January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and the first month to have the length of 31 days.
Winter snow scene in Switzerland in January. image: R.Conan-Davies
The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the year within most of the Northern Hemisphere and the warmest month of the year within most of the Southern Hemisphere.
In the Southern hemisphere, January is the seasonal equivalent of July in the Northern hemisphere and vice versa.
Summer time beach along Horseshoe bay in Port Elliot South Australia. image: wikimedia
A little about the history of the month of January
January (in Latin, Ianuarius) is named after the Latin word for door (ianua), since January is the door to the year.
The month is conventionally thought of as being named after Janus, the god of beginnings and transitions in Roman mythology, but according to ancient Roman farmers' almanacs Juno was the guardian deity of the month.
Different depictions of Janus from Bernard de Montfaucon's L'antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures. image: wikipedia
Traditionally, the original Roman calendar consisted of 10 months totaling 304 days, winter being considered a month-less period. Around 713 BC, the semi-mythical successor of Romulus, King Numa Pompilius, is supposed to have added the months of January and February, so that the calendar covered a standard lunar year (354 days).
Although March was originally the first month in the old Roman calendar, January became the first month of the calendar year either under Numa or under the Decemvirs about 450 BC (Roman writers differ).
Various Christian feast dates were used for the New Year in Europe during the Middle Ages, including March 25 (Feast of the Annunciation) and December 25. However, medieval calendars were still displayed in the Roman fashion with twelve columns from January to December. Beginning in the 16th century, European countries began officially making January 1 the start of the New Year once again—sometimes called Circumcision Style because this was the date of the Feast of the Circumcision, being the seventh day after December 25.
Historical names for January
These include its original Roman designation, Ianuarius, the Saxon term Wulf-monath (meaning "wolf month") and Charlemagne's designation Wintarmanoth ("winter / cold month").
In Slovene, it is traditionally called január. The name, associated with millet bread and the act of asking for something, was first written in 1466 in the Škofja Loka manuscript.
Lusitania War and January
According to Theodor Mommsen, 1 January became the first day of the year in 600 AUC of the Roman calendar (153 BC), due to disasters in the Lusitanian War.
A Lusitanian chief called Punicus invaded the Roman territory, defeated two Roman governors, and killed their troops. The Romans resolved to send a consul to Hispania, and in order to accelerate the dispatch of aid, "they even made the new consuls enter into office two months and a half before the legal time" (March 15).
Adapted from January. (2017, January 3). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17:25, January 3, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=January&oldid=758129175