Janus gives January its name and is the ancient Roman god linked with beginnings and transitions.
Janus was a Roman deity associated with doors, gates, passages, beginnings, endings, and transitions. He is commonly depicted with two faces, one looking forward and one looking backward, a visual symbol of movement between past and future. The month of January, Latin Ianuarius, was named for him.
The Roman calendar reform associated with Julius Caesar established January 1 as the beginning of the civil year in 45 BCE, although Roman dating practices and later calendar use were complex. The date eventually became the standard New Year’s Day in the Gregorian calendar used internationally today.
Janus is not the same figure as Saturn, whose festival Saturnalia is often mistakenly connected directly with New Year’s Day. Nor is January’s name derived from Janus because he was a sun god; his principal associations were thresholds and change. The connection makes him an especially fitting symbol for modern New Year celebrations.