1.

Janus: myth (11am-11:30 am)

a. Detailed Popcorn Read
i. In Roman Mythology, Janus was the god of gates, doors,
beginnings, endings and doorways. The month of January was
named for him. He was usually
depicted as Janus Geminus (twin
Janus) or Bifrons, with two faces
looking in opposite directions. In
some places he was Janus Quadrifrons
(the four-faced). He was associated
with Etruscan Ani.
ii. Symbolism: the god of change and
transitions such as the progression of
past to future, of one condition to
another, of one vision to another, and of one universe to
another.
iii. Janus was worshipped at the beginnings of the harvest and
planting times, as well as marriages, births and other beginning.
He was representative of the middle ground between barbarity
and civilization, rural country and urban cities and youth and
adulthood.
iv. He supposedly came from Thessaly in Greece and shared a
kingdom with Camese in Latium. They had many children,
including Tiberinus. Janus and his later wife, Juturna, were the
parents of Fontus. He had another wife name Jana.
v. As the sole ruler of Latium, Janus began the Golden Age,
introducing money, laws and agriculture (making him a culture
hero).
vi. When bad people attacked the people of the Sabines, Janus
caused a hot spring to erupt, causing the would-be attackers to
flee. In honor of this, the doors to his temples were kept open
during war so that he could easily intervene. The doors and
gates were closed during peace.
 vii. His two faces (originally, one was always
bearded, one clean-shaven; later both
bearded) originally represented the sun
and the moon. He was usually depicted
with a key.
viii. Follow-up Questions
1. In Roman mythology what was
Janus the god of?
2. When was Janus worshipped?
3. Where did Janus come from?
4. Why was Janus named a culture
hero?
5. What did Janus do after the bad people came to Sabines?
6. What does Janus represent?

2. Julius Caesar & the Creation of the Calendar (11:30 am-12:00 pm)
a. Most ancient civilizations had some sort of calendar, some very good
ones. The early Romans had a calendar as well. But in Rome, politics
began to affect the calendar.
b. During the Roman Republic, if the priests did not like someone who
had been elected to power, the priests removed months from the
calendar, to shorten the year. Since people could only rule for a
certain number of years, that shortened their term of office. But, if the
priests liked the person in power, they added months to the calendar,
so their favorite rulers had longer to rule. It was a crazy system, and
pretty soon, the calendar was a mess.
c. When Julius Caesar came to power, he decided to throw out the old
calendar and invent a new one. "His" calendar was remarkably like
the ancient Egyptian calendar, but of course, like all things Roman, no
credit was given to an invention by another civilization. The new
calendar was Caesar's calendar. The new calendar had 365 days each
year for three years, and 366 days on the fourth year, just like our
calendar today.
d. Julius Caesar named a month after himself, the month of July. The
first month of the year, January is named after the Roman God Janus
due to him protecting the Roman people from evil all year. When
Augustus Caesar became emperor a few years later, he named the
month after July the month of August, after himself. But August only
had 30 days, not 31. An emperor could not have a short month. To fix
that, the astronomers took a day from February and added it to
August. That's why today February is the shortest month of the year.
i. Follow-up Questions:
1. What began to affect the Roman
calendar?
2. How did priests affect the
Roman calendar during the
Roman Republic?
3. What was Julius’ Calendar
similar to?
4. Who were the months of July,
January and August named
after?
5. Why is February the shortest
month of the year?
1. Janus-Not Detailed Read (For younger kids)
a. Janus was a real Roman god. There is no one like Janus in Greek
mythology. He was Roman. His nickname is Two-Faced Janus
because the Romans pictured him as having two faces, one looking
forward, one looking backwards. On coins, he was pictured in
profile, one face turned to the left, one face turned to the right,
with one neck and one top of his head - one head, two faces.
b. Janus had a very important job in the ancient Roman
world. All Roman gods had a job to do, but Janus was the Roman
god of the threshold of a doorway or gate. His job was to keep evil
spirits out of homes, buildings, shrines, schools, courtyards, and
wherever there was a doorway or gate. There were a great many
doorways and gates in ancient Rome. The people knew Janus was
a busy god, keeping evil out of many places. The Roman people took
a minute each day to pray to Janus and thank him for doing his part to
keep their home safe from evil.
c. Janus was also part of the Roman new year celebration. The month of
January, the first month of the year, was named
after him. Each year, on the first day of the
month of January, people exchanged presents in
his honor.
i. Follow-up Questions
1. What type of God was Janus?
2. What is Janus’ nickname? Why?
3. What was Janus’ very important
job in the ancient Roman world?
4. What was there a lot of in ancient
Rome?
5. What did the Roman people do for
Janus?
6. What is named after Janus?
7. What do the Roman people do on January 1st?
8.
2. Julius Caesar & the Creation of the Calendar (11:30 am-12:00 pm)
a. Most ancient civilizations had some sort of calendar, some very good
ones. The early Romans had a calendar as well. But in Rome, politics
began to affect the calendar.
b. During the Roman Republic, if the priests did not like someone who
had been elected to power, the priests removed months from the
calendar, to shorten the year. Since people could only rule for a
certain number of years, that shortened their term of office. But, if the
priests liked the person in power, they added months to the calendar,
so their favorite rulers had longer to rule. It was a crazy system, and
pretty soon, the calendar was a mess.
c. When Julius Caesar came to power, he decided to throw out the old
calendar and invent a new one. "His" calendar was remarkably like
the ancient Egyptian calendar, but of course, like all things Roman, no
credit was given to an invention by another civilization. The new
calendar was Caesar's calendar. The new calendar had 365 days each
year for three years, and 366 days on the fourth year, just like our
calendar today.
d. Julius Caesar named a month after himself, the month of July. The
first month of the year, January is named after the Roman God Janus
due to him protecting the Roman people from evil all year. When
Augustus Caesar became emperor a few years later, he named the
month after July the month of August, after
himself. But August only had 30 days, not 31. An
emperor could not have a short month. To fix that,
the astronomers took a day from February and
added it to August. That's why today February is
the shortest month of the year.
i. Follow-up Questions:
1. What began to affect the Roman
calendar?
2. How did priests affect the Roman
calendar during the Roman Republic?
3. What was Julius’ Calendar similar to?
4. Who were the months of July, January and August
named after?
5. Why is February the shortest month of the year?