized as a goddess during the rule of Augustus. On the Campus Martius, she had a temple called the Ara Pacis, and another temple on the Forum Pacis. She was depicted in art with olive branches, a cornucopia and a scepter...

, Concordia

Concordia (mythology)

In Roman religion, Concord was the goddess of agreement, understanding, and marital harmony. Her Greek version is Harmonia, and the Harmonians and some Discordians equate her with Aneris. Her opposite is Discordia ....

and Salus

Salus

Salus was a minor Roman goddess. She was the personification of well-being of both the individual and the state. She is sometimes erroneously associated with the Greek goddess Hygieia....

, even though it is true that Janus as god of all beginnings presides also to that of war and is thence often called belliger bringer of war as well as pacificus. This use is also discussed by Dumézil in various works concerning the armed nature of the Mars qui praeest paci, the armed quality of the gods of the third function and the arms of the third function. C. Koch on the other hand sees the epithet Janus Quirinus as a reflection of a patronage of the god on the two months beginning and ending the year, after their addition by king Numa in his reform of the calendar. This interpretation too would befit the liminal nature of Janus.
The compound term Ianus Quirinus was particularly in vogue at the time of Augustus as its peaceful interpretation fitted particularly well the augustan ideology of the Pax Romana.

The compound Ianus Quirinus is to be found also in the rite of the spolia opima

Spolia opima

Spolia opima refers to the armor, arms, and other effects that an ancient Roman general had stripped from the body of an opposing commander slain in single combat...

, a lex regia ascribed to Numa, which prescribed that the third rank spoils of a defeated king or chief of an enemy army, those conquered by a common soldier, be consacrated to Ianus Quirinus. R. Schilling on his part proposes to understand the reference of this rite to Ianus Quirinus in the original prophetic interpretation, which ascribes to him the last and conclusive spoils of the history of Rome.

The epithet Ποπάνων (Popanōn) is attested only by Lydus, who cites Varro as stating that on the day of the kalendae he was offered a cake which earned him this title. There is no surviving evidence of this name in Latin, although the rite is attested by Ovid for the kalendae of January and by Paul. This cake was named ianual but the related epithet of Janus could not plausibly have been Ianualis: it has been suggested Libo which remains sheerly hypothetic. The context could allow an Etruscan etymology.

Janus owes his epithet of Iunonius to his function of patron of all kalends, which are also associated to Juno. In Macrobius's explanation: "Iunonium, as it were, not only does he hold the entry to January, but to all the months: indeed all the kalends are under the jurisdiction of Juno". At the time when the rising of the new moon was observed by the pontifex

Pontifex

PONTIFEX was a mid-1980s project that introduced a novel approach to complex aircraft fleet scheduling, partially funded by the European Commission’s Strategic Programme for R&D in Information Technology.Since the mathematical problems stemming from non trivial fleet scheduling easily become...

minor the rex sacrorum

Rex Sacrorum

In ancient Roman religion, the rex sacrorum was a senatorial priesthood reserved for patricians. Although in the historical era the pontifex maximus was the head of Roman state religion, Festus says that in the ranking of priests, the rex sacrorum was of highest prestige, followed by the flamines...

assisted by him offered a sacrifice to Janus in the Curia Calabra while the regina sacrorum sacrificed to Juno in the regia

Regia

The Regia was a structure in Ancient Rome, located in the Roman Forum. It was originally the residence of the kings of Rome or at least their main headquarters, and later the office of the Pontifex Maximus, the high priest of Roman religion. It occupied a triangular patch of terrain between the...

. Some scholars have maintained that Juno was the primitive paredra of the god. This point bears on the nature of Janus and Juno and is at the core of an important dispute: i.e. whether Janus was a debased ancient uranic supreme god or Janus and Jupiter were coexistent and their distinction was structurally inherent to their original theology. Among Francophone scholars P. Grimal and implicitly and partially M. Renard and V. Basanoff have supported the view of a uranic supreme god against G. Dumézil and R. Schilling. Among Anglophone scholars J. G. Frazer and A.B. Cook have suggested an interpretation of Janus as uranic supreme god. Whatever the case, it is certain that Janus and Juno show a peculiar reciprocal affinity: while Janus is Iunonius Juno is Ianualis as she favours delivery, women's physiological cycle and opens doors. Moreover, besides the kalends Janus and Juno are also associated in the rite of the Tigillum Sororium of October 1, in which they bear the epithets of Janus Curiatius and Juno Sororia: these epithets which show a crossing and swapping of functional qualities between the gods are the most remarkable and apparent proof of their proximity. This rite is discussed in detail in the section below.

Consivius sower, is an epithet that reflects the tutelary function of the god on the first instant of human life and of life in general, conception. This function is a particular case of his function of patron of beginnings. As far as man is concerned it is obviously of the greatest importance, even though both Augustine and some modern scholars see it as minor. Augustine shows astonishment at the fact some of the dii selecti may be engaged in such tasks: "In fact Janus himself first, when pregnancy is conceived,... opens the way to the receiving of the semen" . Varro on the other hand had clear the relevance of the function of starting a new life by opening the way to the semen and thence started his enumeration of gods from Janus, following the pattern of the Carmen Saliare. Macrobius gives the same interpretation of the epithet in his list: "Consivius from sowing (conserendo), i. e. from the propagation of the human genre, that is disseminated by the working of Janus."
Lydus understands Consivius as βουλαιον (consiliarius) owing to a conflation with Consus

Consus

In ancient Roman religion, the god Consus was the protector of grains and storage bins , and as such was represented by a grain seed....

through Ops

Ops

In ancient Roman religion, Ops or Opis, was a fertility deity and earth-goddess of Sabine origin.-Mythology:Her husband was Saturn, the bountiful monarch of the Golden Age. Just as Saturn was identified with the Greek deity Cronus, Opis was identified with Rhea, Cronus' wife...

Consiva or Consivia. The interpretation of Consus as god of advice is already present in Latin authors and is due to a folk etymology supported by the story of the abduction of the Sabine women (which happened on the day of the Consualia

Consualia

The Consuales Ludi or Consualia is a festival instituted by Romulus, which honors Consus, the god of counsel, and the one who protects the harvest which is in storage at the time of the festival, which took place about the middle of Sextilis . According to Livy the festival honors Neptune...

aestiva), said to have been advised by Consus. However no Latin source cites relationships of any kind between Consus and Janus Consivius. Moreover both the passages that this etymology requires present difficulties, particularly as it looks that Consus cannot be etymologically related to adjective consivius or conseuius, found in Ops Consivia and thence the implied notion of sowing.

Κήνουλος (Coenulus) and Κιβουλλιος (Cibullius) are not attested by Latin sources. The second epithet is not to be found in Lydus's manuscripts and is present in Cedrenus along with its explanation concerning food and nurture. The editor of Lydus R. Wünsch has added Cedrenus's passage after Lydus's own explanation of Coenulus as ευωχιαστικός, good host at a banquet. Capdeville considers the text of Cedrenus due to a paleographic error: only Coenulus is certainly an epithet of Janus and the adjective used to explain it, meaning to present and to treat well at dinner, reminds a ritual invocation at the beginning of meals, wishing the diners to make good flesh. This is one of the features of Janus as shown by the myth that associates him with Carna, Cardea

Cardea

Cardea or Carda was the ancient Roman goddess of the hinge , Roman doors being hung on pivot hinges. The Augustan poet Ovid conflates her with another archaic goddess named Carna, whose festival was celebrated on the Kalends of June and for whom he gives the alternative name Cranê or Cranea, a nymph...

