{"id":6282,"date":"2026-05-19T09:20:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T09:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/janus\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T09:26:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T09:26:59","slug":"janus","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/janus\/","title":{"rendered":"Janus"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"6282\" class=\"elementor elementor-6282 elementor-3016 elementor-bc-flex-widget\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-05047e9 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"05047e9\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3193240 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"3193240\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-33b5239 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"33b5239\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-06668d3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"06668d3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Janus, Roman god of beginnings<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4e2af55 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4e2af55\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Janus is the Roman god of beginnings, of doors and of transitions, to whom the start of the year and every new undertaking were <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Handed over to the sacred through a religious act and thereby set apart from the everyday.\" tabindex=\"0\">consecrated<\/span>. Janus is the two-faced Roman god of beginnings, endings, gates and transition.<\/p><p>He holds a special position in Italic <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic discipline that studies religions comparatively and without confessional commitment.\" tabindex=\"0\">religion<\/span> because he has no direct Greek or Etruscan equivalent and is regarded as an originally Roman <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being venerated as divine within a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">deity<\/span>.<\/p><p>His <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sacred place dedicated to the veneration of a deity.\" tabindex=\"0\">sanctuary<\/span> on the Forum, the Ianus geminus, symbolically regulated war and peace for the entire city. At every <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The verbal address of a human being to a deity.\" tabindex=\"0\">prayer<\/span> his name was spoken first, which gave him a privileged position in religious prayer ranking.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-87192d3 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"87192d3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0d43a66 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"0d43a66\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"iwg-pill-row\"><span class=\"iwg-klasse-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"God \/ Goddess: Personified supreme power in the pantheon of a culture, with clear areas of responsibility: forces of nature, fate, war, fertility. Venerated through cults, sacrifices and temple institutions.\">God<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/rome\/\" class=\"iwg-kultur-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Roman religion from the monarchy to late antiquity: syncretistic, with Greek and Etruscan layers.\">Rome<\/a><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8223baf e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"8223baf\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7012a23 elementor-toc--minimized-on-tablet elementor-widget elementor-widget-table-of-contents\" data-id=\"7012a23\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;exclude_headings_by_selector&quot;:[],&quot;no_headings_message&quot;:&quot;Es wurden keine \\u00dcberschriften auf dieser Seite gefunden.&quot;,&quot;headings_by_tags&quot;:[&quot;h2&quot;,&quot;h3&quot;],&quot;marker_view&quot;:&quot;bullets&quot;,&quot;icon&quot;:{&quot;value&quot;:&quot;fas fa-circle&quot;,&quot;library&quot;:&quot;fa-solid&quot;,&quot;rendered_tag&quot;:&quot;&lt;svg class=\\&quot;e-font-icon-svg e-fas-circle\\&quot; viewBox=\\&quot;0 0 512 512\\&quot; xmlns=\\&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.w3.org\\\/2000\\\/svg\\&quot;&gt;&lt;path d=\\&quot;M256 8C119 8 8 119 8 256s111 248 248 248 248-111 248-248S393 8 256 8z\\&quot;&gt;&lt;\\\/path&gt;&lt;\\\/svg&gt;&quot;},&quot;minimize_box&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;minimized_on&quot;:&quot;tablet&quot;,&quot;hierarchical_view&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;min_height&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_tablet&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_mobile&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]}}\" data-widget_type=\"table-of-contents.