This God Made Sure That Ancient Rome’s New Year’s Eve Popped Off

Unlike other holidays around the end of the year, New Year’s is relatively secular — at least among cultures that celebrate New Year’s based on the Roman calendar. 

Interestingly, though, the Romans weren’t a very secular people, worshipping a whole grip of gods — and that applied to their New Year’s celebrations as well, which, as a note, weren’t always on January 1st. The original Roman New Year aligned with the city's founding in March. But when Julius Caesar overhauled the calendar, we got the New Year’s we’re used to today: January 1st, the first of a month named for the god Janus. 

This meant that the New Year’s Day celebrations fell under the supervision of Janus, and that sacrifices were to be directed his way. He was honored in various other ways, too. For example, a coin emblazoned with his appearance was a traditional New Year’s gift.

It wasn’t just luck-of-the-draw that made Janus the official god of the New Year either. He was uniquely fit to host the changeover. Janus was the god of beginnings, transitions and time itself, which obviously is well-suited to the holiday. His unique appearance also fits right in, since he’s pictured as having two faces, one of which looks into the future and one of which looks into the past.

It’s not surprising if you’ve never heard the link brought up in modern times. Polytheism has had a pretty dramatic dip in popularity since the olden days. Sacrifices have also become pretty significantly frowned upon, and the only one most people make on New Year’s these days is that of their liver.