JA'NUS. An ancient and important Roman god, whose name was invoked at the beginning of all religious ceremonies. As to the etymology of the name. and its original meaning. two theories are prominent. One considers it a further formation from the root dju, dji r, by the addition of -an, dig r-an as we have Zeds and Zdv in Greek, so we have fork and Thrills in Latin; but while in Greek the differentiation in form was not snf fieient to lead to the growth of two separate di vinities. among the Romans the separation was complete. He is thus the god of the light and heaven, a sun-god according to some. and this origin certainly agrees well with his high place among the gods, and many features of his cult. The other view connects the name of the god with ianus and ianua, and considers him as the god of the entrance and door, whether of city or house, as Vesta is the goddess of the hearth. This is in accordance with the nature of many Roman gods. and explains the peculiar nature of the spe cial shrine of .Janus, the /anus gemin Us which formed an entrance to the Forum. This shrine was simply two parallel arched gateways connected by walls. and furnished with gates. The tradition of later times declared that King Numa Porn pilius had built the shrine and ordained that the gates should be closed only in lime of peace, and that only On B.C. 235) between Numa and Augustus, who closed them three times during his reign. had such a time been known. If UPo
custom really existed from early times, its origin is probably to be sought in the belief that the lanus 4;eminus was the entrance to the sacred hearth, the centre of the city, and that it would be a bail omen to close these gates upon the ab sent warrhffs. Janus is preiMiinently a god of the beginnings, and therefore invoked at the open ing of each prayer. To him as well as to .Juno olfering.s scene to have been made on the first (lay of each month. and his festival, the Agonium. un January 91.11, was the first of the Roman reli gious vea•. The rex sacrorum war the special priest of Janus. and therefore stood at the head V the Itmnan priests. The double-faced head of the god appears on the Roman as of the early coinage. and it is possible that this is the earliest representation of the god. In later times his image. with the double face, was set up under the arch in the Forum. Aanns, though so ancient and important in the ritual, seems to have played but a small part in the popular religion; his cult is not proved to have existed in early timeA outside of Rome. and votive inscriptions are very rare. There are traces of a goddess JANA. the feminine parallel to Janus. but she never be came prominent in the State religion.