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-toc__header-title\">\n\t\t\t\tTable of Contents\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--expand\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__7012a23\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Open table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-down\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M207.029 381.476L12.686 187.132c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941l22.667-22.667c9.357-9.357 24.522-9.375 33.901-.04L224 284.505l154.745-154.021c9.379-9.335 24.544-9.317 33.901.04l22.667 22.667c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941L240.971 381.476c-9.373 9.372-24.569 9.372-33.942 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--collapse\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__7012a23\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Close table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-up\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M240.971 130.524l194.343 194.343c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941l-22.667 22.667c-9.357 9.357-24.522 9.375-33.901.04L224 227.495 69.255 381.516c-9.379 9.335-24.544 9.317-33.901-.04l-22.667-22.667c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941L207.03 130.525c9.372-9.373 24.568-9.373 33.941-.001z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-toc__7012a23\" class=\"elementor-toc__body\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__spinner-container\">\n\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"elementor-toc__spinner eicon-animation-spin e-font-icon-svg e-eicon-loading\" aria-hidden=\"true\" viewBox=\"0 0 1000 1000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M500 975V858C696 858 858 696 858 500S696 142 500 142 142 304 142 500H25C25 237 238 25 500 25S975 237 975 500 763 975 500 975Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0108958 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"0108958\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b3fc010 iwg-hero-image elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"b3fc010\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/goetter_rom_janus-683x1024.webp\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-6283\" alt=\"Janus - Gods from the Roman tradition, historical-illustrative\" srcset=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/goetter_rom_janus-683x1024.webp 683w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/goetter_rom_janus-200x300.webp 200w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/goetter_rom_janus-768x1152.webp 768w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/goetter_rom_janus.webp 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cbe12bf e-con-boxed e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cbe12bf\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b1ab632 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"b1ab632\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d5dd818 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"d5dd818\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Myth and Origin<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-78b80c7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"78b80c7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The name Janus is traced linguistically to the Latin word ianua, meaning &#8220;gate&#8221; or &#8220;passage&#8221;. Both terms share an Indo-European root with the meaning &#8220;to go&#8221;, which also recurs in Sanskrit and Avestan terms. Etymologically, Janus is thus the god of passing through.<\/p><p>Macrobius reports in the &#8220;Saturnalia&#8221; that Janus was originally an Italic ruler figure. According to this <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The passing on of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">tradition<\/span> he came from the East into western Latium, took in Saturn, who had to flee from Iuppiter, and together with him founded the old Golden Age of Italy.<\/p><p>Ovid takes up the same account in the &#8220;Fasti&#8221; and begins his work with Janus, who opens the entire year. In dialogue with the poet, the god in the &#8220;Fasti&#8221; explains his functions himself.<\/p><p>The two-facedness, called Bifrons, indicates an <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancient<\/span> conception in which a god looks in two directions at once. Mythologically it is usually interpreted as a gaze into past and future, in some places as a gaze inward and outward or toward East and West.<\/p><p>Unlike the Greek Hermes, who only mediates movements, Janus sits at the threshold itself and embodies it. This <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic study of God and the doctrines of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theological<\/span> conception is unique in the ancient world and makes him a favorite subject of modern philosophy of religion.<\/p><p>Janus probably had no Indo-European predecessor but emerged from an originally Italic stratum in which the door as the threshold of the house held particular cultic dignity.<\/p><p>In every Roman house the ianua was associated with its own rites, and the god of thresholds was <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The petitioning or invoking address to a deity or power.\" tabindex=\"0\">invoked<\/span> as personal protection against harmful influences. The connection between the domestic and the civic threshold is a key to understanding this <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being venerated as divine within a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">deity<\/span>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0b2b443 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"0b2b443\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-95e359b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"95e359b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Symbols and Attributes<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2570a8e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2570a8e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The central <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sign that stands in place of an idea or meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">symbol<\/span> of Janus is his double face. On coins and reliefs he usually appears as a bearded old man with two faces turned in opposite directions. The annual asses of the Roman Republic depict him this way, and the image <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A recurring thematic element in art or narrative.