*Janus*
Roman mythology

Janus is the Roman god of gates and doors, beginnings and endings and
hence represented with a double faced head, each looking in opposite
directions. He was worshipped at the beginning of the harvest time,
planting, marriage, birth and other types of beginnings, especially the
beginnings of important events in a person's life. Janus also represents
the transition between primitive life and civilization, between the
countryside and the city, peace and war and the growing up of young
people.

One tradition states that he came from Thessaly and that he was welcomed
by Camese in Latium, where they shared a kingdom. They married and had
several children, among which the river god Tiberinus. When his wife
died, Janus became the sole ruler of Latium. He sheltered Saturn when he
was fleeing from Jupiter. Janus, as the first king of Latium, brought
the people a time of peace and welfare; the Golden Age. He introduced
money, cultivation of the fields and the laws. After his death he was
deified and became the protector of Rome. When Romulus and his
associates stole the Sabine Virgins, the Sabines attacked the city. The
daughter of one of the guards on the Capitolian Hill betrayed her fellow
countrymen and guided the enemy into the city. They attempted to climb
the hill but Janus made a hot spring erupt from the ground and the would
be attackers fled from the city. Ever since, the gates of his temple
were kept open in times of war so the god would be ready to intervene
when necessary. In times of peace the gates were closed.

His most famous sanctuary was a portal on the Forum Romanum through
which the Roman legionaries went to war. He also had a temple on the
Forum Olitorium, and in the first century another temple was built on
the Forum of Nerva. This one had four portals, called Janus Quadrifons.
When Rome became a republic, only one of the royal functions survived,
namely that of rex sacrorum or rex sacrificulus. His priests regularly
sacrificed to him. The month of January is named after him.
Janus was represented with two faces, originally one face was bearded
while the other was not, later both faces were bearded. In his right
hand he holds a key. The double faced head appears on many Roman coins
and around the 2nd century B.C.E. even with four faces.