January

1. January is named after the Roman god, Janus.

Janus is shown as having two faces. To some this sybolizes looking back on the old year and forward to the new year. He is the god of the doorways and gates. He is the patron of beginnings and endings.

By 153 BC, the Romans had moved the new year from the first of March to the first of January. That was when their civil year began and their newly elected consuls assumed office. It was on that day in 390 BC that Rome was captured by the Gauls.

January followed the winter solstice, after which the days began to lengthen. The break from the farmer's labor that had begun in December, was continued during this month.