Imagine a year with only ten official months. Then, a longer no-man’s-land-period made up the rest of it, in which people waited for time to pass until the year started again. Sounds a bit familiar? Maybe some things never change, as this story is from a long, long time ago. Welcome to ancient Rome. But who was January named after?
Around 703 BC, Roman King Numa Pompilius added January to the Latin calendar. Until then, it only had ten official months. Winter was considered by the Romans a month-less period. There was little work to be done in wintertime about 3000 years ago. As a result, their year began in March, not January.
The first month of the year
Since Numa Pompilius in 703 BC, it took a while to institutionalise January 1st as the first day of the year. The Roman calendar itself underwent several reforms over time. In 153 BC, the Roman Senate declared January 1st the official start of the year, aligning the calendar better with the solar year. This decision was made during the consulship of Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Then, Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar in 45 BC. His calendar continued the practice of starting the year on January 1st. It was a significant calendar reform that aimed to improve timekeeping accuracy.
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian Calendar. It refined the Julian calendar further and maintained January 1st as the first day of the year. The Gregorian calendar is the one most widely used today. It is the calendar system in use in many parts of the world, including New Zealand.
The start of the year for other cultures
While the Roman and Christian traditions influenced the adoption of January 1st as the start of the year in much of Europe, other cultures had different New Year’s dates. For example, in some cultures, the new year begins with the spring equinox or the harvest season. The transition to January 1st as the universal New Year’s Day was gradual and varied by region. It took several centuries for this practice to become widespread and accepted worldwide.
The institutionalization of January 1st as the first day of the year has its roots in Roman calendar reforms, including those introduced by Julius Caesar and Pope Gregory XIII. It marked a shift from earlier practices, where the new year began at different times in various cultures. The adoption of January 1st as the global New Year’s Day occurred over an extended period, with different regions adopting it at different times.
The Name “January” – a door, a gateway
The name January comes from the god Janus, a mythical creature with two faces, looking simultaneously into the past and future. Janus is the God of Gates and Time, Births and Passages, and Endings. Check out here what’s in January in the sky.
The etymology of the word “Janus” traces back to Proto-Italic “iānu,” meaning “door,” ultimately originating from Proto-Indo-European “iehnu,” signifying “passage” or “to go.” This linguistic connection relates Janus to the Sanskrit “yāti,” Lithuanian “jóti,” and Serbo-Croatian “jàhati,” all reflecting the concept of movement and transition. (de Vaan, Michiel (2008). Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages. Brill. ISBN 9789004167971; Taylor, Rabun, “Watching the Skies: Janus, Auspication, and the Shrine in the Roman Forum,” Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome vol. 45 (2000): p. 1)
A Uranic Deity
Uranus was the ancient god of the sky, and the planet we know by the same name was named after him.
Janus was a multifaceted deity associated with various aspects of existence, including Uranus – the sky. As such, he represented light, the Sun, the Moon, time, movement, the year, doorways, and bridges. The significance of Janus in Roman culture was immense; his temple in Rome remained open during wartime and closed during peacetime. This reflects Janus’s importance, rivalling even the chief god, Jupiter, in the Roman pantheon.
Accordingly, Iānus is translated as an action name expressing the idea of going, passing, formed on the root *yā- < *y-eð2– theme II of the root *ey- go from which eō, ειμι.
The temple of Janus in Rome was open during wartimes and closed when the empire was at peace. The most important god of the Roman pantheon, Janus, was at least as important as Jupiter, which might be why Numa Pompilius gave the name January to the first month of the year.
The divine pillars and the constellation of Gemini
In ancient Sumer, temples had two pillars that marked the summer and winter solstices, symbolizing two divine twins—one mortal and one immortal. Over time, these pillars evolved into a single body with two heads looking in opposite directions. This transformation mirrors the constellation Gemini, prominently visible in the night sky during January in ancient Rome. In New Zealand, Gemini is on the northeastern horizon at sunset. You can see the two bright stars, Castor and Pollux. Castor (Alpha (α) Geminorum – multiple star system) is 51 light years away, while Pollux (Beta (β) Geminorum)is closer at 33.8 light years away from our solar system. (Read more about Castor and Pollux, the stars, here).
Stargazing and Janus
January is the best time to admire the constellation of Gemini. Below is a photo taken from Star Safari, our stargazing place in Wairarapa, a 10-minute drive from Martinborough, in January 2024. Slide the cursor to discover the two stars.
The Summerian pillars marked the summer and winter solstice on the eastern part of the temples. These symbolised two divine twins, one mortal, represented by the NE pillar, where the Sun did not shine, and the other immortal, indicated by the SE pillar, where the Sun always shone. Later on, in Egypt and the Middle East, the two columns morphed into one with two torsos and finally into one body with two heads looking in opposite directions. (Audin, A. (1956). “Dianus bifrons ou les deux stations solaires, piliers jumeaux et portiques solsticiaux”. Revue de géographie de Lyon. 31 (3): 191–198.)
Namesakes
Some cultures celebrate name days and make them as important as your birthday. A great reason for yet another party. Janus’s day is the 7th of January.
The name “January” has ancient Indo-European and Thracian roots, with connections to the gods Yana and Ianus. Names like Diana (Iana), Ion (John, Jean, Johan), and Ioana (Ana, Joanna, Johanna, Jeanne) have their origins in Ianus, and so do Iānuārius in Roman, Ianuarie in Romanian, Janvier in French, etc, as the names for the month. The Romans celebrated Janus during the coldest time of the year, a few weeks after the winter solstice, which marks the shortest day. This celebration was overwritten by the Christian Orthodox observance of Saint John’s Day through cultural borrowing or syncretism. Interesting to note is the sharing of the same particle and pronunciation with Io (Io-Matua-Te-Kore), the supreme Māori deity, the original life force of the Universe, the parentless of the beginning and the parent of Te Kore, the potentiality. Also interesting to note is that in ancient Indo-European languages, “Io” also means “I”.
A fabulous month for new beginnings
January, named after the Roman god Janus, is a symbolic gateway between the old and the new, the past and the future. Its rich history and diverse cultural connections remind us that the year’s turning is a global phenomenon, celebrated in different ways across time and space. As we navigate through this month, we can reflect on the dual nature of Janus, the divine pillars of transition, and the myriad names and traditions that make January a fascinating and meaningful part of our shared human experience.
