The Roman god Janus presided over war, gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, and endings. The month of January and the caretaker of doors and halls, a janitor, are both named for him.
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For the ancient Romans, Janus symbolized change and transitions such as the progression of future to past, of one condition to another, of one vision to another, the growing up of young people, and of one universe to another. He also represented time because he could see into the past with one face and into the future with the other.
Thus Janus was worshipped at the beginnings of the harvest and planting times, as well as marriages, births and other beginnings. He was representative of the middle ground between barbarity and civilization, rural country and urban cities, and youth and adulthood.