, Crane

Crane

Crane or cranes may be:* Crane , an industrial machinery for lifting** Container crane, a machine for lifting intermodal containers** Crane , a crane suited to use on railroads* Crane , a large, long-necked bird...

.

The epithet Curiatius is found in association with Iuno Sororia as designing the deity to which one of the two altars behind the Tigillum Sororium was dedicated. Festus

Festus

Festus is a Latin word meaning "festive, festal, joyful, merry" and may refer to:* Festus, Missouri, a town in the United States*Festus, a poem by the English poet Philip James Bailey*Drew Hankinson, professional wrestler...

and other ancient authors explain Curiatius by the aetiologic legend of the Tigillum, i. e. the expiation undergone by P. Horatius victorious over the Alban Curiatii, for the murder of his own sister, by walking under the beam with his head veiled. G. Capdeville sees this epithet as related exclusively to the characters of the legend and the rite itself: he invoks the analysis by G. Dumézil as his authority. At the beginning it was probably a sacrum entrusted to the gens Horatia that allowed the desacralisation of the iuvenes at the end of the military season, later transferred to the state. Janus 's patronage in a rite of passage would be natural. The presence of Juno would be related to the date (Kalends), her protection of the iuvenes, soldiers, or the legend itself. M. Renard connects its meaning to the cu(i)ris, the spear of Juno Curitis as here she is given the epithet of Sororia, corresponding to the usual epithet Geminus of Janus and to the twin or feminine nature of the passage between two coupled posts. R. Schilling opines it is related to curia
Curia
A curia in early Roman times was a subdivision of the people, i.e. more or less a tribe, and with a metonymy it came to mean also the meeting place where the tribe discussed its affairs...

, as the Tigillum was located not far from the curiae veteres: however this interpretation, even though supported by an inscription (lictor curiatius ) is considered unacceptable by M. Renard for the different quantity of the u, brief in curiatius as well as in curis, Curitis and long in curia. Moreover it is part of the different interpretation of the meaning of the ritual of the Tigillum Sororium proposed by Herbert Jennings Rose, Kurt Latte and Robert Schilling himself. However the etymology of Curiatius remains uncertain. On the role of Janus in the rite of the Tigillum Sororium see also the section below.

Rites

The rites concerning Janus were numerous. Owing to the versatile and far reaching character of the basic function of the god, marking beginnings and transitions his presence was ubiquitous and fragmented. Apart from the rites solemnizing the beginning of the new year and of every month there were the special times of the year which marked the beginning and the closing of the military season, in March and October respectively. These included the rite of the arma movere on March 1 and that of the arma condere at the end of the month performed by the Salii

Salii

In ancient Roman religion, the Salii were the "leaping priests" of Mars supposed to have been introduced by King Numa Pompilius. They were twelve patrician youths, dressed as archaic warriors: an embroidered tunic, a breastplate, a short red cloak , a sword, and a spiked headdress called an apex...

, and the Tigillum Sororium on October 1.The anniversaries of the dedication of the temples of Mars on June 1 (a date that corresponded with the festival of Carna, a deity associated with Janus: see below) and of that of Quirinus on June 29 (which was the last day of the month in the prejulian calendar) had a close association with Janus Quirinus. These important rites are discussed in detail in the sections below.

Any rite or religious action whatever required the invoking of Janus in the first place, to which corresponded an invocation to Vesta

Vesta (mythology)

Vesta was the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman religion. Vesta's presence was symbolized by the sacred fire that burned at her hearth and temples...

at the end (Janus primus and Vesta extrema). Instances are to be found in the Carmen Saliare, the formula of the devotio, the lutration of the fields and the sacrifice of the porca praecidanea, the Acta of the Arval Brethren

Arval Brethren

In ancient Roman religion, the Arval Brethren or Arval Brothers were a body of priests who offered annual sacrifices to the Lares and gods to guarantee good harvests...

.

Even though Janus had no flamen

Flamen

In ancient Roman religion, a flamen was a priest assigned to one of fifteen deities with official cults during the Roman Republic. The most important three were the flamines maiores , who served the three chief Roman gods of the Archaic Triad. The remaining twelve were the flamines minores...

he was closely associated with the rex sacrorum

Rex Sacrorum

who performs his sacrifices and took part in most of his rites: the rex was the first in the ordo sacerdotum hierarchy of priests. The flamen of Portunus

Portunus

Portunus is a genus of crab which includes several important species for fisheries, such as the blue swimming crab, Portunus pelagicus and the Gazami crab, P. trituberculatus . The genus Portunus contains more than 90 extant species and over 40 further species known only from fossils ....

performed the ritual greasing of the spear of the god Quirinus on August 17, day of the Portunalia and on the same date that the temple of Janus in the Forum Holitorium

Forum Holitorium

The Forum Holitorium was the market for vegetables, herbs and oil forum venalium of early ancient Rome, by the Tiber at the foot of the Capitoline and Palatine hills...

had been consecrated (by consul Caius Duilius in 260 BC). Portunus seems to be a god closely related to Janus, if with a specifically restricted area of competence, in that he presides over doorways and harbours and shares with Janus his two symbols, the key and the stick.

Beginning of the year

The Winter solstice was thought to happen on December 25. January 1 was new year day: the day was consecrated to Janus since it was the first of the new year and of the month (kalends) of Janus: the feria had an augural character as Romans believed the beginning of anything was an omen

Omen

An omen is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change...

for the whole. Thus on that day it was customary to exchange cheerful words of good wishes. For the same reason too everybody devoted a short time to his usual business exchanged dates, figs and honey as a token of well wishing and gifts of coins called strenae. Cakes made of spelt (far) and salt were offered to the god and burnt on the altar. Ovid states that in most ancient times there were no animal sacrifices and gods were propitiated with offerings of spelt and pure salt. This libum was named ianual and it was probably correspondent to the summanal offered the day before the Summer solstice to god Summanus

Summanus

In ancient Roman religion, Summanus was the god of nocturnal thunder, as counterposed to Jupiter, the god of diurnal thunder. His precise nature was unclear even to Ovid....

, which however was sweet being made with flour, honey and milk.

Shortly afterwards, on January 9, on the feria of the Agonium of January the rex sacrorum

Rex Sacrorum

offered the sacrifice of a ram to Janus.

Beginning of the month

At the kalends of each month the rex sacrorum and the pontifex minor offered a sacrifice to Janus in the curia Calabra, while the regina offered a sow or a she lamb to Juno.

Beginning of the day

Morning belonged to Janus: men started their daily activities and business. Horace calls him Matutine Pater, morning father. G. Dumézil thinks this custom is at the origin of the learned interpretations of Janus as a solar deity.

Space

Janus was also involved in the spatial aspect of transitions as that of presiding over home doors, city gates and boundaries. Numerous toponyms of places located at the boundary between the territory of two communities, especially Etrurians and Latins or Umbrians, are named after the god. The most notable instance is the Ianiculum which marked the access to Etruria

Etruria

Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H...

from Rome. Since borders often coincided with rivers and those of Rome (and other Italics) with Etruria was the Tiber

Tiber

The Tiber is the third-longest river in Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Umbria and Lazio to the Tyrrhenian Sea. It drains a basin estimated at...

, it has been argued that its crossing had a religious connotation: it would have involved a set of rigorous apotropaic practices and a devotional attitude: Janus would have originally regulated not every kind of transition, but particularly the crossing of this sacred river through the pons sublicius

Pons Sublicius

The earliest known bridge of ancient Rome, Italy, the Pons Sublicius, spanned the Tiber River near the Forum Boarium downstream from the Tiber Island, near the foot of the Aventine Hill. According to tradition, its construction was ordered by Ancus Martius around 642 BC, but this date is...