\" tabindex=\"0\">motif<\/span> remained a standard motif of state representation into the imperial period.<\/p><p>Staff and key are his most important attributes. The staff marks him as guardian of the ways, the key as guardian of the gates.<\/p><p>Together both characterize the specific function of a threshold deity who decides over opening and closing. In some depictions he carries twelve keys, one for each month of the year, which he opens as god of the first month.<\/p><p>The Ianus geminus on the Forum, a double archway structure between the Forum Romanum and the Argiletum, was his most important <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sacred place dedicated to the veneration of a deity.\" tabindex=\"0\">sanctuary<\/span>. Its two gates remained closed in times of peace and open in times of war.<\/p><p>Livy reports that before Augustus these gates had been closed only three times in history, which underscores the rare extent of Roman times of peace. Augustus himself boasts in the &#8220;Res gestae&#8221; that he closed the gates three times during his reign.<\/p><p>Another structure connected with Janus is the Janus Quadrifrons on the Forum Boarium, a four-faced gate structure that marked the thresholds in all four cardinal directions. This building from <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Transitional epoch between antiquity and the Middle Ages, roughly the 3rd to 7th century.\" tabindex=\"0\">late antiquity<\/span> still stands largely preserved at the Boarium today and is regarded as the last great testimony of the Janus <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of religious acts of veneration for a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5d3140e e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"5d3140e\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3616fb5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3616fb5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Cult and Veneration<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-57a8162 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"57a8162\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Janus stood at the beginning of every Roman prayer and every religious <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An ordered sequence of symbolic actions with religious or cultural meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">ritual<\/span>. Before every <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A gift to a deity to express thanks, a request or veneration.\" tabindex=\"0\">sacrifice<\/span> an <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The petitioning or invoking address to a deity or power.\" tabindex=\"0\">invocation<\/span> was offered to him first, because he opened access to the other gods. This first-rank function appears uniformly in inscriptions, prayer formulas and literary sources. Cicero and Macrobius discuss it in detail.<\/p><p>His main festival fell on January 1, New Year&#8217;s Day. Already in the Julian calendar the month Ianuarius stood under his patronage. On New Year&#8217;s Day Romans exchanged small gifts called strenae, which contained sweets, dates or coins.<\/p><p>This gesture had a fate-determining character, because what was done on New Year&#8217;s Day was meant to shape the entire year. This practice lives on to this day in the French \u00e9trennes and the Italian strenne as a New Year&#8217;s gift.<\/p><p>Important military operations began at the Ianus geminus. The gates were opened by the consul or princeps, the army symbolically passed through, and the war was considered opened.<\/p><p>On return and conclusion of peace the gates were closed in a reverse <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A solemn act carried out according to fixed rules.\" tabindex=\"0\">ceremony<\/span>. Augustus emphasized in his &#8220;Res Gestae&#8221; that he had the gates closed three times during his reign, which previously had occurred only twice in all of Roman history.<\/p><p>In addition there were smaller Janus <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sacred place dedicated to the veneration of a deity.\" tabindex=\"0\">sanctuaries<\/span> in Rome. Provincial sanctuaries are more rarely attested, which underscores the specifically Roman-urban rooting of the Janus cult. In Latium and Etruria, nonetheless, several rural Janus altars are known, which were mostly erected at the entrance to villages or at crossroads.<\/p><p>Janus also took on a special role in the Salian song book, an old prayer collection of the Salian priests. Here he was invoked as king of the gods before Iuppiter, which shows the archaic stratification of Roman <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The scholarly study of God and of the faith of a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">theology<\/span>, in which Janus held a timeless precedence.