Auspicious endeavours require auspicious “beginnings” hence the most popular Roman god was “Janus” the god of “beginnings”. His wise old face looks to the past, a book one can easily read, his youthful face seeks out the future, a book which has yet to be written. As each year “began” the augurs sought out the signs, would it be an auspicious book or a Shakespearean tragedy.
The “beginning” of the year was dedicated to “Janus” the god of “beginnings” hence the first month of the year was named “January”. It was a time to be careful in ones words and deeds, a time to wish one another a happy new year, a time to distribute sweets and a time when coins were freely given bearing the twin headed “Janus” the god of “beginnings”.
Janus is very much the Roman version of Ganesha, the god of beginnings. Throughout Rome, Janus could be found upon doors, gates and passageways, and so with India where Ganesha, the god of beginnings is found upon doors and gates. He is known to bless the “beginnings” of a marriage, the “beginnings” of a career, the “beginnings” of a journey and of course he is there on the doors, the “beginning” of the house removing all obstacles to family and spiritual life.
” Doorways were invested with magical or numinous significance, Janus, present in every household , exerted great power over the households undertakings… the god was invoked before any other god, even before Jupiter, at the beginning of any important undertaking ” Gilbert Highet, sword and spirit of ancient Rome by Robert Payne.
“Janus” is most probably derived from the Sanskrit “jan” which means to “generate” to “beget” to “cause” to “create” to “take birth”. “Jan” becomes “janma” meaning “birth” it becomes “janmastami” the “birth of Lord Krsna” it becomes “jani” the “wife” “mother” “woman” it becomes “janitr” the “father” as in “he who produces offspring” it becomes “janitri” the “mother” or “she who produces offspring” and so “jan” meaning “birth” becomes “janus” meaning “beginning”.
In Europe “jani” meaning “wife” becomes the Greek “gyny” which then becomes “androgyny” meaning “male/female” it becomes “mysogyny” meaning “woman hater” it becomes “polygyny” meaning “many women” it becomes “gynarchy” meaning “government of women” and it becomes “gynecology” meaning the “study of women”.
“Jani” meaning “wife” is also the source of the word “Queen” as it becomes the Greek “gyne” the Old Prussian “genna” the Old Church Slavonic “zena” the Old Saxon “Quen” and from this comes the word “Queen” whose ultimate source is the Sanskrit “jani” meaning “wife” as in “the wife of the king”.
“ This deity ( Janus ) is believed by Creuzer and others to have had an Indian origin, his name to have been derived from the Sanskrit “jan” meaning “to be born”. He resembles no Greek god and very probably travelled all the way from Bactria ( central asia ) to Rome.” Ten Great Religions : An Essay In Comparative Theology, Volume 1 By James Freeman Clarke.
“Jan” meaning “birth” is also seen in “Janaka” the great King from the Ramayana whose name means “father”. In ancient times when a great sacrifice was performed, the King would plough the sacrificial arena. As King he was seen as the “father” of his citizens and so in the Ramayana we find “Janaka” the “father” ploughing the land which is “mother” and from it came a “daughter” known as Sita devi whose name means “born from a furrow”.
“Janaka” is immortalised in the following verse from Bhagavad Gita and when discussing the source of the root “jan” we have to keep in mind that this verse predates the 2500 years of Buddhism and according to tradition goes back at least 5000 years, hence the root “jan” existed in Sanskrit over 5000 years ago and not in any development stage, but in the most sublime poetry of the Bhagavad Gita.
” Even kings like Janaka and others attained the perfectional stage by performance of prescribed duties. Therefore, just for the sake of educating the people in general, you should perform your work.” Gita 3.20
” The month of January is called after “Janus” to whom it was consecrated among the pagans, or because it is the frontal or portal of the year and thus janus is depicted bifrontally, so that he designates both the entrance and the exit of the year ” – Isodore of Seville.