.
The name of the Iāniculum is not derived by that of the god, but from the abstract noun iānus, -us. L. Adams Holland opines it would have been originally the name of a small bridge connecting the Tiber Island

Tiber Island

The Tiber Island , is a boat-shaped island which has long been associated with healing. It is an ait, and is one of the two islands in the Tiber river, which runs through Rome; the other one, much larger, is near the mouth. The island is located in the southern bend of the Tiber. It is...

(on which she supposes the first shrine of Janus stood) with the right bank of the river.
However Janus was the protector of doors, gates and roadways in general, as is shown by his two symbols, the key and the staff. The key too was a sign that the traveller had come to a harbour or ford in peace in order to exchange his goods.

The rite of the bride's oiling the posts of the door of her new home with wolf fat at her arrival, though not mentioning Janus explicitly, is a rite of passage related to the ianua.

Rites of the Salii

The rittes of the Salii marked the springtime beginning of the war season in March and its closing in October. The structure itself of the patrician sodalitas, made up by the two groups of the Salii Palatini, who were consecrated to Mars and whose institution was traditionally ascribed to Numa (with headquarter on the Palatine), and the Salii Collini or Agonales, consecrated to Quirinus and whose foundation was ascribed to Tullus Hostilius, (with headquarter on the Quirinal) reflects in its division the dialectic symbolic role they played in the rites of the opening and closing of the military season. So does the legend of their foundation itself: the peace loving king Numa instituted the Salii of Mars Gradivus foreseeing the future wars of the Romans. And the warmonger king Tullus, in a battle during a longstanding war with the Sabines vowed the foundation of a second group of Salii should he obtain victory. The paradox of the pacifist king serving Mars and passage to war and of the warmonger king serving Quirinus to achieve peace under the expected conditions highlights the dialectic nature of the cooperation between the two gods, inherent to their own function. Because of the working of the talismans of the sovereign god they guaranteed alternatively force and victory and fecundity and plenty. It is noteworthy that the two groups of Salii did not split their competences so that one group only opened the way to war and the other to peace: both at the openeing and the conclusion of the military season they worked together, marking the passage of power from one god to the other. Thus the Salii enacted the dialectic nature present in the warring and peaceful aspect of the Roman people, particularly the iuvenes. This dialectic was reflected materially by the location of the temple of Mars outside the pomerium

Pomerium

The pomerium or pomoerium , was the sacred boundary of the city of Rome. In legal terms, Rome existed only within the pomerium; everything beyond it was simply territory belonging to Rome.-Location and extensions:Tradition maintained that it was the original line ploughed by Romulus around the...

and of the temple of Quirinus inside it. The annual dialectic rhythm of the rites of the Salii of March and October was also further reflected within the rites of each month and spatially by their repeated crossing of the pomerial line. The rites of March started on the fist with the ceremony of the ancilia movere, developed through the month on the 14 with Equirria

Equirria

The Equirria were holy days with religious and military significance at either end of the new year celebrations for Mars. The Roman state placed great emphasis on celebrating the god of war - to support the army, and to boost public morale. Priests performed rites purifying the army...

in the Campus Martius

Campus Martius

The Campus Martius , was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome...

(and the rite of Mamurius Veturius marking the expulsion of the old year), the 17 with the Agonium Martiale, the 19 with the Quinquatrus in the Comitium

Comitium

The Comitium in Rome is the location of the original founding of the city. The area is marked by a number of shrines, temples, altars and churches today from throughout its history. The location was lost due to the cities growth and development over a thousand years, but was excavated at the turn...

(which correspond symmetrically with the Armilustrium

Armilustrium

In ancient Roman religion, the Armilustrium was a festival in honor of Mars, the god of war, celebrated on October 19. On this day the weapons of the soldiers were ritually purified and stored for winter. The army would be assembled and reviewed in the Circus Maximus, garlanded with flowers. The...

of October 19), on the 23 with the Tubilustrium

Tubilustrium

In Ancient Rome the month of March was the traditional start of the campaign season, and the Tubilustrium was a ceremony to make the army fit for war. The ceremony involved sacred trumpets called tubae....

and terminated at the end of the month with the rite of the ancilia condere. Only after this month long set of rites had been accomplished was it fas

Fas

Fas can mean the following:* Fas receptor, an important cell surface receptor protein of the TNF receptor family known also as CD95, that induces apoptosis on binding Fas ligand.* Fes, Morocco, the third largest city in Morocco, as an alternate spelling...

to undertake military campaigns. While Janus sometimes is named belliger and sometimes pacificus in accord with his general function of beginner, he is mentioned as Janus Quirinus in relation to the closing of the rites of March at the end of the month together with Pax

Pax (mythology)

, Salus

Salus

Salus was a minor Roman goddess. She was the personification of well-being of both the individual and the state. She is sometimes erroneously associated with the Greek goddess Hygieia....

and Concordia

Concordia (mythology)

: This feature is a reflection of the association Janus Quirinus which stresses the quirinal function of bringing peace back and the hope of soldiers for a victourious comeback.

As the rites of the Salii mime the passage from peace to war and back to peace by moving between the two poles of Mars and Quirinus in the monthly cycle of March, so do they in the ceremonies of October, the Equus October taking place on the Campus Martius the Armilustrium, purification of the arms, on the Aventine, and the Tubilustrium

Tubilustrium

on the 23. Other correspondences may be found in the dates of the founding of the temples of Mars on June 1 and of that of Quirinus on June 29 that in prejulian calendar was the last day of the month, implying that the opening of the month belonged to Mars and the closing to Quirinus. The reciprocity of the situation of the two gods is subsumed under the role of opener and closer played by Janus as Ovid states: "Why are you hidden in peace, and open when the arms have been moved?" Another analogous correspondence may be found in the festival of the Quirinalia of February, last month of the ancient calendar of Numa. The rite of the opening and closure of the Janus Quirinus would thence reflect the idea of the reintegretation of the miles into the civil society, i.e. the community of the quirites by playing a lustral role similar to the Tigillum Sororium and the porta triumphalis located at the south of the Campus Martius. In the augustan ideology this symbolic meaning has been strongly emphasised.

Tigillum Sororium

This rite was supposed to commemorate the expiation of the murder of his own sister by Marcus Horatius. The young hero had to pass under a beam which spanned an alley with his head veiled. The rite was repeated every year on October 1. The tigillum consisted of a beam on two posts. It was kept in good condition at public expenses to the time of Livy. Behind the tigillum on the opposite sides of the alley stood the two altars of Janus Curiatius and Juno Sororia. Its location was on the vicus leading to the Carinae

Carinae

Carinae was an area of ancient Rome. It was one of its most exclusive neighborhoods.The Carinae was the northern tip of the Oppian Hill on its western side; it extended between the Velian Hill and the Clivus Pullius. Its outlook was southwestern, across the swamps of the Palus Ceroliae toward the...

, perhaps on the point of the crossing of the pomerium

Pomerium

. The rite and myth have been interpreted by G. Dumezil as a purification and desacralization of the soldiers from the religious pollution contracted at war, and a freeing of the warrior from the furor, wrath, dangerous within the city as necessary in campaign.