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-99562d1 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"99562d1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a058ec elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"5a058ec\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Important Myths<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8d91477 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8d91477\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The most important mythical account describes the rescue of Rome from the Sabines. According to Livy and Ovid, the Sabines attacked Rome, broke in over the Capitoline Hill and came close to the Forum.<\/p><p>At a decisive moment Janus caused a hot spring to burst from the ground, which drove back the attacking Sabines and gave the city time to regroup.<\/p><p>In gratitude the Romans consecrated the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sacred place dedicated to the veneration of a deity.\" tabindex=\"0\">sanctuary<\/span> at the site of the spring and decided to keep the gates open in times of war so that the god could intervene if needed.<\/p><p>A second account connects Janus with Saturn. According to Macrobius and Virgil, Saturn fled from Olympus before the victory of his son Iuppiter and came to Latium, where Janus received him. Both ruled together and brought a time of peace and abundance, which entered the cultural memory of Italy as the Golden Age.<\/p><p>Later Janus is said to have remained alone and to have developed laws and agriculture. This account gives him the position of a culture-bringer at the threshold between mythical and historical time.<\/p><p>A third account concerns the nymph Carna or Cardea, whom Janus loved and to whom he granted power over the door hinges. In Ovid&#8217;s &#8220;Fasti&#8221; the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A transmitted narrative about gods, origins and the order of the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">myth<\/span> is told in which Cardea is established as goddess of thresholds and of the family.<\/p><p>She protects the children in the house, which is why on June 1, her festival, fresh beans and bacon were eaten to keep evil away. The account connects Janus with the everyday life of the family and shows his effectiveness beyond the urban-civic sphere.<\/p><p>A fourth mythical account reports of Janus and Iuturna. Janus is said to have taken mortality from the nymph Iuturna and raised her to goddess of the springs.<\/p><p>This episode, touched on by Virgil in the &#8220;Aeneid&#8221;, links Janus with the rural spring cult and underscores his function as threshold god also between the human and divine spheres.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-49b6e05 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"49b6e05\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5d81d50 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"5d81d50\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Relationships in the Pantheon<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9558c6c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9558c6c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Janus stands at the head of almost all Roman invocation lists. In the inscriptions of the Arval Brethren, an old priesthood, Janus is always named before Iuppiter, which makes the ritual opening function clear.<\/p><p>Nevertheless, in the hierarchical sense Iuppiter is the highest <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being venerated as divine within a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">deity<\/span>, which is why Janus is often called the &#8220;opener of Iuppiter&#8221;.<\/p><p>With Saturn he is connected by the mythical Golden Age, with Vesta by the care of threshold and house, with Mars and Mercury by the patronage of going out, with Quirinus by the function for the people of Rome.<\/p><p>In older prayer texts the sequence Ianus, Iuppiter, Mars, Quirinus appears as the core Roman succession of gods.<\/p><p>In Hellenistic <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The merging of ideas or deities from different religious traditions.\" tabindex=\"0\">syncretism<\/span> Janus remained untouched, because he has no direct Greek equivalent. This made him, for Roman theologians such as Varro and Cicero, a privileged example of the independence of Roman religion from Greek <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the transmitted tales of the gods of a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">mythology<\/span>. In the Etruscan visual world a parallel exists with the four-faced Culsans, yet the genetic relationship is disputed.<\/p><p>Janus appears in an old triad with Iuppiter and Saturnus, which in scholarship is interpreted as a pre-Capitoline layer.<\/p><p>This triad, which Macrobius already mentions in the &#8220;Saturnalia&#8221; (I, 9), is younger than the Capitoline triad of Iuppiter, Iuno and Minerva, but older than the state-theological representative phase. Dum\u00e9zil sees in the connection of Janus, Iuppiter and Saturnus an archaic complex of opening, ruling and sowing function.<\/p><p>With Carna, an old goddess of the door hinges, Janus was, in Ovid&#8217;s &#8220;Fasti&#8221; VI, paired or married. Carna was responsible for the healthy growth of children and for the inner firmness of the door hinges and lock parts.<\/p><p>This connection marks the inner side of the threshold world, whose outer side was Janus himself. The double occupancy shows the consistency with which Roman religion personified all aspects of transition.