Temple of Janus (Roman Forum) Temple of Janus (Roman Forum) In ancient Rome, the main Temple of Janus as it is often called, although it was not a normal temple, stood in the Roman Forum near the Argiletum. It had doors on both ends, and inside was a statue of Janus, the two-faced god of boundaries. The doors (the "Gates of Janus") were closed in times of peace and opened in times of war. According to Livy 1.19 the second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, decided to distract the early, warlike Romans from their violent ways by instilling in them awe and reverence. His projects
Peace and Truce of God places, but by the eleventh century they became synonymous as the "Peace and Truce of God". "Germans looked with mingled horror and contempt at the French 'anarchy'. To Maintain the king's peace was the first duty of a German sovereign." The movement, though seemingly redundant to the duties of the crown, had a religious momentum that would not be denied. Holy Roman Emperor Henry III issued the earliest form of this in his empire while at Constance in 1043. In the Holy Roman Empire it subsequently developed into the similar concept of "Landfriede". The Peace of God or "Pax Dei"