Above, the ancient “gateway” to the Riviera, the grand city of Genoa which lies upon the Italian coast of the Mediterranean sea. As the “gateway” its perhaps appropriately named after “Janus” the god of “gates” “doors” “entrances” and “beginnings”. Its etymology is best described by a member of the Doria family, Jacopo Doria, one of the nobilities of 13th century Genoa, one who had access to its historical records, he says the following –
“ Janua ( Genoa ) is called after Janus. This Janua which is a gate, is the first entrance and the first access, because Janus is the god of beginnings, to whom the ancients consecrated every entrance and exit. And therefore as a gate is the entrance and exit to anyones house, so too our city is the entrance and exit to all Lombardy. And just as Janua ( Genoa ) is called after Janus, the god of beginnings, who is depicted as having two faces – namely forward and back – thus the city of Janua overlooks the sea before and the earth behind. And as he is said to have two faculas – that is two portals – east and west, thus the city of Janua has two gates, namely, a gate to the sea and a gate to the land “.
We also have Selvazzano, a town which once worshipped “Janus” his name can easily be seen in “zano”. Its a place which is found in the province of Padua, one of the oldest regions of Northern Italy and nearby are the Eugenai hills, named after the Eugenes an ancient tribe whose name is once again Sanskrit meaning “well ( su ) born ( jan ) or “good ( su ) birth ( jan )” the “su” becoming the Greek “eu” and the “jan” becoming the Greek “gen”.
Janiculum was once an ancient Italian city, built by and named after the god of beginnings “Janus” it now resides under the modern name of Giancolo. Its hill is the second highest in Rome and upon it the augurs ( priests ) would gather and observe the signs ( auspices ) as they sought to secure a bountiful harvest. A good result was dependent upon a good beginning, hence the worship of “Janus” the god of “beginnings”.
On the South East coast of Italy we have Tiggiano, the “giano” being the god of beginnings “Janus” and on its coat of arms against a blue backdrop we find this twin headed god. Sarzano is a town in the Liguria region of Northwest Italy, its named once again after “Janus” the god of “beginnings”.
Subbiano is a town in Tuscany, central Italy, its name seems to be two Sanskrit words “sub” meaning “under” comes from the Sanskrit “upa” meaning “under” and the “iano” is the god of begginnings “Janus” whose source is the Sanskrit “jan” meaning “birth” the meaning of “Subbiano” seems to be “under ( sub ) the protection of Janus”.
“The Romans never claimed to be original. They borrowed nearly everything from others and amalgamated their borrowings into their system.” (Gilbert Highet, Sword and Spirit, pg. xi of Ancient Rome by Robert Payne)
Above, the city of Avezzano, one of the most scenic parts of Italy, lush green plains surrounded by Mount Velino in the north and Mount Salviano in the west. Avezzano once lay upon the shores of Lake Fucino, the largest lake in Italy. In the 19th century the lake was drained making wide fields available and creating tremendous agricultural growth. In 1913 the region was decimated, experiencing the largest earthquake Italy had ever recorded with the loss of 30,000 lives.
Are the two connected ? the draining of a lake and a devastating earthquake ? As Italy entered the 20th century the idea of displeasing the gods was no longer relevant. Avezzano is formed from two Sanskrit words “Av” maning “to favour” “to satisfy” becomes the Latin “Ave” meaning “to fare well” “hail” “greetings” and “zano” is once again the god “Janus” whose source is the Sanskrit “jan” meaning “birth”.
The meaning of Avezzano seems to have been “hail ( ave ) to Janus, the protector of the city”. One wonders if Janus removed his protection with the draining of the lake, after all the desecration of a lake is not the most auspicious “beginnings” to a city.
“ I take issue with the old school of thought that the cultural and civic life we Westerners enjoy originated in the works of Greek and Roman philosophers. Instead the mind and soul that inspired our words sprang from neither Greece nor Rome, but from an Indo/European homeland located much further north. In truth according to my studies the history of we Westerners does not begin with the Greeks, we were invented along with the Greeks by Vedic poet seers through their mother tongue, Sanskrit, which evolved into Greek and Latin, which are simple phonetic variants of it.“. Franco Rendich Comparative etymology Sanskrit, Latin and Greek
