Buzz
January isn't just about the chill in the air and recovering from holiday shopping. It's also the month that kicks off a new year, offering a fresh opportunity to set new year resolutions and make progress on long-held ambitions.
Have you ever wondered why January specifically marks the start of the new year? The answer is rich with history and involves some key historical figures.
In ancient times, the Romans revered Janus, the god of doors and gates, often depicted with two faces—one gazing forward and the other backward. Julius Caesar decided that it was fitting for January, the month named after Janus, to usher in the new year. He established January 1 as the official start of the year in the Julian calendar, aligning it with the consular year, as new consuls took office on that day.
For Caesar, the Julian calendar wasn't just a timekeeping system; it was a tool for asserting political power. As Roman armies expanded the Empire, newly conquered regions were often allowed to retain some of their customs. However, once the calendar was established, it became a symbol of Roman authority, used across the Empire to reinforce Caesar’s dominance.
Following the fall of Rome and the rise of Christianity, the new year celebration was seen as a pagan tradition (after all, the Romans celebrated the first day with drunken orgies). As a result, the new year’s start was moved to a more Christian-friendly date. Some countries marked the start of the year on March 25, the day Christians remember the Annunciation to Mary. Others chose December 25 for Christmas, while some celebrated the new year on Easter Sunday, regardless of the date. Still, January 1 remained the first day for regular citizens who saw no need for change.
Date Change
This calendar confusion continued for some time, but a Pope eventually decided to resolve the chaos. A flaw in Caesar's calendar had caused it to drift from the solar year. By 1582, the discrepancy had reached 10 days. As the Spring Equinox (and Easter) shifted, Pope Gregory XIII grew frustrated with the need to constantly adjust the holiday. So, he created a new calendar that added a single leap day every four years to maintain alignment. He also reinstated January 1 as the first day of the year.
The Gregorian calendar was quickly adopted by most Catholic nations, but Protestant and Eastern Rite countries were more resistant. Protestants complained that the Pope, the ‘Roman Antichrist,’ was attempting to lead them astray. Eastern Rite churches wanted to preserve their traditions, so some Eastern European nations continued to use the Julian calendar for centuries. Russia, for example, didn’t switch to the Gregorian calendar until after the 1917 revolution, and today the Eastern Orthodox Church still follows either the traditional or the revised Julian calendar for its liturgical year.
Over time, Protestant nations eventually adopted the Gregorian calendar. However, most of them began using January 1 as the first day of the year long before fully switching to the new system. England, Ireland, and the British colonies made January 1 the start of the year in early 1752 (while Scotland had already made the change about 150 years earlier). They waited until September to fully implement the new calendar, with this staggered approach possibly symbolizing a gradual alignment—first unifying the government calendar with the people’s, and then aligning the nation’s calendar with that of the Pope.