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e3dd144 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"e3dd144\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9f51d5e elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"9f51d5e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Reception and Influence<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-09f501c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"09f501c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>In the Renaissance Janus became the preferred <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sign that stands in place of an idea or meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">symbol<\/span> of prudence and foresight. Andrea Alciato and other emblematists depicted him as an <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A vivid image that stands for an abstract idea.\" tabindex=\"0\">emblem<\/span> of historical learning that looks in both directions.<\/p><p>In coats of arms and printers&#8217; marks his double face appears frequently, especially in publishing houses that wanted to establish connections between <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to AD 600.\" tabindex=\"0\">antiquity<\/span> and the present.<\/p><p>In architecture the Janus <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A recurring thematic element in art or narrative.\" tabindex=\"0\">motif<\/span> shaped the design of triumphal arches, city gates and harbor facilities. The Arch of the Argentarii in Rome and numerous city gates in France and Spain take up the double arch motif of the Ianus geminus.<\/p><p>In the 19th century the two-faced Janus became the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A vivid image that stands for an abstract idea.\" tabindex=\"0\">emblem<\/span> of historical scholarship itself, which questions past and future at the same time.<\/p><p>In modern scientific language the word Janus face or Janus-faced has the character of a standard metaphor for ambivalence. The international Janus kinase, an important enzyme system, was named in 1989 in allusion to the two-faced <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being venerated as divine within a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">deity<\/span>.<\/p><p>The astronomical observation of a moon of Saturn named Janus, which exchanges its orbit with the moon Epimetheus, likewise ties in with the mythical two-facedness.<\/p><p>In the Middle Ages Janus was carried forward beyond the month name Ianuarius in astronomical textbooks. Isidore of Seville honored him in the &#8220;Etymologiae&#8221; (V, 33) as a personification of the new beginning.<\/p><p>In Gothic architectural sculpture Janus heads are found on monastery portals and city gates, especially in Lombardy and in the southern French region, where the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to AD 600.\" tabindex=\"0\">ancient<\/span> threshold god experienced a renaissance of its own.<\/p><p>In the psychological language of the present Janus appears as a &#8220;Janus face&#8221; in the sense of ambivalence. C. G. Jung uses the image in the &#8220;Mysterium Coniunctionis&#8221; as an example of the double nature of psychic contents.<\/p><p>In the economic sciences &#8220;Janus strategy&#8221; is a term for companies that are active in both old and new markets at the same time. This modern coinage shows how an archaic image lives on in reflective language over two millennia.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-08b23a5 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"08b23a5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-51dc415 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"51dc415\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Religious-Studies Classification<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9aab09f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9aab09f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Georges Dum\u00e9zil has shown in several studies that Janus holds a special position within the three Indo-European functions.<\/p><p>He does not stand in one of the three functions itself, but at their beginning, as it were as an opening pre-function. This interpretation was widely received in scholarship and belongs to the least disputed parts of Dum\u00e9zil&#8217;s system.<\/p><p>Robert Schilling and Kurt Latte underscore the specifically Italic origin of the Janus cult. Unlike with many other deities, there is no Etruscan equivalent. Janus thus appears as one of the few purely Italic-Roman cult cushions without a Greek or Etruscan model.<\/p><p>Mary Beard, John North and Simon Price place the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of religious acts of veneration for a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span> within its political function and show how the opening and closing of the Ianus geminus became a state-supporting <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sign that stands representatively for a concept or meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">symbolic<\/span> act.<\/p><p>John Scheid reconstructed the ritual practice at the Forum <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sacred place dedicated to the veneration of a deity.\" tabindex=\"0\">sanctuary<\/span> and showed how the god was integrated into the daily sacrificial life. J\u00f6rg R\u00fcpke brings out the significance of Janus for the calendar system and the Augustan representation, especially in relation to the &#8220;Res Gestae&#8221;.<\/p><p>Annie Dubourdieu, in her study &#8220;Les origines et le d\u00e9veloppement du culte des P\u00e9nates \u00e0 Rome&#8221;, brought out the interweaving of Janus with the Penates and domestic religion.