by Lillith

Created on: January 06, 2007   Last Updated: May 13, 2012

The calendar was established first in the seventh century B.C. by Numa Pompilius. It was revised from a primitive Roman calendar containing ten months. Pompilius added the two months of Januarius and Februarius. Then, in 46 B.C., Julius Caesar changed this calendar and adopted one of 365 and 1/4 days. This remained in effect until 1582. At that time, Pope Gregory XIII had eleven days dropped and a new system of leap years worked out.

This is the Gregorian calendar, and is the one we continue to use today.

We begin by looking at the month of January. It is the first, and coldest, month of the year. The name Januarius is Latin and derived from janua, which means door. The word came from the name of the Roman deity, Janus because this first month was a sacred one to him. It looked to the past and to the future, and was consecrated by offerings of new products such as wine, salt, meal and frankincense.

The Romans used New Year's Day to exchange gifts of small coins. On one side of the coins was Janus, the two-faced god, and on the other side a ship. Janus was also considered the protector of ships and trade.

It is said that Janus was an old king of Latium, whose worship was introduced by Romulus. The Feast of Agonia was celebrated in his honor at his citadel on the Janiculum Hill. The citadel''s gates were kept closed while the land was at peace, but remained open during times of war.

The beginnings of each day, month, and year were sacred to Janus. Before any important task, he was invoked first over any other deity. Roman belief was that Janus opened the gates of heaven at dawn to let out the morning, and then closed them at night. Because of this, he was worshipped as the god of all doors, gates, and entrances. He also protected the beginnings of all human enterprises.

As the porter or doorkeeper, Janus was shown with a staff in one hand, which symbolized his power, while a key in the other hand showed his right to open and close all things. Sometimes he held the number CCC (300) in his right hand, and LXV (65) in his left, to represent the number of the days in the year.

During the reign of Emperor Hadrian, Janus was shown with four faces, in a temple of four sides, with three windows in each. This temple represented the four seasons, and the windows showed the twelve months over which Janus presided.

The Saxons called the first month of the year, Wulf-monath, or Wolf-monat, or month. It was called this because it was the season when starving wolves often attacked

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