The rite takes place on the kalends of October, month marking the end of the yearly military activity in ancient Rome. Scholars have offered different interpretations of the meaning of Janus Curiatius and Juno Sororia. The association of the two gods in this rite is not immediately perspicous. It is though apparent that they exchange their epithets as Curiatius is connected to (Juno) Curitis and Sororia to (Janus) Geminus. M. Renard thinks that while Janus is the god of motion and transitions he is not concerned with purification directly: the arch too is more associated to Juno. This fact would be testified by the epithet Sororium shared by the tigillum and the goddess. Juno Curitis is also the protectress of the iuvenes, the young soldiers. Paul the Deacon states that the sororium tigillum was a sacer (sacred) place in honour of Juno. Another element that involves Juno in association with Janus is her identification with Carna

Carna

-Places:*Cârna, a commune in Dolj County, Romania*Càrna, an island in Loch Sunart on the west coast of Scotland*Carna, County Galway, a village in Connemara in the west of Ireland...

, suggested by the festival of this deity on the kalends (day of Juno) of June, the month Juno. Carna was a nymmph of the sacred lucus of Helernus, made goddess of hinges by Janus with the name of Cardea

Cardea

and had the power of protecting and purifying the thresholds and the posts of doors. This would be a further element in explaining the role of Juno in the Tigillum. It was also customary for new brides to oil the posts of the door of their new homes with wolf fat. In the myth of Janus and Carna (see section below) Carna had the habit, when pursued by a young man, of asking him for a hidden recess out of her shyness and thereupon fleeing: two headed Janus though saw her hiding in a crag under some rocks. Thence the analogy with the rite of the Tigillum Sororium would be apparent: both in the myth and in the rite Janus, the god of motion, passes under a low passage to attain Carna as Horatius does pass under the tigillum to obtain his purification and the restitution to the condition of citizen eligible for civil activities, including family life. The purification is then the prerequisite for fertility. The custom of attaining lustration and fertility by passing under a gape in rocks, a hole in the soil or a hollow in a tree is widespread. The veiled head of Horatius could also be explained as an apotropaic device if one considers that the tigillum is the iugum of Juno, the feminine principle of fecundity. Renard concludes remarking that the rite is under the tutelage of both Janus and Juno, being a rite of transition under the patronage of Janus and of desacralisation and fertility under that of Juno: through it the iuvenes coming back from campaign were restituted to their fertile condition of husbands and peasants. Janus is often associated with fecundity in myths, representing the masculine principle of motion, while Juno represents the complementary feminine principle of fertility: the action of the first one would allow the manifestation of the other.

Myths

In discussing myths about Janus one should be careful in distinguishing those who are ancient and originally Latin and others which were later attributed to him by Greek mythographers. In the Fasti Ovid relates only the myths that associate Janus to Saturn

Saturn (mythology)

In ancient Roman religion and myth, Saturn was a major god presiding over agriculture and the harvest time. His reign was depicted as a Golden Age of abundance and peace by many Roman authors. In medieval times he was known as the Roman god of agriculture, justice and strength. He held a sickle in...

, whom he welcomed as a guest and with whom eventually shared his kingdom in reward of his teaching the art of agriculture, and to the nymph Crane Grane or Carna

Carna

-Places:*Cârna, a commune in Dolj County, Romania*Càrna, an island in Loch Sunart on the west coast of Scotland*Carna, County Galway, a village in Connemara in the west of Ireland...

, whom Janus raped and made the goddess of hinges as Cardea

Cardea

, while in the Metamorphoses he records his fathering with Venilia the nymph Canens

Canens (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Canens was the personification of song. She was a nymph from Latium.The witch Circe turned her husband Picus into a woodpecker because he scorned her love. Canens searched for her husband for six days and then threw herself into the Tiber river. She sang one final song and...

, loved by Picus

Picus

In Roman mythology, Picus was the first king of Latium. He was known for his skill at augury and horsemanship. The witch Circe turned him into a woodpecker for scorning her love. Picus' wife was Canens, a nymph who killed herself after his transformation. They had one son, Faunus.According to...

.

The myth of Crane has been studied by M. Renard and G. Dumezil. The first scholar sees in it a sort of parallel with the theology underlying the rite of the Tigillum Sororium. Crane is a nymph of the sacred wood of Helernus, located at the issue of the Tiber, whose festival of February 1 corresponded with that of Juno Sospita: Crane might be seen as a minor imago of the goddess. Her habit of deceiving her male pursuers by hiding in crags in the soil reveals her association not only with vegetation but also with rocks, caverns, and underpassages. Her nature looks to be also associated with vegetation and nurture: G. Dumezil has proved that Helernus was a god of vegetation, vegetative lushiousness and orchards, particularly associated with vetch. As Ovid writes in his Fasti, June 1 was the festival day of Carna, besides being the kalendary festival of the month of Juno and the festival of Juno Moneta. Ovid seems to purposefully conflate and identify Carna with Cardea in the aetiologic myth related above. Consequently the association of both Janus and god Helernus with Carna-Crane is highlighted in this myth: it was customary on that day eating vetch and lard, which were supposed to strengthen the body. Cardea had also magic powers for protecting doorways (by touching thresholds and posts with wet hawthorn twigs) and newborn children by the aggression of the striges (in the myth the young Proca). M. Renard sees the association of Janus with Crane as reminiscent of widespread rites of lustration and fertility performed through the ritual walking under low crags or holes in the soil or natural hollows in trees, which in turn are reflected in the lustrative rite of the Tigillum Sororium.

Macrobius relates Janus was supposed to have shared a kingdom with Camese

CAMESE

The Canadian Association of Mining Equipment and Services for Export is a Toronto-based trade organization supporting the export of Canadian mining exploration equipment and services to mining companies around the world...

in Latium

Latium

Lazio is one of the 20 administrative regions of Italy, situated in the central peninsular section of the country. With about 5.7 million residents and a GDP of more than 170 billion euros, Lazio is the third most populated and the second richest region of Italy...

, on a place then named Camesene. He states that Hyginus

Hyginus

Hyginus can refer to:People:*Gaius Julius Hyginus , Roman poet, author of Fabulae, reputed author of Poeticon astronomicon*Hyginus Gromaticus, Roman surveyor*Pope Hyginus, also a saint, Bishop of Rome about 140...

recorded the tale on the authority of a Protarchus of Tralles. In Macrobius Camese is a male: after Camese's death Janus reigned alone. However Greek authors make of Camese Janus's sister and spouse: Atheneus citing a certain Drakon of Corcyra writes that Janus fathered with his sister Camese a son named Aithex and a daughter named Olistene. Servius Danielis states Tiber

Tiber

The Tiber is the third-longest river in Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Umbria and Lazio to the Tyrrhenian Sea. It drains a basin estimated at...

(i. e. Tiberinus

Tiberinus (god)

Tiberinus is a figure in Roman mythology. He was added to the 3,000 rivers , as the genius of the river Tiber.According to Virgil's epic Aeneid, he helped Aeneas in his travel from Troy, suggesting to him that he land in Latium and gave him much other precious advice...

) was their son.

Arnobius

Arnobius

writes that Fontus

Fontus

In ancient Roman religion, Fontus or Fons was a god of wells and springs. A religious festival called the Fontinalia was held on October 13 in his honor. Throughout the city, fountains and wellheads were adorned with garlands.Fons was the son of Juturna and Janus...

was the son of Janus and Juturna

Juturna

In the myth and religion of ancient Rome, Juturna was a goddess of fountains, wells and springs. She was a sister of Turnus and supported him against Aeneas by giving him his sword after he dropped it in battle, as well as taking him away from the battle when it seemed he would get killed...

