Janus had two faces so he could look backward and forward at the same time, and the Romans put both of them on their coins. When they flipped one they called "heads or ships," because a ship was on the back.
Janus was the god of doorways, gates and beginnings, and he had two faces so he could look both ways at once. One face looked back at what had already happened while the other looked ahead at what was coming. Every prayer is a kind of beginning, so the Romans called on Janus first, before any other god.
Stories say that when an army of Sabines once attacked Rome, they were almost through the gate before anyone could stop them. Janus made hot water gush up out of the ground right in their path, and the attackers turned around and ran. After that the Romans kept the doors of his temple open whenever Rome was at war, so he could slip out and help, and they closed them when the city was at peace.
Rome was at war so often that those doors were hardly ever shut.
Fun Facts About Janus
Most Roman gods started out as Greek gods with new names, but Janus is Roman through and through. The Greeks never had a god quite like him.
The month of January is named after him, so every new year starts with Janus.
You'll often see him holding a key for the doors he guards and sometimes a staff, like a gatekeeper on duty.
