JANUARY, the name of the first month of the year, according to the computation now used in the West. The word is derived from the Latin Januarius, a name given to it by the Romans from Janus, one of their divinities, to whom they attributed two faces, because on the one side the first day of January looked towards the new year,
and on the other towards the old one. The word Januarius may also be derived from janua, a gate; because this month being the first, is, as it were, the gate of the year. January and February were introduced into the year by Numa Pompilius, the year of Romulus having commenced in the month of March. The kalends of this month were under the protection of Juno, and in a peculiar manner consecrated to Janus by an offering of a cake made of new meal and new salt, with new frankincense and new wine. On the first day of January a beginning was made of every intended work; the consuls elect took possession of their office, and, with the flamens, offered sacrifices and prayers for the prosperity of the empire. On this day all animosities were suspended, and friends gave and received new year's gifts, called Strenæ.