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(Ianuarius) and February to align better with the lunar year. January was named after Janus, the two-faced Roman god of beginnings, endings, gates, transitions, doorways, and time—depicted looking backward to the past and forward to the future.
• Shift to January 1 (153 BCE): The official start of the Roman civic year moved from March 1 to January 1. This allowed newly elected consuls to take office earlier for military campaigns (e.g., responding to rebellions in #Spain).
(figs, dates, honey for sweetness/prosperity), feasts, decorations (laurel branches), and raucous parties—often involving drunken orgies reenacting pre-creation chaos.