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0abc0be e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"0abc0be\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c2ce60b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"c2ce60b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Temple of Janus and Topography<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fe5baac elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"fe5baac\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The most famous <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A structure that serves the veneration of one or more deities.\" tabindex=\"0\">temple<\/span> of Janus was the Janus Geminus on the Forum Romanum, a small, transverse rectangular building with two opposing doors. The doors were closed in times of peace and opened in times of war.<\/p><p>Livy reports in &#8220;Ab urbe condita&#8221; (I, 19, 2) that in all of Roman history before Augustus the doors had been closed only twice, namely under Numa Pompilius and after the First Punic War in 235 BC. Augustus had the doors closed in 29 BC after Actium, in 25 BC after the Cantabrian Wars and in 8 BC after the Germanic campaigns, which he celebrated in his <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The transmission of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">record<\/span> of deeds, the Res gestae divi Augusti (13), as the high point of his peace policy.<\/p><p>This threefold closing became the ideological <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sign that stands in place of an idea or meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">symbol<\/span> of the Pax Augusta.<\/p><p>Other Janus structures included the Janus Quirini on the Forum, an arch at the Argiletum that marked the booksellers&#8217; and bootmakers&#8217; district, and the Janus Pater on the Mons Janiculus, a hill on the right bank of the Tiber, visited above all by farmers and soldiers.<\/p><p>These four Janus sanctuaries marked the thresholds of the city in the topographical sense, because Janus was responsible as god of transitions. The Argiletum arch was at the same time a market orientation point, which illustrates the interweaving of cultic and commercial function in Rome.<\/p><p>In research terms, Filippo Coarelli has refined the localization of the Janus Geminus between the Basilica Aemilia and the Curia Iulia. On sestertii of Nero with the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A text incised or carved into a solid support.\" tabindex=\"0\">inscription<\/span> Pace populi terra mariq parta Ianum clusit the building is depicted in an architecturally detailed form.<\/p><p>This numismatic source is one of the most important pictorial testimonies for the appearance of the temple. In <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Transitional epoch between antiquity and the Middle Ages, roughly the 3rd to 7th century.\" tabindex=\"0\">late antiquity<\/span> the temple of Janus was closed in the course of the Christianization process and demolished under Honorius in the 5th century.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-91e5003 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"91e5003\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-861aa43 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"861aa43\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Carmen Saliare and Liturgy<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f677ba0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"f677ba0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Janus stood at the beginning of all Roman prayers. In the ancient order of invocation of the gods his name was named first, because as god of transitions he also symbolized the transition from silence into word.<\/p><p>Cicero comments in &#8220;De natura deorum&#8221; (II, 67) that the Romans, at the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A gift to a deity to express thanks, a request or veneration.\" tabindex=\"0\">sacrifice<\/span>, invoked Janus first and only then the responsible main deity. This ritual precedence underscores his cosmological position as the entrance god.<\/p><p>The Carmen Saliare, an archaic priestly song sung by the Salii, a twelve-member priestly college, during the March <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A solemn religious procession.\" tabindex=\"0\">procession<\/span>, contained a Janus stanza that was no longer fully understood already in the late Republic.<\/p><p>Varro in &#8220;De lingua Latina&#8221; (VII, 26 ff.) attempted to explain individual words, but stated that the Saliare sayings were &#8220;too archaic&#8221; to be interpreted unambiguously.<\/p><p>The preserved fragments name Cerus manus duonus Cerus es, which has been reconstructed as &#8220;creator good man creator you are&#8221;, a possible <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The petitioning or invoking address to a deity or power.\" tabindex=\"0\">invocation<\/span> of Cerus, a creator god connected with Janus.<\/p><p>The Rex sacrorum, a priestly office that continued the religious functions of the republican monarchy, was responsible for the Janus <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of religious acts of veneration for a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span>.<\/p><p>He carried out the Janus <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A gift to a deity to express thanks, a request or veneration.\" tabindex=\"0\">sacrifices<\/span> on the kalends of each month, but above all on the ides of March, on the old New Year&#8217;s Day, and on January 9, the Agonalia festival of Janus.