•January - month of Janus
Two-faced Janus (Ianus Brifrons) the god of beginnings, doors, passages. The god who looks in and out, who sees East and West, the past and the future. Represented with two opposite faces (young and old)
The first month of the year is dedicated to him, the month following the winter solstice, when the light is reborn.
On the first day of January (Kalendae) the Romans offered honey, wine, focaccia (Ianual), dates, dried figs and as a wish for a happy new year, they exchanged gifts (strene) such as sweets and copper coins with the god's head on one side and a ship on the other.
Janus symbolizes change, the transition from one state to another but is also a fixed god in the present, which is why he was omnipresent in the life of the ancient Romans: birth, marriage, new beginnings.
The myth tells that Giano was the first king of Lazio, and that he had established his seat on Mount Gianicolo (from which it took its name). During his reign he would have taught the ancient men of Lazio, the aborigines, the use of money, ships and the art of cultivating fields. Giano, the bearer of civilization, will welcome Saturn who with his permission will become the new king of Lazio and the "golden age" will begin, in which men and gods lived together.