. The name itself proves that this is a secondary form of Fons modelled on Janus, denouncing the late character of this myth: it was probably conceived because of the proximity of the festivals of Juturna (January 11) and the Agonium of Janus (January 9) as well as for the presence of an altar of Fons near the Janiculum and the closeness of the notions of spring and of beginning.

Plutarch writes that according to some Janus was a Greek from Perrhebia.

When Romulus

Romulus and Remus

Romulus and Remus are Rome's twin founders in its traditional foundation myth, although the former is sometimes said to be the sole founder...

and his men kidnapped the Sabine women

The Rape of the Sabine Women

The Rape of the Sabine Women is an episode in the legendary history of Rome in which the first generation of Roman men acquired wives for themselves from the neighboring Sabine families. The English word "rape" is a conventional translation of Latin raptio, which in this context means "abduction"...

, Janus caused a volcanic hot spring to erupt, resulting in the would-be attackers being buried alive in the deathly hot, brutal water and ash mixture of the rushing hot volcanic springs that killed, burned, or disfigured many of Tatius's men. This spring is called Lautolae by Varro. Later on, however, the Sabines and Romans agreed on creating a new community together. In honor of this, the doors of a walled roofless structure called 'The Janus' (not a temple) were kept open during war after a symbolic contingent of soldiers had marched through it. The doors were closed in ceremony when peace was concluded.

Origin, legends and history

In accord with his fundamental character of being the Beginner Janus was considered by Romans the first king of Latium, sometimes along with Camese. He would have received hospitably god Saturn

Saturn (mythology)

, who, expelled from Heaven by Jupiter, arrived on a ship to the Janiculum. Janus would have also effected the miracle of turning the waters of the spring at the foot of the Viminal from cold to scorching hot in order to fend off the assault of the Sabines of king Titus Tatius

Titus Tatius

The traditions of ancient Rome held that Titus Tatius was the Sabine king of Cures, who, after the rape of the Sabine women, attacked Rome and captured the Capitol with the treachery of Tarpeia. The Sabine women, however, convinced Tatius and the Roman king, Romulus, to reconcile and subsequently...

, come to avenge the kidnapping of their daughters by the Romans.

His temple named Janus Geminus had to stand open in times of war. It was said to have been built by king Numa Pompilius

Numa Pompilius

, who kept it always shut during his reign as there were no wars. After him it was closed very few times, one after the end of the first Punic War, three times under Augustus

Augustus

Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...

and once by Nero

Nero

Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....

. It is recorded that emperor Gordianus III opened the Janus Geminus.

It is a noteworthy curiosity that the opening of the Janus was perhaps the last act connected to the ancient religion in Rome: Procopius

Procopius

Procopius of Caesarea was a prominent Byzantine scholar from Palestine. Accompanying the general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of Justinian, the Buildings of Justinian and the celebrated Secret History...

writes that in 536 CE, during the Gothic War, while general Belisarius

Belisarius

Flavius Belisarius was a general of the Byzantine Empire. He was instrumental to Emperor Justinian's ambitious project of reconquering much of the Mediterranean territory of the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century previously....

was under siege in Rome, at night somebody opened the Janus Geminus stealthily , which had long stayed closed since 390, year on which Theodosius

Theodosius

Theodosius is a name which might refer to one of several people:* One of three emperors of ancient Rome and Byzantium:** Theodosius I , son of Count Theodosius...

's edict banned the ancient cults. Janus was faithful to his liminal role also in the marking of this last act.

The uniqueness of Janus in Latium has suggested to L. Adams Holland and J. Gagé the hypothesis of a cult brought from far away by sailors and strictly linked to the amphibious life of the primitive communities living on the banks of the Tiber. In the myth of Janus the ship of Saturn as well as the myth of Carmenta

Carmenta

In ancient Roman religion and myth, Carmenta was a goddess of childbirth and prophecy, associated with technological innovation as well as the protection of mothers and children, and a patron of midwives...

and Evander are remininscent of an ancient Preroman sailing life. The elements that connect Janus to sailing are summarised here below as presented in the work of Gagé.

1. The boat of Janus and the beliefs of the primitive sailing techniques.

a) The proximity of Janus and Portunus and the functions of the flamen Portunalis.

The temple of Janus was dedicated by C. Duilius on August 17, day of the Portunalia. The key was the symbol of both gods and was also meant to signify that the boarding boat was a peaceful merchant boat.

The flamen Portunalis oiled the arms of Quirinus

Quirinus

In Roman mythology, Quirinus was an early god of the Roman state. In Augustan Rome, Quirinus was also an epithet of Janus, as Janus Quirinus. His name is derived from Quiris meaning "spear."-History:...

with an ointment kept in a peculiar container named persillum, term perhaps derived from Etruscan persie. A similar object seems to be represented in a fresco picture of the Calendar of Ostia on which young boys prepare to apply a resin contained in a basin to a boat standing on a cart, i.e. yet to be launched.

b) The Tigillum Sororium would be related to a cult of wood of the Horatii

Horatii

According to Livy, the Horatii were male triplets from Rome. During a war between Rome and Alba Longa during the reign of Tullus Hostilius , it was agreed that settlement of the war would depend on the outcome of a battle between the Horatii and the Curiatii...

, as shown by the episodes of the pons sublicius defended by Horatius Cocles

Horatius Cocles

Publius Horatius Cocles was an officer in the army of the ancient Roman Republic who famously defended the Pons Sublicius from the invading army of Lars Porsena, king of Clusium in the late 6th century BC, during the war between Rome and Clusium.-Background:...

and of the posts of the main entrance of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, on which Marcus Horatius Pulvillus

Marcus Horatius Pulvillus

Marcus Horatius Pulvillus was a figure in Ancient Rome at the time of the overthrow of the Roman monarchy. He was consul in 509 BC and again in 507 BC.-Biography:...

lay his hand during the dedication rite. Gagé thinks the magic power of the Tigillum Sororium should be due to the living and burgeoning nature of wood.

2. Falacer

Falacer

Falacer, or more fully dīvus pater falacer, was an ancient Italian god, according to Varro. Hartung is inclined to consider him an epithet of Jupiter, since falandum, according to Festus, was the Etruscan name for "heaven."...

and flamen Falacer as related to a sacred tree useful in shipbuilding. This flamen would be related to Janus as the flamen Portunalis is because of the association of pater Falacer and shipping.

a) The name of divus pater Falacer would be that of a Sabine god similar to Quirinus, i.e. a spear god from the town of Falacrinae. The term is related to falarica, a javelin soaked in pitch, ending with a point of inflammable material. Falas in Etruscan means pole or tower. The name could be related to that of the faba graeca the Greek lotus, imported from Syria (Celtis australis
Celtis australis
Celtis australis, commonly known as the European nettle tree, Mediterranean hackberry, lote tree, or honeyberry, is a deciduous tree that can grow 20 or 25 meters in height....

). This tree would have been used among certain communities as the wild olive was to make rolls in order to haul ships upon. The name of the flamen would reflect an ancient name of this tree later corrupted into faba.

b) Religious quality of trees as the wild olive (analogous to that of corniolum and wild fig) to sailing communities: it does not rot in sea water, thence it was used in shipbuilding and the making of rolls for the hauling of ships overland.