<\/p><p>The liturgical regulations are partly preserved in the Acta fratrum Arvalium, the protocols of the Arval priests, and provide insight into ritual practice.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7c0a34e e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"7c0a34e\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ba49604 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"ba49604\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Numismatics and Pictorial Tradition<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cb3de82 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cb3de82\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Janus head, the Ianus bifrons with two opposing faces, is one of the strongest pictorial creations of Rome. The earliest Roman asses already showed the Janus head from the 3rd century BC, because the as, as the smallest unit of value, held a fundamental threshold position in the monetary system.<\/p><p>This tradition continued over centuries: republican asses, denarii and sestertii bear the Bifrons throughout the entire imperial period. Even under Diocletian and Constantine Janus coins were still minted.<\/p><p>A rare variant is the Ianus Quadrifrons with four faces, which appears on some sestertii of Hadrian. This form is a philosophical extension in which Janus beholds all four cardinal directions or the four seasons at once.<\/p><p>The Forum Transitorium, a smaller forum complex of Domitian, was adorned with an Ianus Quadrifrons arch, which today survives only in Renaissance drawings.<\/p><p>In Christian <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Transitional epoch between antiquity and the Middle Ages, roughly the 3rd to 7th century.\" tabindex=\"0\">late antiquity<\/span> the image of the Bifrons was given negative connotations and equated with cunning. <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Augustine of Hippo (354-430); Christian Church Father, principal works Confessiones and De civitate Dei.\" tabindex=\"0\">Augustine<\/span> polemicizes in &#8220;De civitate Dei&#8221; (VII, 7) against the &#8220;two faces&#8221; of Janus as a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sign that stands in place of an idea or meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">symbol<\/span> of slyness.<\/p><p>This reinterpretation continued into the Middle Ages, in which &#8220;Janus-faced&#8221; became the epitome of duplicity. Only the Renaissance rehabilitated the Janus head as an <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A vivid image that stands for an abstract idea.\" tabindex=\"0\">emblem<\/span> of prudent foresight, for example in Alciato&#8217;s emblem book of 1531, where Janus illustrates the maxim Prudens futuri.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f298894 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"f298894\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f25b338 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f25b338\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Sources and Further Reading<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-882346b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"882346b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-nosnippet=\"true\"><p><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to AD 600.\" tabindex=\"0\">Ancient<\/span> sources: Virgil &#8220;Aeneid&#8221;, Ovid &#8220;Fasti&#8221;, Livy &#8220;Ab urbe condita&#8221;, Cicero &#8220;De natura deorum&#8221;, Varro &#8220;De lingua latina&#8221;, Macrobius &#8220;Saturnalia&#8221;, Augustus &#8220;Res gestae divi Augusti&#8221;, Servius commentary, Plutarch &#8220;Numa&#8221;.<\/p><p>Research literature: Georges Dum\u00e9zil, &#8220;La religion romaine archa\u00efque&#8221;, Paris 1966. Robert Schilling, &#8220;Rites, cultes, dieux de Rome&#8221;, Paris 1979. Kurt Latte, &#8220;R\u00f6mische Religionsgeschichte&#8221;, Munich 1960. Mary Beard, John North, Simon Price, &#8220;Religions of Rome&#8221;, Cambridge 1998. John Scheid, &#8220;An Introduction to Roman Religion&#8221;, Edinburgh 2003. J\u00f6rg R\u00fcpke, &#8220;Die Religion der R\u00f6mer&#8221;, Munich 2001.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Janus, Roman god of beginnings Janus is the Roman god of beginnings, of doors and of transitions, to whom the start of the year and every new undertaking were consecrated. Janus is the two-faced Roman god of beginnings, endings, gates and transition. He holds a special position in Italic religion because he has no direct [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6283,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"Janus","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Janus: Roman God of Beginnings | iWell Guard","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Janus is the Roman god of beginnings, doors and transitions, depicted with two faces. His Ianus geminus on the Forum regulated war and peace for the city.","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_angie_page":false,"gefaehrdungsstufe":"","wesen_kultur":"","wesen_klasse":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[86,27,61,108],"class_list":["post-6282","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gods","category-goetter","category-rom","category-rome"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Janus: Roman God of Beginnings | iWell Guard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Janus is the Roman god of beginnings, doors and transitions, depicted with two faces. 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