3. Janus and the depiction of Boreas as Bifrons: climatological elements.

a) The calendar of Numa and the role of Janus. Contradictions of the ancient Roman calendar on the beginning of the new year: originally March was the first month and February the last one. January, the month of Janus, became the first afterwards and through several manipulations. The liminal character of Janus is though present in the association to the Saturnalia

Saturnalia

Saturnalia is an Ancient Roman festival/ celebration held in honour of Saturn , the youngest of the Titans, father of the major gods of the Greeks and Romans, and son of Uranus and Gaia...

of December, reflecting the strict relationship between the two gods and the rather blurred distinction of their stories and symbols. The initial role of Janus in the political-religious operations of January: nuncupatio votorum spanning the year, imperial symbol of the boat in the rite of opening of the sailing season of the vota felicia. Janus and his myths allow for an ancient interpretation of the vota felicia different from the Isiadic one.

b) The idea of the Seasons in the ancient traditions of the Ionian Islands

Ionian Islands

The Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...

. The crossing of the Hyperborean myths. Cephalonia as a place at the cross of famous winds. Application of the theory of winds for the navigation in the Ionian Sea. The type Boreas Bifrons as probable model of the Roman Janus.

The observation has been made first by the Roscher Lexicon: "Ianus is he too, doubtlessly, a god of wind" and repeated in the RE Pauly-Wissowa s.v. Boreas by Rapp. P. Grimal has taken up this interpretation connecting it to a vase with red figures representing Boreas pursuing the nymph Oreithyia

Oreithyia

Orithyia ; ) was the daughter of King Erechtheus of Athens and his wife, Praxithea, in Greek mythology. Her brothers were Cecrops, Pandorus, and Metion, and her sisters were Procris, Creusa, and Chthonia....

: Boreas is depicted as a two headed winged demon, the two faces with beards, one black and the other fair, perhaps symbolising the double movement of the winds Boreas and Antiboreas. This proves the Greek of the V century BC did know the image of Janus. Gagé feels compelled to mention here another parallel with Janus to be found in the figure of Argos

Argos

Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...

with one hundred eyes and in his association with his murderer Hermes

Hermes

Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...

.

Among the winds studied by Greek sailors one can number Auster

Auster

Auster Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1938 to 1961.-History:The company began in 1938 at the Britannia Works, Thurmaston near Leicester, England, as Taylorcraft Aeroplanes Limited, making light observation aircraft designed by the Taylorcraft Aircraft Corporation of...

and Aquilon. Favonius

Anemoi

In Greek mythology, the Anemoi were Greek wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction from which their respective winds came , and were each associated with various seasons and weather conditions...

on the other hand is not known to the Greek but is of particular relevance to the Roman as it started to blow exactly on the sixth day before the Idi of February: it was regarded as the bringer of the Springtime renewal of life. Few days later recurred the festival of Faunus

Faunus

In ancient Roman religion and myth, Faunus was the horned god of the forest, plains and fields; when he made cattle fertile he was called Inuus. He came to be equated in literature with the Greek god Pan....

, on the idi.

c) Solar, solsticial and cosmological elements. While there is no direct proof of an original solar meaning of Janus, this being the issue of learned speculations of the Roman erudits initiated into the mysteries and of emperors as Domitian

Domitian

, the derivation from a Syrian cosmogonic deity proposed by P. Grimal looks more acceptable. Gagé though sees an ancient, preclassical Greek mythic substratum to which belong Deucalion

Deucalion

In Greek mythology Deucalion was a son of Prometheus and Pronoia. The anger of Zeus was ignited by the hubris of the Pelasgians, and he decided to put an end to the Bronze Age. Lycaon, the king of Arcadia, had sacrificed a boy to Zeus, who was appalled by this savage offering...

and Pyrrha

Pyrrha

In Greek mythology, Pyrrha was the daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora and wife of Deucalion.When Zeus decided to end the Bronze Age with the great deluge, Deucalion and his wife, Pyrrha, were the only survivors...

and the Hyperborean origins of the Delphic cult of Apollo

Apollo

Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...

as well as the Argonauts

Argonauts

The Argonauts ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, the Argo, which was named after its builder, Argus. "Argonauts", therefore, literally means...

. The beliefs in the magic power of trees is reflected in the use of the olive wood, as for the rolls of the ship Argo: the myth of the Argonauts has links with Corcyra, remembered by Ampelius.

4. The sites of the cults of Janus at Rome and his associations in ancient Latium.

a) Argiletum. Varro gives either the myth of the killing of Argos as an etymology of the word Argi-letum (death of Argos), which is not reliable, or the place standing upon a soil of clay, argilla. However the names in -etum are usually referred to trees. The place so named stood at the foot of the Viminal, the hill of the reeds. It could also be referred to the white willow tree, used to make objects of trelliswork. The word could also be linked to the Argei

Argei

Argei may refer to:* Argei , ritual figures in ancient Roman religion, and also their shrines* Argei - olive oil manufacturer...

the 27 or 30 dolls thrown into the Tiber in the rite of May 15. On them the more accepted opinion (at the time, 1979) is that they represented Greeks, Argei being their ancient designation by the Romans. The rite could be a substitution rite for human sacrifices or be original as such. The most supported opinion among the Ancient was that of a rite of substitution of human sacrifices to Saturn

Saturn (mythology)

ascribed to Hercules

Hercules

Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...

. At any rate the rite must be associated to a local Preroman life linked to the Tiber, to a river religion in which the reeds harvested in the river itself or its banks had a peculiar value. Janus though is not present in this rite.

b) The Janiculum

Janiculum

may have been inhabited by people who were not Latin but had close alliances with Rome. The right bank of the Tiber would constitute a typical, commodious landing place for boats and the cult of Janus would have been double as far as amphibious.

c) Janus's cultic alliances and relations in Latium show a Prelatin character. Janus has no association in cult (calendar or prayer formulae) with any other entity. Even though he has the epithet of Pater he is no head of a divine family; however some testimonies lend him a companion, sometimes female and a son and/or a daughter. They belong to the family of the nymphs or genies of springs. Janus intervenes in the miracle of the hot spring during the battle between Romulus and Tatius: Juturna

Juturna

and the nymphs of the springs are clearly related to Janus as well as Venus

Venus (mythology)

Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...

, that in the Ovid's Metamorphoses cooperates in the miracle and that may have been confused with Venilia, or perhaps the two were originally one. Janus has a direct link only to Venilia with whom he fathered Canens

Canens (mythology)

. The magic role of the wild olive tree (oleaster) is prominent in the description of the duel between Aeneas

Aeneas

Aeneas , in Greco-Roman mythology, was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. His father was the second cousin of King Priam of Troy, making Aeneas Priam's second cousin, once removed. The journey of Aeneas from Troy , which led to the founding a hamlet south of...

and Turnus

Turnus

In Virgil's Aeneid, Turnus was the King of the Rutuli, and the chief antagonist of the hero Aeneas.-Biography:Prior to Aeneas' arrival in Italy, Turnus was the primary potential suitor of Lavinia, daughter of Latinus, King of the Latin people. Upon Aeneas' arrival, however, Lavinia is promised to...

reflecting its religious significance and powers: it was sacred to sailors, also to those who had shipwrecked as a protecting guide to the shore. It was probably venerated by a Prelatin culture in association with Faunus

Faunus

. In the story of Venulus

Venulus

Venulus was, according to legend, the ambassador of King Turnus of Etruria. He asked Diomedes of Arpi to help them defeat King Aeneas of Latium. Diomedes refused to help them and began a story. This story was mentioned in Ovid's Metamorphoses Book XIV and Virgil's Aeneid....

coming back from Apulia

Apulia

Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...

too we see the religious connotation of the wild olive: the king discovers one into which a local shepherd had been had been turned for failing to respect some nymphs he had come across in a nearby cavern, apparently Venilia, as she was the deity associated with the magic virtues of such tree. Gagé finds it remarkable that the characters related to Janus are in the Aeneis on the side of the Rutuli

Rutuli

The Rutuli or Rutulians were members of a legendary Italic tribe...

. In the Aeneis Janus would be represented by Tiberinus

Tiberinus (god)

. Olistene, the daughter of Janus with Camese, may reflect in her name that of the olive or oleaster, or of Oreithyia. Camese may be reflected in Carmenta

Carmenta

: Evander's mother is from Arcadia

Arcadia

Arcadia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas. In Greek mythology, it was the home of the god Pan...

, comes to Latium as an exile migrant and has her two festivals in January: Camese's name does not look Latin.

5. Sociological remarks.

a) The vagueness of Janus's association with the cults of primitive Latium and his indifference towards social composition of the Roman State suggest the inference that he was a god of an earlier amphibious merchant society in which the role of the guardian was indispensable.

b) Janus bifrons and the Penates. Even though the cult of Janus cannot be confused with that of the Penates, related with Dardanian migrants from Troy, the binary nature of the Penates and of Janus postulates a correspondent ethnic or social organisation. Here the model is thought to be provided by the cult of the Magni Dei or Cabeiri

Cabeiri

In Greek mythology, the Cabeiri, were a group of enigmatic chthonic deities. They were worshiped in a mystery cult closely associated with that of Hephaestus, centered in the north Aegean islands of Lemnos and possibly Samothrace —at the Samothrace temple complex— and at Thebes...

preserved at Samothrace

Samothrace

Samothrace is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. It is a self-governing municipality within the Evros peripheral unit of Thrace. The island is long and is in size and has a population of 2,723 . Its main industries are fishing and tourism. Resources on the island includes granite and...

and worshipped particularly among sailing merchants. The aetiological myth is noteworthy too: at the beginning one finds Dardanos and his brother Iasios appearing as auxiliary figures of a Phrygia

Phrygia

In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...

n cult of a Great Mother

Great Mother

The Great Mother refers to the concept of the mother goddess, including:*Great Mother, in the Mahayana and Vajrayana refers to Prajnaparamita, and the wisdom of the Madhyamaka...

. In Italy there is a trace of a conflict between worshippers of the Argive Hera

Hera

Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...

(Diomedes

Diomedes

Diomedes or Diomed is a hero in Greek mythology, known for his participation in the Trojan War.He was born to Tydeus and Deipyle and later became King of Argos, succeeding his maternal grandfather, Adrastus. In Homer's Iliad Diomedes is regarded alongside Ajax as one of the best warriors of all...

and the Diomedians of the south) and of the Penates. The cult of Janus looks to be related to social groups remained at the fringe of the Phrygian ones. They might or might not have been related to the cult of the Dioscuri.

c) The ianitrices in Roman law. The term is attested by Modestinus in the Digesta 38, 10, 4, 6 and glossed by Isidorus

Isidorus

Isidorus was a native ancient Egyptian priest in the 2nd century during the Roman rule in Egypt. He led the native Egyptian revolt against Roman rule during the reign of emperor Marcus Aurelius.-Life:...

Origines 9, 7, 17. It denotes the spouses of the brothers of one's husband: it is attested only in the imperial period and in the juridical language. It has a symmetric correspondent in levir brother of one's husband. It is possible to suppose that the word ianitrix may at its origin have issued from the cult of Janus, which could have given special functions to women married to the two undivisible companions while later it got fixed to a special sense of relations. This topic bears on the matrimonial practices of early Roman society which show traces of a regimen different from the classic one, i. e. monogamic with exogamy.

Janus and Juno

The relationship between Janus and Juno is defined by the closeness of the notions of beginning and transition and the functions of conception and delivery, result of youth and vital force. The reader is referred to the above sections Cultual epithets and Tigillum Sororium of this article and the corresponding section of article Juno

Juno (mythology)

Juno is an ancient Roman goddess, the protector and special counselor of the state. She is a daughter of Saturn and sister of the chief god Jupiter and the mother of Mars and Vulcan. Juno also looked after the women of Rome. Her Greek equivalent is Hera...

Janus and Quirinus

Quirinus

is a god that incarnates the quirites, i.e. the Romans in their civil capacity of producers and fathers. He is surnamed Mars tranquillus peaceful Mars, Mars qui praeest paci Mars who presides on peace. His function of custos guardian is highlighted by the location of his temple inside the pomerium

Pomerium

but not far from the gate of Porta Collina or Quirinalis, near the shrines of Sancus

Sancus

In ancient Roman religion, Sancus was the god of trust , honesty, and oaths. His cult is one of the most ancient of the Romans, probably derived from Umbrian influences.-Oaths:...

and Salus

Salus

Salus was a minor Roman goddess. She was the personification of well-being of both the individual and the state. She is sometimes erroneously associated with the Greek goddess Hygieia....

. As a protector of peace he is nevertheless armed, in the same way as the quirites are, as they are potentially milites soldiers: his staue represents him is holding a spear. For this reason Janus, god of gates, is concerned with his function of protector of the civil community. For the same reason the flamen Portunalis oiled the arms of Quirinus, implying that they were to be kept in good order and ready even though they were not to be used immediately. Dumézil and Schilling remark that as a god of the third function Quirinus is peaceful and represents the ideal of the pax romana i. e. a peace resting on victory.

Janus and Portunus

Portunus

may be defined as a sort of duplication inside the scope of the powers and attributes of Janus. His original definition shows he was the god of gates and doors and of harbours. In fact it is debated whether his original function was only that of god of gates and the function of god of harbours was a later addition: Paul the Deacon writes: "... he is depicted holding a key in his hand and was thought to be the god of gates". Varro would have stated that he was the god of harbours and patron of gates. His festival day named Portunalia fell on August 17, and he was venerated on that day in a temple ad pontem Aemilium and ad pontem Sublicium that had been dedicated on that date. Portunus, unlike Janus, had his own flamen

Flamen

, named Portunalis. It is noteworthy that the temple of Janus in the Forum Holitorium

Forum Holitorium

The Forum Holitorium was the market for vegetables, herbs and oil forum venalium of early ancient Rome, by the Tiber at the foot of the Capitoline and Palatine hills...

had been consecrated on the day of the Portunalia and that the flamen Portunalis was in charge of oiling the arms of the statue of Quirinus

Quirinus

Janus and Vesta

The relationship between Janus and Vesta

Vesta (mythology)

Vesta was the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman religion. Vesta's presence was symbolized by the sacred fire that burned at her hearth and temples...

touches on the question of the nature and function of the gods of beginning and ending in Indo-European religion. While Janus has the first place Vesta has the last, both in theology and in ritual (Ianus primus, Vesta extrema). The last place implies a direct connexion with the situation of the worshipper, in space and in time. Vesta is thence the goddess of the hearth of homes as well as of the city. Her unextinguishable fire is a means for men (as individuals and community) whereby keeping in touch with the realm of gods. Thus there is a reciprocal link between the god of beginnings and unending motion, who bestows life to the beings of this world (Cerus Manus) as well as presiding over its end, and the goddess of the hearth of man, which symbolises through fire the presence of life. Vesta is a virgin goddess but at the same time she is considered the mother of Rome: she is thought to be indispensable to the existence and survival of the community.

Janus in Etruria

It has long been believed that Janus was present among the theonyms on the outer rim of the Piacenza Liver in case 3 under the name of Ani. This fact created a problem as the god of beginnings looked to be located in a situation other than the initial, i. e. the first case. After the new readings proposed by A. Maggiani, in case 3 one should read TINS: the difficulty has thus dissolved. Ani has thence been eliminated from Etruscan theology as this was his only attestation. Maggiani remarks that this earlier identification was in contradiction with the testimony ascribed to Varro by Johannes Lydus that Janus was named caelum among the Etruscans.
On the other hand as expected Janus is present in region I of Martianus Capella's division of Heaven and in region XVI , the last one, are to be found the Ianitores terrestres (along with Nocturnus), perhaps to be identified in Forculus, Limentinus

Limentinus

Limentinus is the Roman God whose responsibility was to protect the threshold of the house. His associates are Cardea and Forculus.The whole door is protected by Janus. Limentinus is mentioned by St. Augustine as a protector of the threshold and may have been responsible for preventing Silvanus...

and Cardea

Cardea

, deities strictly related to Janus as his auxiliaries (or perhaps even no more than concrete subdivisions of his functions) as the meaning of their names implies: Forculus is the god of the forca , a iugum , low passage, Limentinus the guardian of the limes, boundary, Cardea the goddess of hinges, here of the gates separating Earth and Heaven. The problem posed by the qualifying adjective terrestres earthly, can be addressed in two different ways. One hypothesis is that Martianus's depiction implies a descent from Heaven onto Earth. However Martianus's depiction does not look to be confined to a division Heaven-Earth as it includes the Underworld and other obscure regions or remote recesses of Heaven. Thence one may argue that the articulation Ianus-Ianitores could be interpreted as connected to the theologem of the Gates of Heaven (the Synplegades) which open on the Heaven on one side and on Earth or the Underworld on the other.

From other archaeological documents though it has become clear that the Etruscans had another god iconographically corresponding to Janus: Culśanś, of which there is a bronze statuette from Cortona

Cortona

Cortona is a town and comune in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the main cultural and artistic center of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo.-History:...

(now at Cortona Museum). While Janus is a bearded adult Culśans may be an unbearded youth, making his identification with Hermes

Hermes

look possible. His name too is connected with the Etruscan word for doors and gates. According to Capdeville he may also be found on the outer rim of the Piacenza Liver on case 14 in the compound form CULALP i. e. "of Culśans and of Alpan(u)" on the authority of Pfiffig, but perhaps here it is the female goddess Culśu, the guardian of the door of the Underworld. Although the location is not strictly identical there is some approximation in his situations on the Liver and in Martianus's system. A. Audin connects the figure of Janus to Culsans and Turms (Etruscan rendering of Hermes, the Greek god mediator between the different worlds, brought by the Etruscan from the Aegean Sea), considering these last two Etruscan deities as one. This interpretation would then identify Janus with Greek god Hermes

Hermes

. Etruscan medals from Volterra

Volterra

Volterra, known to the ancient Etruscans as Velathri, to the Romans as Volaterrae, is a town and comune in the Tuscany region of Italy.-History:...

too show the double headed god and the Janus Quadrifrons from Falerii may have an Etruscan origin.

Association with non-Roman gods

Romans and Greek authors maintained Janus was an exclusively Roman god. This Roman pretence looks to be haphardous and excessive according to R. Schilling, at least as far as iconography is concerned. The god with two faces appeared repeatedly in Babylonian art. Reproductions of the image of such a god, named Usmu, on cylinders in Sumero-Accadic art is to be found in H. Frankfort's work Cylinder seals (London 1939) especially in plates at p. 106, 123, 132, 133, 137, 165, 245, 247, 254. On plate XXI, c, Usmu is seen while introducing worshippers to a seated god.
Janus-like heads of gods related to Hermes

Hermes

have been found in Greece, perhaps suggesting a compound god.

William Betham

William Betham

Sir William Betham was an English herald and antiquarian, the Ulster King of Arms from 1820 until his death in 1853. He had previously served as the Deputy Ulster from 1807 to 1820.-Life:...

argued that the cult arrived from the Middle East and that Janus corresponds to the Baal-ianus or Belinus of the Chaldeans sharing a common origin with the Oannes of Berosus

Berosus

Berosus may refer to:*In Greek mythology:**Berosus, father of Tanais by Lysippe **Berosus, father of the Sibyl Sabbe by Erymanthe*Berossus , Hellenistic-era Babylonian writer and astronomer...

.

P. Grimal considers Janus as a conflation of a Roman god of doorways and an ancient Syro-Hittite uranic cosmogonic god.

The Roman statue of the Janus of the Argiletum, traditionally ascribed to Numa, was possibly very ancient, perhaps a sort of xoanon

Xoanon

A xoanon was an Archaic wooden cult image of Ancient Greece. Classical Greeks associated such cult objects, whether aniconic or effigy, with the legendary Daedalus. Many such cult images were preserved into historical times, though none have survived to the modern day, except where their image...

, as the Greek ones of the VIII century.

Other analogous or comparable deities of the prima in Indoeuropean religions have been analysed by G. Dumézil. They include the Indian goddess Aditi

Aditi

Aditi in Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language. In the Vedas Aditi is mother of the gods from whose cosmic matrix the heavenly bodies were born...

who is called two faced as is the one who starts and concludes ceremonies, and Scandinavian god Heimdallr. The theological features of Heimdallr look similar to Janus's: both in space and time he stands at the limits. His abode is at the limits of Earth, at the extremity of the Heaven, he is the protector of the gods; his birth is at the beginning of time, he is the forefather of mankind, the generator of classes and the founder of the social order. Nonetheless he is inferior to sovereign god Oðinn: the Minor Völuspá defines his relationship to Oðinn almost with the same terms as which Varro defines that of Janus, god of the prima to Jupiter, god of the summa: Heimdallr is born as the firstborn (primigenius, var einn borinn í árdaga), Oðinn is born as the greatest (maximus, var einn borinn öllum meiri). Analogous Iranic formulae are to be found in an Avestic gāthā (Gathas

Gathas

The Gathas are 17 hymns believed to have been composed by Zarathusthra himself. They are the most sacred texts of the Zoroastrian faith.-Structure and organization:...

). In other towns of ancient Latium the function of presiding on beginnings was probably performed by other deities of feminine sex, notably the Fortuna
Fortuna
Fortuna can mean:*Fortuna, the Roman goddess of luck -Geographical:*19 Fortuna, asteroid*Fortuna, California, town located on the north coast of California*Fortuna, United States Virgin Islands...

Primigenia of Praeneste.

Legacy

In the Middle Ages, Janus was also taken as the symbol of Genoa

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

, whose Medieval Latin name was Ianua, as well as of other European communes. The comune of Selvazzano di Dentro near Padua

Padua

Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...

has a grove and an altar of Janus depicted on its standard, but their existence is unproved.

Cats suffering from the congenital disorder Diprosopus

Diprosopus

Diprosopus , also known as craniofacial duplication , is an extremely rare congenital disorder whereby part or all of the face is duplicated on the head.- Development :Although classically considered conjoined twinning Diprosopus (Greek , "two-faced", from , , "two" and , [neuter], "face",...

, which causes the face to be partly or completely duplicated on the head, are known as Janus cats.

Sources

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Etymology

Theology and functions

Temples

Cult epithets

Carmen Saliare

Other sources

Rites

Beginning of the year

Beginning of the month

Beginning of the day

Space

Rites of the Salii

Tigillum Sororium

Myths

Origin, legends and history

Janus and Juno

Janus and Quirinus

Janus and Portunus

Janus and Vesta

Janus in Etruria

Association with non-Roman gods

Legacy

See also

Sources